Page 84 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

He’s right. I need my strength if I’m to join him. “An hour. Only an hour of sleep, okay?”

“Rest.”

As if he said the magic word, I fall asleep. I drop at once into a dream. In it, I hear the sounds of a crying child. And this time, I’m a hundred percent certain it’s my baby.

Theo?I cry out.Theo, where are you?

I can’t see him. What I can see is a line of women. Faceless and dressed in flowing gowns, they all clutch their own babies. All of whom are crying out in a many-voiced wail.

“How can I help?” I want to ask them. “How can I save you?”

But I have no voice. No one hears me say a word.

* * *

I wake up with a scream trapped in my throat and pain encircling my wrists and ankles. Phoenix is standing at the side of the bed, fully clothed again. He looks down at me with a steely-eyed apology.

“I wish there was another way,” he murmured.

“Wha…?”

I glance down at my wrists and ankles—and realize the source of the pain.

I’m bound to the four posts of the bed. There’s enough slack for me to move a few feet in either direction. But one thing is clear: I’m not going far.

My eyes go wide as they snap back to him. “Don’t do this, Phoenix!”

“I’m sorry, Elyssa,” he says with a pained sigh. “But I can’t take you with me. And I need to make sure you can’t follow.”

“You promised me!”

“I lied.”

19

Phoenix

I’m in the armory when Matvei finds me. It’s the first time I’ve seen him in days. I keep my back to him as I select weapons. I’ve chosen far more than I can actually carry, but I need to keep moving. I need to keep my hands busy.

“You gonna stand there silent or you gonna say something?” I grunt after a few moments pass without a word from either of us.

“The teams are almost ready,” Matvei says at last.

“Good.”

“There’s some panic in the bunkers,” he continues. “The prisoners heard the explosion and the fight that followed.”

“What do they know?”

“Nothing specific,” Matvei replies. “I gave the men guarding them explicit instructions not to answer any questions.”

I turn around and nod. “They’re to be transported back to the compound and released to their homes.”

His face lifts immediately. “Really?”

“Yes,” I say. “But not right now. Not before I’ve finished my job here.”

Matvei’s expression falls back into discontent. “You’re really going through with it?”

---