Page 3 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“I don’t understand,” Matvei says. “Why isn’t she here then?”

“Because I told her to get out.”

He hesitates for a second. “She could still be an agent for Astra Tyrannis.”

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Matvei cocks his head to the side. “Wait… did you do something?”

“I had Ilya plant a tracker on her car,” I say. “I’m going to be tracking her movements.”

Matvei nods approvingly. “And if she is involved with Astra Tyrannis?”

“Then I’ll take her out.”

“And if she has nothing to do with them?”

It’s an equally important question and Matvei knows it. He waits for my answer while I mull it over.

“Then I’ll turn my back on her forever,” I say icily in the end. “Either way, our paths diverge soon.”

“She has your son, Phoenix.”

My head throbs. I’m itching for a drink. Desperate for it, in fact. I’m usually good at abstaining. But today, it’s hard to distract myself from the raw, aching need that’s building in my chest.

“The boy may not be mine.”

“Excuse me? Say that one more time.”

I run a hand through my hair. “She told me what happened the night she arrived in Vegas. The night the two of us met at Wild Night Blossom.”

I can see Matvei bracing himself. Again, I’m not keen on telling the story, but I also want to get it over with. I don’t want it to have any power over me.

“The Sanctuary, the commune, whatever the fuck she calls it—it’s a fucking cult. She was going to be married off to the leader. The fucker had her get all dressed up and delivered to his doorstep. Then he raped her. So she hit him over the head with a cast-iron paperweight in the shape of a black swan. Which is, incidentally, what she was sent this morning.”

“They sent her the murder weapon?” he says in amazement.

“Blood and all.”

“Christ. That’s some next-level mind fuckery. What does it mean? Is it a threat?”

“Possibly. I don’t know at this point. It was enough to get her to go back there.”

“But she came back?”

I nod. “She claims she came back because Charity left a note hinting that Anna was dangerous. Said she came back to warn me.”

Matvei looks skeptical. But I can see that he’s considering this might actually be the true version of events.

“Given that she was raped only hours before I fucked her…” I trail off, leaving the rest unsaid.

“She doesn’t know who the father is, either,” Matvei finishes. He whistles again. “Blyat’.That’s a lot of information to unpack in one night. So the leader of this cult, the one she hit with the swan paperweight… she killed him?”

I sigh and slump back against my seat. “She thought she did. But when she went back, apparently, he was there. Alive and well.”

“So he’s the one who sent her the paperweight?”

“Why does it matter?” I ask.

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