Page 92 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

I grit my teeth and try to brush past Elyssa, but she holds firm to my chest and I can’t bring myself to shove her aside.

“You motherfucker. I told you once already. You don’t want to be here, then go. But if you’re staying, you better fucking follow my orders. I am your don!”

My words echo through the bunker. I’m sure the prisoners can hear me, but I don’t care. He’s crossed a line.

“She just wanted to talk to her parents,” Matvei responds—as though that qualifies as a defense.

“She was tied to the fucking bed,” I reply. “If I’d wanted her free, I’d have let her go myself.”

“Stop it!” Elyssa interrupts. “Stop talking about me as though I’m not here.”

I grab hold of her wrist and drag her deeper into the bunker. She doesn’t protest. Nor does she ask where I’m taking her.

I open the last door on the left and throw her in the empty cell. Then I walk in after her and shut the door on both of us.

When I turn to face her, I notice her jaw is set and her body is tight with tension. Looks like she’s not backing down, either.

“Why talk to your parents now?” I demand.

“Because I wanted to see if they know something that might help me get Theo back.”

“Your parents don’t know a fucking thing. They’re mindless sheep who’ll do whatever the fuck Josiah wants them to.”

I’m right and she knows it, but she looks defensive anyway.

“Maybe you’re right,” she acknowledges. “But that doesn’t mean they haven’t noticed things. They lived in that place their whole lives. And Josiah has been in charge that entire time. My parents weren’t privy to his private dealings. They don’t know details. They don’t have names—”

“Then they’re fucking useless, aren’t they?”

She looks livid. But I’m glad I’m pissing her off. It’s riling me up further… in more ways than one.

“You’re an arrogant prick,” she shoots at me. “Are you so damn proud that you won’t even consider that there might be another way at this than the plan you’ve thought up?”

“Sounds like you’ve been talking to Matvei,” I drawl angrily.

“Ihavebeen talking to Matvei,” she snaps. “As a matter of fact, it’s been a breath of fresh air talking to someone who’s actually willing to listen.”

I try and act like I don’t give a shit. Even though my nerves prick with molten jealousy.

“Matvei doesn’t have anything to lose here,” I tell her. “He can afford to be cautious.”

“Listen to yourself. We all have to be cautious. You don’t have a plan.”

“I do.”

“Then what is it?” she says, calling my bluff. “‘Burst in there and open fire’? That’s not a plan. It’s a death wish.”

“Has everyone forgotten that I’m the fucking don here?”

She strides right up and pokes me in the chest with one finger. “Accepting help doesn’t make you weak,” she informs me icily. “Listening to advice doesn’t make you less capable.”

I gaze down at her, impassive and unimpressed. “Don’t flatter yourself that you know this world, Elyssa. Fucking a don doesn’t make you one.”

She rears back like I’ve struck her. But she’s making me fucking crazy and I don’t have the capacity to think before I speak right now.

“You are a cold-hearted fool,” she hisses. “Most days, I’m sorry I ever met you.”

I grab her wrist and push her up against the wall, my hips flush against hers. I’m hard and this position will ensure she knows it, but I’m riding too many emotions right now to care.

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