Page 170 of Ruin Me With Lies

I don’t look at the hostage.Can’t.Won’t.

Cool and collected, I slide on a smile, “Well, well.This is a ratherinteresting twist.”

“Ah, here he is,” Vale bellows with a bitter laugh.“The ‘king.’”

Vale might wear a collar, but humble he’s never been.He usually carries an air of smug composure.Confidence in his shoulders.Shrewdness in his eyes.Measured with his words.Quiet with his thoughts.

But right now, he’s none of those things.He’s frayed.

There’s a wild, unhinged edge to him.A twitchy tension in his jaw, his posture, the jerky snaps of his body.Shoulders uneven, neck veined and straining, like his body’s barely holding it together.He looks like a man who went all-in on what he thought was a winning hand, but instead lost it all.And there’s no reasoning with a man who has nothing left to lose.

“Come on, Vale,” I drawl.“Time and place.”

Two of his men block me before I can advance further.

I raise a brow.“You know this is bad optics for the city you’re trying to steal, right?”“

“Fuck the city!”he shouts.

“Ooh.”I tut at him.“That’s not verypriestlyof you, Uncle.”

“YOU KILLED MY SON!”Veins bulge in his neck, his face reddening with rage.“You took my boy from me!”

I let the silence stretch before I respond, slow and steady,

“After everything that came to light, Iwishit was me who killed him.”I take a step forward.His men match it.“When you turned your back on him, I took in that little pissant.Mentored him.Fed him.Treated him like a brother.And how did he repay me?By being a disloyal filth.”I keep my voice level, but cold, cutting.“Trust me, I’m pissed as fuck that someone else beat me to ending that spineless piece of shit.”

“LIAR!”he roars, his entire body shaking.

“Why would I lie about dropping someone who turned on his own and got the very men he sat and drank with killed?”I scoff.“Why would I lie when it’s embarrassing as fuck formethat he pulled it off right under my nose.”

“Because.I.Have.Her.”

He yanks Raya’s head back by a fistful of her hair.And the short, stifled whimper that leaves her feels like a blade shoved straight through my ribcage.It takes everything in me to remain still.

I force a detached, perfunctory glance at her.“What gave you the impression that I give a shit about this Pink House nobody runaway?”

Vale lifts a challenging brow.“No?”He kicks her leg out from under her and drives her to her knees, gun pressed to the back of her head.“So you won’t mind if I splatter her brains all over your casino floor?”

And just like that, any illusion of control on my emotions shatters.Because Idocare.I’m not detached.I’m not indifferent.This womanownsa piece of my soul.She’s been my weakness since the first fucking second I laid eyes on her.My heart feels like it’s being crushed by a goddamn boa constrictor.

I scan the room.Every angle, every distance, every armed body.The math is bad.The odds worse.But I’m already calculating how many bullets I can sustain before I reach her.

Something must show on my face, because Vale throws his head back and bellows out a laugh.Unhinged.Triumphant.

“You know, I couldn’t believe it at first,” he mocks.“After all, youareStefano Castello.A heartless, soulless, self-serving wretch.But now…now I’msure.You fell for this worthless bitch.”He digs the barrel of his gun harder against her skull, his hand shaking with rage.“And now I have your weakness in my grasp.Which means,I win.You took my son from me.Now I get to take something special fromyou.”

In a single move, I have my Glock unholstered and aimed as I advance.But within seconds, I’m surrounded.Outnumbered.

I’ve got a clear shot at him.And I trust my aim.But I won’t risk her getting hurt.Can’t.

He’s got me.Vale fucking has me.

All because I was stupid enough to fall for a woman.To care.To give a shit enough to risk it all.A predicament I’ve spent my entire life avoiding.Yet here I am.Owned.Cornered.Useless.

“There’s no way out of this, nephew.”His smirk is taunting.“Think of it like one of our little chess games.I always cornered you.Outsmarted you.Beat you.And this time will be no different.”His grin is slow, deliberate.“Checkmate.”

Gritting my teeth, I draw my second handgun and level both at him.If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.If I can just give her a fighting chance to run…