Page 20 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“One hundred and thirteen families,” he says—as if I’ve forgotten. “You’ve got the whole town. Now what?”

“Now, we find out which families are directly involved with Astra Tyrannis. We’ve already narrowed down a few.”

“So not every family is in the know.”

“No,” I agree, “probably not. Some might innocent. Or ignorant, at least. But I’m willing to bet no one is unstained.”

“It’s a whole fucking town, Phoenix!” he says, turning to me. “It may be small, but ‘small’ still means hundreds of people.”

“Your point?”

“My point is, what’s the plan?” he asks. “How do you plan on containing this situation? When Astra Tyrannis gets wind of this, they’ll come hunting—and you can bet your ass they’ll want to make a big, bloody statement.”

“We won’t be here long enough for that.”

Matvei stops his angry pacing and frowns. “You took the town just to abandon it after a few days?”

“I’m not abandoning it. I’m taking it with us.”

Matvei stares at me in disbelief.

I’m aware that my plan is bold. In fact, one might even call it insane. But maybe that’s exactly the reason why it’ll work.

“You’re taking them with us?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Mexico.”

Matvei stares silently at me for a long time. “My ears must be fucked up from the blast. Did you just sayMexico?”

I nod. “I have enough space and resources there to keep everyone exactly where we want them. I’ve spent the last month getting the compound ready for our arrival.”

“Fucking hell,” Matvei breathes. “You’re taking them to the Moreno compound?”

I nod. The estate where my mother was raised is the perfect choice. My father rebuilt it after the fire he set years ago destroyed the original buildings, so now, it’s sprawling, easily defended, and complete with cells to interrogate the members of this godforsaken cult to find out who knew what.

“And then what? You can’t hope to contain so many prisoners.”

“They’ll only be prisoners until they answer my questions. If they cooperate, if they’re able to prove their innocence, they’ll be set free.”

“Has it escaped your notice that this is not just a random group of civilians?” Matvei snaps. “It’s a fucking cult. If they’re not cold-blooded sex traffickers, then they’re brainless sheep. If you release them, they’ll have nowhere to go. No idea of how to assimilate into the real world.”

“I’m not running a fucking rehabilitation clinic, Matvei,” I growl harshly. “I don’t give two shits about what they do once they’ve answered my questions.”

“More than half your prisoners are women and children,” he points. “You do realize that, don’t you?”

“They can come back here if they want. Continue their lives.”

“Without their men?”

“I’m giving them freedom.”

“Freedom can be a curse if it’s forced upon you all at once,” Matvei says. “They’ve been brainwashed. That needs to be remedied, not ignored.”

“Again, that is not my fucking problem.”

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