Page 86 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

He takes a deep breath, but the anger remains even after he’s exhaled. “I know you feel responsible, Phoenix. I saw them carry that baby out with them. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you. For her. But this is not the way to get him back. All this will do is get you captured right alongside the child.”

“And what if they kill him while I’m sitting back, working on a plan? What then?”

“They took him for a reason. And it wasn’t to kill him. If it had been, then they’d have finished the job on the spot.”

“He was their ticket off the compound,” I point out.

“But they sought him out the moment they infiltrated the place,” Matvei points out. “They wanted Josiah, but they came here for Theo, too. They’re not going to hurt the boy.”

His words make sense, but I can’t rely on logic. Not when my instincts are screaming at me to get moving.

I heard myself the moment they grabbed the screaming baby and made off with him. The only thing running through my head had been,My son…

Fuck a paternity test. I know what I feel in my gut. In my heart.

That boy is mine.

“I can’t take that chance,” I say. “I can’t just sit around here for days knowing they have him. Every second he’s with the Yakuza or Astra Tyrannis is one second too fucking long.”

“I’m not a parent,” Matvei says, trying hard to find some common ground, some sense of agreement amidst all the tension. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. But I have an idea. I saw what happened when you lost Yuri.”

“Then you understand why I can’t take your advice.”

“On the contrary, I think that’sexactlywhy you should take my advice,” Matvei retorts. “I don’t want you to lose another son, Phoenix. If you go in guns blazing, without a real plan or any significant intel, then Theo is as good as gone. And it’ll be your fault.”

He winces when he sees my eyes cloud with dark rage.

“Fuck, that came out wrong,” he says. “What I mean is—"

“A great many things have come out wrong between us, wouldn’t you say,brother?” I snarl. “Maybe it’s time to acknowledge the end of a chapter. Maybe you should go.”

He recoils. “You don’t mean that.”

“Look me in the eyes and tell me I don’t.”

His gaze finds mine. And it sees what I feel: hot, churning anger.

“I’m not scared of you, Phoenix. I never have been. It’s the reason you used to value my opinion.”

“Before you became a coward.”

Matvei’s hands clench into fists. I wonder for a moment if he’s going to use them. A part of me hopes he does, because my own fists are tight and coursing with adrenaline. I could use the fight. I’ve spent far too much fucking time in my head lately. I need to act. To move. To stop thinking for one goddamn second.

But if Matvei wants to go down that road, then he’ll have to throw the first punch.

The moment stretches out. Reaches its breaking point…

And then he exhales.

His fingers unwind. “Call me what you want,” he says. “Level your insults at me. I’m strong enough to take it. But I will not leave. I want to be clear, though: it’s not you I’m staying for. It’s for that girl. For that baby. You need me to keep them safe, even if you don’t see that.”

This whole thing is fucked. We should be brothers in this. We should be preparing for battle together, striding out side by side, ready to take on our enemies as a single unit.

Instead, we stand at opposite ends, separated by fury and pride and arrogance.

How long has this void been forming? Months? Weeks?

Or longer? From the very beginning?

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