Page 29 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“And in case you’re wondering, I know exactly what happened with the last woman who looked after him. You have nothing to worry about. I’ve pledged my loyalty to the house of Kovalyov and that means something to me.”

It’s probably stupid of me, but I believe her. She’s got weight behind her words. A certain courage that I admire. And I know enough now to know that my son does need protection.

I don’t care so much about myself. But Theo?

He deserves the chance at a future.

“Why this life?” I ask suddenly. “You said you wanted to work for Phoenix. Why did you choose this life?”

She shrugs. “My father worked for Don Kovalyov for decades. I always dreamed of doing the same. So when I turned eighteen, I asked for a job. I was turned away and told to come back at twenty-one if I was serious. I don’t think either Don Kovalyov or my father expected me to hold the same ambition. But three years later, I proved them both wrong.”

“I take it you’re a hard woman to say no to.”

She smiles triumphantly. “You’re right about that. I didn’t give them much of a choice.”

“And you didn’t want to be, I dunno… a doctor or a teacher? Something… normal?”

Leona’s grin gets wider. “Normal?” she repeats. “Now, where’s the fun in that?”

8

Elyssa

My head jolts forward with the bump of the vehicle. It forces me awake. I stifle a surprised scream and throw my hand out for something to grab.

“You okay?” Leona asks when I’ve got my bearings back.

She’s cradling Theo, who’s awake and clutching her finger tightly. He looks at me and his face splits into a massive, toothless smile.

“My boy,” I whisper, reaching for him.

“Just changed him,” Leona informs me. “You wanna feed him?”

“Yes, please.”

She pops him into the cradle I’ve made with my arms and pulls out a freshly-made bottle. While Theo drinks, I look out the window. The land we’re passing through is oddly foreign.

“Mexico, huh?” I breathe.

“We crossed the border in the night.”

“You managed to get through with truckloads full of prisoners?”

“The don has connections,” she explains. “And roots.”

“Roots?”

Leona just gives me a mysterious wink and doesn’t divulge any more information. I sigh and turn my attention back to the landscape. It’s desolate out there. No buildings, no vegetation, no sign of life whatsoever.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Beats me,” Leona says. “First time for me, too.”

I have no idea whether to believe her or not.

Once I’ve burped Theo, I sit him up on my lap and drink in his newborn scent. It’s changing already, moving from infant to baby. Soon, he’ll be a toddler. I wonder where on this planet we’ll be when he starts to walk, when he says his first word, when he becomes a man. I wonder what’s going to happen to both of us.

The car starts slowing a little and I crane my neck to see why. There’s a gated compound rising up in the distance. Standing proudly in the middle of nowhere, its austere walls make me shiver with foreboding.

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