Page 61 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

His profile is perfect. The strong jaw, the straight nose, the slight shine of his dark irises. He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.

And the most haunted.

A few hundred yards away in the darkness, I start to notice something. Broken shapes rising up from the earth like jagged teeth.

As we get closer, I realize that it’s a building. Or at least, it used to be. Now, it’s a charred disaster. Nature and fire have reclaimed whatever this place once was.

Phoenix stops suddenly and turns towards the ruins. I might be high on the strangeness of the moment, but I actually think it looks beautiful. In a sad, ominous kind of way. Not unlike Phoenix himself.

“This is what I wanted to show you.”

I stare at him, not understanding. “A ruined house?”

“This compound used to belong to my grandfather, Joaquin Moreno.”

I frown. “Moreno… You’re Mexican? I thought you were Russian.”

“Half-Mexican.” He smiles darkly. “I favor my father’s side.”

I look back over at the blackened ruins. “What happened here?”

“It’s a long story,” he sighs. “One that’ll take too long to retell. The important part is that my father is the one that destroyed this place. No one survived the attack… except my mother. He came, burned the place down, killed every living soul, and took her.”

Just a few words and already the hair at the back of my neck is standing on end. “He… took her?”

Phoenix nods slowly. “My grandfather ran one of the largest cartels in Mexico. But he was blinded by all the wrong things. Ambition can strangle a man if he’s not too careful.”

“That’s… a lot. I’m not sure I understand your point.”

He sighs. “My grandfather chose the underworld over his family. He died for it. I did the same… and my family died for it.”

My hand twitches towards him, but I stop myself before I touch him. We’re on the precipice of something here. Something big. Something important.

“I know I’ve become obsessed with Astra Tyrannis. But I lost everything to them. Everything. Even now, I know I need to take a step back, but I can’t. I can’t let them get away with it. I can’t let it go. I’m in too deep now.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” I whisper.

“Because I want you to understand,” he replies. “Why I can’t let myself love you. Even though I want to.”

How quickly everything can shift. In a matter of seconds, hope can be born.

“Phoenix…”

“You were right before,” he says, cutting me off as though he’s scared he won’t be able to continue if he’s interrupted. “There is something between us. Something more than sex. But I don’t want it, Elyssa. I can’t afford another weakness that Astra Tyrannis can exploit. I know how that will end.”

“You don’t,” I insist. “You don’t know. You’ll protect me. And Theo.”

“That’s what I thought about Aurora and Yuri. I was wrong.”

I can see the guilt in his eyes, the weight of his failure. He has never forgiven himself. Even now, all these years later, it runs in his veins like poison.

“I refuse to believe that.”

He smiles. “You’re still young…”

I shake my head angrily. “No. Stop treating me like a child. Stop treating me like I don’t know any better. Stop acting like I don’t have a say in this.”

He sighs. “You don’t.”

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