Page 183 of Ruin Me With Lies

It’s been a few days since I got jumped.Angeline brought in a private medical team for me, and I’ve been stuck in bed ever since.A couple fractured ribs, sprained joints, mild concussion.Most of the swelling’s gone down, cuts are starting to close, but I’m still purple in more places than not and needa lotof fucking painkillers.

For the most part, I’m fine, just not fully functional.Another couple weeks, according to the medical team, and I’ll be right as rain.

If it were up to me, I’d haul myself into a damn wheelchair and roll to that clock tower myself.But Angeline’s got everyone treating me like I’m seconds from making a break for it.

“On a serious note,” Torin says, “how the hell did you manage to come all the way here and get jumped?”

“That’s the game we’re playing?”I raise a brow.“You’re gonna pretend you don’t know?When your right-hand man showed up in Vegas to tell me face-to-face to stop searching for her?”

“I was in black-out mode on an op in Germany for the last two months.Just wrapped up a few days ago.”He shrugs.“Like I said, I’m here because Bratton told me you’re here.”

“I’m finding it hard to believe Guy didn’t fill you in.”

“You think him being my right-hand means we sit around gossiping like a bunch of bitches?”He snorts.“Part of his job is filtering the irrelevant shit to keep me focused.If he doesn’t think it’s critical, he doesn’t bring it to me.”

“Fuck you I’m ‘irrelevant,’” I return.“Youshouldknow what’s going on with me.You’re my handler for The O.I’m your responsibility.”

He scoffs at that.“You might’ve noticed, but I stopped trying to keep your ass in line a long time ago.I figured if you fuck up, you fuck up, and they smoke you.Good riddance.”

Pain ricochets through my ribs from the laugh that rattles out of me.

Torin shakes his head.“Look, I flew here the second I heard about the attack.If The O didn’t step in to protect you, there’s gotta be a reason.And since you’re on foreign soil alone...”He shrugs.“I’ll stick around until you recover.But keep giving me shit and I’ll hop right back on that jet and go home to my wife, who I’mdesperateto see after being away for over two months.”

Torin Garza is a mid-level agent of The O.A kingmaker.Owner of Red Cage.He’s also my blood relative.But I don’t see him often since he’s always off somewhere deep in an undercover op.

Him checking in on me purely out of concern is...new.He’s a cold, aloof, no-fucks-given asshole.Most times we find ourselves face to face, it’s either because I need a favor or he’s delivering some dire warning from The O.

If his presence here is sincere, it means more to me than when he handed me the keys to Vegas.Because the level of respect I hold for this detached motherfucker is...“Thanks for coming.”

He lifts a brow.“Was that so hard?”

I laugh, wincing as pain stabs through my ribs.“Fuck you.”

“Got any photos of the woman who did the impossible and brought the King of Vegas to his knees?”

“I’m never gonna live that down, am I?”

He laughs.“Not a chance.”

“Thought you didn’t ‘gossip like bitches,’” I grumble.

“Ain’t gossip if everyone and their granny knows.It’s more of a hot topic at this point.”His shoulders shake with silent laughter.“Trent and True’s been having a field day with it.”

“They’re ones to talk.”I grab my phone from the nightstand.“I had Trent by the balls when he was pussy-whipped by Lexi.And True came running to me like a crybaby when London left his ass.Hypocrites.”I swipe to my gallery and pull up a photo of Soraya.“Here.”

Torin straightens from the dresser and walks over to the bed, taking the phone.The subtle jump of his brows doesn’t go unnoticed before he flicks his eyes to me, then quickly back to the screen.

“You know her?”I press.

“No, uh...”He clears his throat.“She just seems...familiar.”

“Thought the same thing the first time I saw her.”

He hands the phone back.

Eying him closely, I push, “What do you know, Tor?”

“I don’t know anything.”He moves to the armchair near the bed.“And I’d like to continuenotknowing anything.”