Page 85 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

I glare at him. “Are you going to start again?”

“I’m giving you my opinion,” he says. “I am entitled to one, you know.”

I clench my jaw tight. “You do realize that they didn’t just steal a fucking knickknack, right? They took a child.Myfucking child. Again.”

“The attack came out of nowhere. You couldn’t have—”

“Don’t,” I snap. “I don’t want the goddamn justifications. How did they even manage to catch us so off-guard?”

“How do you think?” Matvei asks defensively. “This isn’t exactly their first rodeo, brother.”

I wave my hand at the estate around us. “We have alarms everywhere. Security systems that cost me millions every year and enough ex-special ops security guards to form a fucking army. So I ask again… how the hell did this happen?”

“I can’t answer that right now, Phoenix,” Matvei sighs. “All I know is that Astra Tyrannis has just made a point: Fuck with them, and they’ll fuck us right back.”

“So what are you suggesting?” I snap. “Turn a blind eye? Bury my head in the sand until they forget about me?”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

“Really? Because it seems like every time the stakes get high, you’re right there to convince me to stop fighting.”

Matvei stops short. I know I’ve hit below the belt. But my nerves are frayed thin and I’m riding the adrenaline spiked by anger.

“They should have forgotten about Anna and recruited you instead,” I add acidly. “You’re certainly working hard for the cause.”

Matvei’s eyes go wide.

There’s one brief instant where I could take back the words. Where I could retreat from the brink of the all-out brawl that’s been brewing between us for months now.

But I don’t.

“You trying to pick a fight so that you don’t have to hear me out,” Matvei says somberly, forcing himself back into calm. “It’s a defense mechanism.”

“Pick a fight?” I scoff with condescension. “What are we, a couple of teenagers in a pissing contest?”

“Apparently.”

I turn back to my weapons. “I’m gearing up for a real fight, Matvei. I don’t need to pick one with you.”

“You don’t even want to hear my opinion?”

“Not if it doesn’t match mine.”

“When did you become such an arrogant son of a bitch?” he lashes out.

“Always been one,” I say without hesitation. “You’re the one who’s changed.”

“Is that right?” he retorts sarcastically.

“You used to jump into the fray. You were always ready for battle. You fucking loved it.”

“And I still do. When we’re prepared for it,” he replies. “But I’m not a fan of fucking suicide missions.”

I tense up. There’s truth in his words, but I’m too determined to listen. I know what his counsel will be:Do the research. Collect intel. Wait before we make our move.

The only problem is that I can’t afford to wait any longer. Theo doesn’t have that kind of time. Neither does Elyssa. The woman is chained to her bed right now, furious and inconsolable.

“I have to do this, Matvei.”

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