Page 167 of Beautifully Ruined

“Bullshit. She’s no hacker.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know how to do most of this, but she’s smart, and I bet she watched something on it all. You told me what she stole. Sure sounds like a girl on a mission who learned the basics online to me.”

“Exactly my point,” I mutter. “The basics.”

He sighs. “Not what I mean. What I mean is you’re a hacker and she’s…she’s okay, not a hacker, but you both seem to bleed social justice from your fucking eyes.”

“Bullshit. She’s got a soft heart.”

He pulls up at the lights. “You hack and have a whole social justice persona going on the side of our job. The Ghost? Remember him? You want to make people who deserve it pay. And so does she. That kid wouldn’t let us leave Ivan’s place of torture until we went looking for that girl. She made us do what we could to find out who she was. Fuck me, Violet’s the offline Ghost, trying to find the truth and punish those at fault from the ground in real life, and you do it online.”

I glower at him. “It’s not the same thing. We’re not alike and besides, I can handle myself. Have you seen her? She’s defenseless.”

The lights change, and Enzo laughs as we keep driving. “What? Vi can’t handle herself and is defenseless because she’s a girl?”

“Stop putting words in my mouth, dickwad.”

He raises a hand from the wheel. “Whatever, dude. Are we still raiding this place or what? Is Violet doing it on her own?”

I’m saved from very choice words when his phone rings and with a sigh, he answers,

A voice fills the car. “Enzo, it’s your uncle Gino here. I want to see you and your friend immediately.”

I reach out and hit mute.

“What the fuck?” Enzo asks.

“Stall him.”

Enzo winces. “Uncle Gino isn’t exactly known for his patience.”

“I don’t care.”

And I don’t. Right now my focus is on making sure Vi is okay.

She needs to be because once this is done, I’m killing her myself.

Chapter Thirty-Two

VIOLET

The training centerisn’t what I expected on the outside.

Cade had said something about a fishing store.

And Frank’s Bait and Tackle is certainly that. Outside, and weirdly inside.

I follow Thomas and Macy in.

She doesn’t look at me, but I’m not sure what I expected. I guess from the look she gave me at the club which had vibes of we might know each other or maybe she didn’t like me to now, it’s just…weird? Right?

I don’t know.

Unease pricks my skin as we go through the store and through to the back, where there’s a lift behind a door marked cleaning supplies.

The elevator’s sleek, and it’s the kind of thing I’d imagine as part of an exclusive sex club’s training center.

I take off my coat and hold it over my arms, like it’s a security blanket. The USB is inside my bra, but the tools and the burner are in the coat. So, I’m not letting that go.