Page 95 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“Raj, I presume,” I say, just as Elyssa steps into the room behind me.

He gives me a calm smile. “I was wondering how long it would take.”

22

Elyssa

Raj’s dark eyes land on me. His faint smile never fades. “And you brought sweet little Elyssa,” he murmurs. His voice contains an undercurrent that I don’t like one bit.

I despise the way he’s looking at me. Like I amuse him.

“You work for Astra Tyrannis, don’t you?” I blurt out, before Phoenix can say anything. He raises his eyebrows and glances at Phoenix.

“I didn’t realize she was going to be my interrogator,” he chuckles. “I must admit, it’s a genius tactic. Though it might have been more effective if you’d sent her in alone. Preferably in a see-through dress.”

Phoenix’s body goes rigid immediately. “I’d be careful if I were you,” he warns in a feral growl.

“But you’re not me, are you?” Raj replies. “This is nothing new to me, young master.”

“You’ve never been a prisoner of the Kovalyov Bratva before.”

“You’re all the same,” he snorts. “I don’t expect different.”

“You will answer my questions.”

Raj checks his nails as though he’s just completed a manicure. “I don’t think so.”

Phoenix turns to me, his eyes blazing. I shudder despite myself. “Okay, Elyssa—you wanted things done your way right?” he asks. “Well, this is how we get information out of stubborn men who should know better.”

He turns around and grabs hold of Raj by the collar of his discolored shirt. Heaving him high, he brings him smashing down face-first on the concrete floor with a sickening thud. I suppress a scream.

For a moment, I wonder if he’s dead. Then there’s motion. When Raj lifts his head, I spy blood on the floor and half of a chipped-off tooth. I feel a moment of pity for him as he struggles to right himself.

He’s half of Phoenix’s size and height. A child in comparison. It hardly seems fair, but I hold my tongue, refusing to intervene.

Phoenix is right: I asked for this.

But the moment Phoenix grabs Raj by the hair at the back of his head, I know I don’t have the stomach for it.

I hate Astra Tyrannis. I hate what they do and what they stand for. And now I have a personal reason to hate them, too. But seeing another human being tossed around like a ragdoll feels… wrong. It feels like I shouldn’t be here.

As Phoenix throws a punch at Raj’s stomach, I look away, cringing against the sound of Raj’s muted groans.

“Speak,” Phoenix growls.

“You won’t get anything from me,” spits Raj.

Phoenix butts his head against Raj’s. The small man crumples to the ground with another yelp.

He’s much more resilient than I would have thought, though. Even when his eyes roll back in his head, the stubborn expression on his face doesn’t change.

“Strip.”

I freeze, but Phoenix is glaring at Raj with a deadly expression on his face.

“You heard me,” he says when Raj doesn’t move. “Strip. Now.”

I move forward, but refrain from reaching out to Phoenix. “What are you doing?” I whisper to him. We’re crowded into the little space, however, and my whisper feels like a shout.

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