Page 178 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)
“Where?”
“Anywhere. Someplace far.”
“And have what kind of life?”
“A better one. A safer one.”
I look down, unable to properly explain to her just how I feel about the idea of leaving.
“Ah. I see.”
I look up. “What?”
Charity’s looking at me now with a hopeless expression in her eyes. “You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”
I rear back. “I don’t know him well enough for that.”
“Why’d you risk your life going after him last night?”
“Because I didn’t want Theo losing his father.”
Charity shakes her head at me. “You know, there’s a reason people say love is blind. It clouds your judgement, Elyssa. It makes you do dumb things. And if you—”
I shove past her before she can finish, unwilling to be lectured to anymore.
When I’m out in the hallway, I turn to her, trying to fight the angry emotion coursing through me. “You treat me like I’m some idiot who doesn’t know anything,” I say. “I may not have experienced as much as you have but that doesn’t make me stupid.”
Then I walk away fast. She doesn’t follow me.
It hurts for a moment before I shove that pain aside.
* * *
I’ve calmed down considerably when I walk into the kitchen a few minutes later. Phoenix is standing by the windows with Theo in his arms.
Phoenix looks even more beautiful with Theo in his arms. And my boy looks pretty comfortable.
I hold out my hands. Phoenix passes him to me—a little reluctantly, by my observation. I raise him up in the air and turn him on the spot slowly like I’m checking for imperfections.
Theo giggles and tries to grab my hair. Smiling, I plop him into the crook of my arm and look up at Phoenix. “Thanks for taking care of him.”
“It was only for a little while,” he replies. “It’s not a big deal.”
He’s trying to act nonchalant about it, but I can sense that this last half hour with Theo has meant more than he’s willing to let on.
I give him a tentative smile. After a few seconds, he returns it. It’s not exactly fully realized, but it’s… something.
“Are you ready?” he asks suddenly.
“Ready?”
“For your second swimming lesson?”
Hope and happiness burgeon inside me so fast that it’s pathetic. I try not to look too eager as I nod. “I’d love that.”
Anna takes Theo happily, and twenty minutes later, I’m back in the pool with Phoenix.
“How long do you think it’ll take me to learn to swim on my own?” I ask as we go through another set of drills.
