Page 126 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

I twist around and reach for her hand. “Violet,” I say gently. “I know this is a lot. But we are going to help you.”

“How?” she asks.

“I… I don’t know yet,” I reply honestly. “But we’ll figure something out.”

“They’ll come after me.”

“We’ll make sure they don’t,” Phoenix says firmly. “They won’t be able to find you once I’m done.”

“And… my sister?” she asks hesitantly.

Phoenix exchanges a dark glance with me.You tell her,his eyes seem to be saying.

“Listen, Violet,” I tell her. “I can’t make any promises. We can try to locate your sister if you give us her information. But the chances are—assuming she got out—that she’s changed her name, covered her tracks. She probably lives a completely different life now.”

“I still want to find her.”

“I know you do,” I soothe. “Of course you do. I just want you to have a realistic outlook of what’s possible.”

Violet slumps in the back seat and looks out the window. I hope she’ll sleep—God knows she needs it—but her eyes stay open until we get to Phoenix’s mansion.

It’s clear Violet is not prepared for the beauty and grandeur of the mansion as the jeep pulls up the private driveway.

“This is where you live?” she wheezes.

“This is… Phoenix’s home,” I say. I may be his wife, but I don’t feel right claiming the mansion as mine just yet.

He helps us both out of the car and into the house. When we enter the main foyer, Phoenix turns to Violet. “You must be hungry,” he says. “I’ve had the chef make something for you to eat. Come on.”

The dining table is laden with comfort food. Casseroles, lasagnas, sandwiches.

“Eat something,” Phoenix tells me, though he makes no attempt to eat himself.

I force myself to nibble on a piece of bread as Violet loads her plate with the casserole. We all sink down into seats and sit in silence for a while.

“Violet,” Phoenix asks, when her plate is half-empty. “Can you tell us how you got to the Garden?”

I give him a frown. “Is this really the time?”

“We don’t have the luxury of taking things slow,” he reminds me. “They know there’s been a breach.”

“But you got the files,” I remind him.

“Only a few,” he admits. “And I plan to pour over those in a minute. But first, Violet, we need you to tell us anything of importance.”

“I… I’m not important,” she says, looking down at her plate. “I don’t think I’ll have anything to tell you.”

“Let’s start with your story,” he says.

She looks at him out of the corner of her eye. I see the fear there and I recognize it. The same fear I had when I first saw Phoenix.

But I also see the other thing I felt: trust. An inexplicable sense that he’s not quite what he appears to be.

She voices that exact thought. “You’re one of the good guys, aren’t you?” Violet stammers.

I step in before Phoenix can reply. “He is, Violet,” I tell her. “I know he looks big and scary. But he’s not like the men who did that to your face. He’s trying to stop those men.”

She nods and takes another bite of food. Then, swallowing hard, she starts to talk. “We first came to the Sanctuary a year ago. Me, Mama, my sister Caroline. Daddy was a mean drunk, so we left him when Mama heard about this place. They told her it was a safe place for… for women like us. Scared and alone.” She raises her eyes up to meet mine and adds, “I guess we were stupid enough to believe them.”

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