Page 109 of Ruin My Life

For everything he did. For what hethreatened. For the girl I buried because of him. I had every goddamn reason to finish it.

But Matthias offered me a deal.

Let his son live, and in exchange, he wouldn’t come after me. I didn’t care about that part—I knew how to disappear. But he also promised to leave Kings alone. No hits. No trespassing. No bloodbaths in the streets I called home.

At the time, it felt like the only selfless decision I had left. Sacrifice my own revenge for peace. For the safety of the only family I had left.

But now?

Now it feels like the biggest fucking mistake of my life.

We all knew Brie was hunting someone. We had our suspicions on the who and why. Assumed it was a Songbird tied back to her parents deaths.

I never thought for a second that the monster she’s searched for the last six months could be the one I let walk away.

“But my little sister... he tookmorethan her life that night.”

Her voice slices through me like a blade. I hear it again—raw, ragged, laced with pain. I see the tremor in her jaw, the fury she’s trying not to drown in.

And all I can think is,I should’ve pulled the trigger.

I want to go back. To the night I spared him. Back to that rain-slick street outside the Songbird compound. I want to feel the weight of that gun again, pressed against his forehead. Hear the click of the hammer. Only this time, I don’t hesitate.

This time, I don’t flinch.

But I can’t go back.

All I can do is find a way forward.

I can’t let Brie charge in and kill Alexander O’Doyle. Even if she deserves it. Even if Iwanther to watch the life drain from his fucking eyes.

Because if she kills him now, she won’t survive the fallout. The Songbirds will come for her like rabid wolves. Border agreement or not.

And no matter how many guns I’ve got, no matter how wide my reach is—there’s no winning a war with an army like his father’s.

So I have to be smarter.

I need to lure him here. ToKings. WhereImake the rules. Where my eyes cover every alley, every rooftop, every door. Where I control the chessboard.

I’ll break him down. Get a confession. Evidence. Leverage.

And when I’ve got him dead to rights—when there’s no escape, no denial, no father left to hide behind—we’ll kill him.

Not for me.

For her.

But first... I have tofindthe son of a bitch.

“Lee, find everything you can on Xander O’Doyle. Where he lives, where he eats, who he fucks, who he answers to,” I say, unable to contain the bite in my tone. “Based on the photos, I’d bet he’s operating out of a mechanic shop. Might be his, might not. Either way—trace it. I want a location by morning.”

Lee nods without looking up, already pulling tools from his mental shelf that’ll get the job done.

“I’m hoping wherever he is, it’s close enough to the borders that hauling his ass into Kings won’t raise suspicion,” I add.

Chavez lifts his brows. “You’re actually gonna take him out?” There’s no judgment in his tone—just quiet surprise. “Not saying he doesn’t fucking deserve it. But he’s still an O’Doyle.”

“Matthias is a piece of shit,” I say flatly, “but he keeps his word. Always has. If I can prove Xander was in Kings—and that I had reason to put him down—then technically, I won’t be breaking our deal.”