Page 236 of Pretty Ruthless Monsters: Complete Series

QUINN

Nico’s words snap me out of my post-sex haze faster than a bucket of ice water.

I scramble up from the bed, ignoring the ache in my side as I grab for my clothes.

Killian, silently efficient as always, is already mostly dressed by the time I look over at him.

I haven’t even taken the time to clean up, and I can still feel his sticky cum trickling down my thigh as I yank my jeans up.

Atlas appears in the doorway behind Nico, already looking deadly serious. “How long do we have?”

“It’s hard to say.” Nico shakes his head and looks at each of us in turn. “Best case scenario? Maybe a day or two. But if it’s already got back to us that they’re on our trail, that means they didn’t just pick up the scent.”

“Fuck.” I pull my shirt over my head carefully, mindful of my still-healing wounds. “I thought we’d have more time. How the hell did they pick up our trail so fast?”

“Malcolm’s reach is deeper than we thought.” Killian’s voice is cold, as if we hadn’t just fucked each other’s brains out and fallen asleep together. “He probably has half the city looking for us by now.”

“We need to move.” Atlas moves to the window to risk a peek outside. “But where? Every safe house we know about, they probably know about too.”

“What are we supposed to do, then?” I do my best to shake out some of the tangles in my hair as I look from Atlas to Killian, then finally back to Nico. “There’s no advantage to staying here and waiting for them to show up.”

“No,” Nico grunts. “That would be suicide.”

“Detroit isn’t safe anymore.” I hate saying the words out loud, but they need to be said.

“We have to assume that every member of the Syndicate has their own network looking for us. That could be hundreds of eyes and ears. We’d spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders, and for what?

They’re going to find us eventually if we stay in this city. ”

“She’s right.” Killian nods. “They’ll find us eventually. We don’t have the manpower or the resources to stay and fight. We either run or we die.”

Atlas crosses his arms and clenches his jaw. “And leave everything we’ve ever known behind?”

“Wouldn’t you say that’s better than being dead?

” Nico huffs out a short laugh that doesn’t hold an ounce of humor.

“Everything we’ve known has already been taken from us.

All we have left are the clothes on our backs and the air in our lungs.

Let’s be damn sure before we decide to hand that shit over too. ”

My chest tightens at the thought of leaving.

This city is in my blood. It’s where my father built Enigma from nothing, where he died, where I took over leadership.

But like Nico said, that’s all been taken from me.

Staying here means we’re asking for Malcolm to finish what he started in that basement at Noctura.

“How far?” I ask, forcing myself to think tactically instead of emotionally. “Where do we go that’s far enough away that their networks can’t reach us?”

“West Coast, maybe,” Killian suggests. “California, Oregon… somewhere they don’t have as many connections.”

“That’s assuming they don’t have people we don’t know about out there,” Atlas points out. “For all we know, their reach could extend farther than we realize.”

“Where, then?” Nico asks. “East Coast? New York? Florida? Or do we consider leaving the country at this point?”

There are a million possibilities, but none of them feel right.

“We can figure out the details later,” I say, hoping a little distance will bring some clarity.

“Once we’ve put some space between us and the Syndicate.

I feel like every minute we waste debating is another minute they could be closing in.

We need to move, and we need to do it now. ”

The silence stretches out for a few seconds, giving anyone with second thoughts or doubts the time they might need to voice their opinions. When nobody else speaks up, Nico nods once.

“We’ll leave when it gets dark,” he says. “And we won’t leave word with any of our contacts here until we know for sure we’ve made it somewhere safe.”

Atlas and Nico head off to their rooms while Killian starts gathering his things.

I make my way to my own room, each step reminding me of the fresh ache between my legs.

It’s almost funny how I was lost in pleasure just a little while ago, without a care in the world.

Now it feels like the whole world has come crashing back down on my shoulders.

It’s far from the first time I’ve felt that weight, but this time it’s different.

My hands shake slightly as I start shoving clothes into a bag.

Everything I own now has come from Kendrick or the other former Princes who’ve been helping us.

A few pairs of jeans, some t-shirts, and underwear.

That’s it. That’s all that’s left of my life.

My throat gets tight as I think about everything we’ve lost. My dad’s house is a pile of ashes.

Same with the tattoo parlor. And Enigma…

my gang, my family, the ones I swore to protect and lead?

All I can do is hope they’ve scattered and gone far enough underground to stay safe from the people who want to hurt me.

Everything I worked for, everything my father built, is gone for good. All I have left are these borrowed clothes and three dangerous men who love me enough to run with me.

I have to stop thinking for a second and grip the edge of the dresser as the weight of it all threatens to overwhelm me. My father would be so disappointed to see how far I’ve fallen, to see me running. But he’d be even more disappointed to see me dead, so I guess this is the better choice.

I clench my jaw hard enough that it aches, and squeeze my eyes shut to hold back the flood of emotions. I refuse to break down. Not now. Not when we need to stay focused and sharp. My priority right now is just to survive the next few hours.

“Mia cara?” Nico’s voice is quiet but steady behind me. “Are you okay?”

I open my eyes and turn to face him. Just seeing him here, solid and real and worried about me when he has so many problems of his own, makes everything snap back into focus.

The loss of my father’s house, my gang, my life in Detroit—none of it matters as much as keeping these three men safe.

As long as I have Nico, Atlas, and Killian by my side, I have everything I truly need.

“Yeah.” My voice comes out stronger than I expected. “I’m fine.”

His mismatched eyes search my face, and I know he can see through the lie. He doesn’t call me on it though.

“I get it. Detroit…” He lets out a harsh breath. “This is my home too. Everything I’ve built is here. Where Atlas, Killian, and I started Carnage. Where we became brothers.”

His jaw works for a moment before he continues. “Hell, it’s where you and I got married.” A bitter smile plays at his lips, then fades to something that looks a lot like guilt. “And it’s where my father is.”

I stay quiet, giving him space to work through whatever is on his mind.

“Part of me feels like shit for leaving him behind. Which is fucking ridiculous, right?” He lets out a harsh laugh.

“The bastard abandoned me when I needed him most. But now?” He shakes his head.

“Now I can’t even risk saying goodbye, because Malcolm probably has people watching the facility. And somehow that makes me feel guilty.”

The raw honesty in his voice makes my chest ache. I reach for his hand and thread my fingers through his. “That guilt just proves you’re nothing like him. You’re a better man than he ever was. Better than he could have ever hoped to be.”

I rise up on my toes and press my lips to his, trying to pour everything I’m feeling into the kiss. All my love for him, my faith in him, my certainty that he’s so much more than the demons of his past. He kisses me back just as deeply, his arms wrapping around me as he pulls me closer.

He holds me tight, burying his face in my hair as I cling to him. For a moment, we’re not gang leaders or fighters or survivors. We’re just two people who found each other in this crazy, scary, fucked up world, holding on to what matters most.