Page 60 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“It’s all I have.”

Stop playing the victim. You’ve got air in your lungs, don’t you?

I’m not in the mood to bicker with a ghost right now. I get in bed and pull a pillow over my head, then just lay there in the darkness, waiting for the helplessness in my chest to subside.

It never really does.

I’m carried off to sleep feeling restless and unnerved. Charity’s not in my dreams, though I search for her. I can sense Phoenix’s presence, but I never see him, either. I suppose he’s the monster inside me. And it’s his weight that I feel pressing down on me, demanding attention, demanding answers.

Answers I don’t have.

* * *

“Elyssa.”

I gasp awake, my eyes flying open to see the face of the one monster I can’t seem to hide from.

Phoenix is looming over my bed, drenched in midnight shadows. He doesn’t apologize or explain his presence. He just straightens slightly and turns to the side.

“Get dressed,” he says in a quiet rasp. “We’re going for a walk.”

“A… a walk?” I ask, in confusion, as I sit up. “What time is it?”

“Late.”

He heads for the door without another word. I’m left sitting in bed, wondering if I’m still dreaming.

Trying to grapple with reality, I push away the last vestiges of drowsiness and swap out my sweats for a pair of jeans. I hurry into the bathroom to wash my face and run a brush through my teeth.

When I slip into the dimly lit hallway outside of my suite, he’s leaning against the wall, waiting for me. There’s no one else around. My guards are gone.

I expect to see impatience on his face, but all I see is a faraway look of contemplation.

“Phoenix?”

He meets my eyes. “Come.”

His manner is unsettling. If he had been angry or accusatory, I might have felt slightly better. At least I would know where I stand.

But this—solemn, silent—makes no sense. Is he leading me to my death? The errant thought flickers across my paranoid subconscious. Once it’s taken root, it’s almost impossible to remove.

He leads me out of the house and towards the gardens at the rear of the house. Everything is dark, silent, and still. I’ve seen it from my suite window, I can’t help admiring how pretty it all is now that I’m walking through the paths myself.

He picks his way with sure feet down the central path. I follow, mind still racing with questions. We reach a gate. He unlocks it and ushers me through onto the beach.

I might have been excited if Phoenix didn’t feel so distant. So stormy. Something has changed since the last time we were together.

The sound of the ocean is louder and more aggressive than I would have thought. The rolling waves in the distance are black like oil. Overhead, the clouds form rheumy grey patterns in the sky. But as they move on, I catch glimpses of a crescent moon in the gaps.

My feet sink into the soft sand. Phoenix is walking quickly. I have to hurry to keep up.

It strikes me out of nowhere that following him might not be the wisest choice. And still, I can’t stop.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask.

“You’ll see.”

Sighing, I push my windswept hair back, trying to get it out of my face. I can’t help glancing over at Phoenix as we stride down the beach side by side.

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