Page 112 of Ruin Me With Lies

Unbelievable.I haven’t said a word this whole time.My hands are in my goddamn pockets.Would be nice if these ungrateful fucks looked at me with even a flicker of appreciation for saving their pathetic lives, elevating them from gutter trash to something useful.For fucking once.

I push off the doorframe and walk out.

Outside, Lorenzo’s holstering his gun, eyes locked on Raya who’s flouncing off in the distance, anger in every step.

“You think it’s really a ‘sex thing’?”he asks.“Or is she covering for someone?”

If he finds out I tried to kill her, things are going to get messy.She’s under his “Halo.”His protection.Which means, hands off.No violence.What I did the other night is a direct breach of our “Halo” treaty.At any other time, I wouldn’t give a damn.But right now, with everything else going sideways, the last thing I need is to be at odds with my best friend.

“Who knows?”I shrug.“I don’t believe a damn word that comes out of her mouth.Even the Uppers think she’s into women.”

“It better not be Gio,” he mutters, sliding into the cart.“We all agreed that neither of you would touch her until all this shit’s over.If I find out that fucker couldn’t keep his dick in his pants...”

Ididn’t agree to anything.He talked and I listened.

“Hmm.Now that I think about it...yeah, I think it’s him.”I climb in behind the wheel, straight-faced.“Definitely Gio.”

Look, when I put this plan together, the marks on Raya’s neck weren’t part of the equation.

A minor hiccup, but it didn’t throw off the plan.

Step one: Poke the bear.

Get Lorenzo on patrol with me.Let him needle me about Raya just enough so I can flip it back on him and poke athispressure point.The cop’s daughter.

Done.

Step two: Feed the bear.

Once he’s wound up enough, head toward Brioso Hubb.Make sure he sees Raya posted up with the Uppers, which will piss him off.He might not be interested in Raya, but he’s still territorial.He can’t control what the cop’s daughter does, or who she’s with, or how far away she is, so he’ll dump all his frustration on the ones hecancontrol.Raya and the Uppers.

Done.

Step three: Break the bear.

For weeks now, he’s been white-knuckling the urge to run off to L.A.to stalk the cop’s daughter in the flesh.Throwing all his focus into dealing with our mess here.But if my plan works, he’ll crack by the end of the week.He’ll spring an impromptu trip to L.A.using another “Tripp Garza has a private emergency and needs my help” excuse.Tripp’s his favorite cousin.They’re tight, and have secrets even I don’t know about, so Tripp will cover for him—as he always does.And I won’t even question it because I orchestrated it.

Pending.

Onlythenwill I make my move.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Raya

FROM A CABINATthe top of the unmoving Ferris wheel in Soul of Mirabella, I gaze up at the star-soaked desert sky.

This is my favorite spot in the villa.It’s where I come when I need to think.While Benny Four, the wheel operator, watches Westerns at maximum volume in his work hut, I quietly scale the frames of the Ferris wheel to the highest cabin, and just sit back…andbreathe.Asme.All guards down.

I’ve been up here for hours.Midnight’s come and gone.But I had to get away from everything and everyone for a bit before I did something violently stupid.

Because Lorenzo’s bullshit had me ready to snap today.Arrogant, chest-puffing, asshole male overreach is nothing new to me, but I haven’t felt that humiliated and publicly chastised since I was a kid.

Like, what the actualhellwas Lorenzo’s deal today?Labeling me his “little sister” have officially torched my carefully built relationship with the Uppers.Does he seriously not get how I’ve been gathering intel this whole time?How I’ve managed to pick up on quiet rumors, earn trust, pull threads that could actuallyhelpus figure out who the real threat is?

I respect the man, I do.But today I had to physically stop myself from knocking his overgrown ass to the ground and twisting his fucking head clean off his shoulders.

There’s no chance I’m welcome at Brioso Hubb anymore after that scene.Which I guess is exactly what he wanted.