Page 176 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

I’m still nervous, but there’s something more relatable about this woman. She puts me at ease instantly, in the same way her husband seems to make me feel like a bug under a microscope.

“Okay. Esme it is.”

“Is it true that I have another grandson?”

My heart beats hard against my chest. I haven’t been grateful for much in the last few days. But right now, I’m grateful that I can give them a true and definitive answer.

“You do,” I say. “His name is Theo. He’s an angel.”

I can hear her exhale with joy. “That’s the best news I’ve had in years.”

“Matvei,” Esme says, “you’ll bring them all home safe, won’t you?”

“I will do my very best, Madam,” he says.

“Good. Then best of luck to you both,” she says.

“Matvei,” Artem adds, “keep me informed.”

“Will do, sir.”

“And if you need anything else…”

“I’ll call.”

The line goes dead. I square my shoulders and look Matvei in the eye. “I don’t care how big and dangerous and powerful Astra Tyrannis is. I don’t care how long they’ve been around or how far they’ve spread. There’s a time for everything to die and this will be theirs. I’m getting my boys back. All three of them.”

Matvei seems to stand a little straighter as he gives me a salute that’s only partially teasing. “As you command, Madam,” he says, using the same reverential term he had used for Esme.

I don’t deserve it.

Not yet.

But I will.

43

Elyssa

IN A VAN HEADED TOWARDS WILD NIGHT BLOSSOM

“Stop that.”

I frown as I look down at my knee. Only now that Matvei has said something do I realize that I’ve been bouncing it frenetically for at least ten straight minutes.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “I can’t help it. I’m nervous.”

“This was your plan.”

“Why do you think I’m nervous?” I snap back at him. “If this fails, it’s all on me.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“What would you say then?”

“That you did the best you could.”

I shake my head. “That doesn’t cut it. My best means nothing if it doesn’t set them free.”

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