Page 117 of Ruin My Life

He just smirks back at me.

“Ignore him,” Monroe says, patting my shoulder with surprising gentleness.

The motion is almost soothing—something my dad would’ve done when I was younger.

“Take a breather,” he says. “We can keep going whenever you want.”

He isn’t kicking me out, but the way he and Chavez exchange a look after that tells me they want to talk without me.

I nod casually, like I don’t care. Then I slip out the gym door and press my back against the wall just beside it.

I don’t go far.

Because whatever they’re about to say—I’m sure I want to hear it.

For a few minutes, they don’t say anything. There’s just silence, thick and deliberate, like they’re waiting to make sure I’m gone.

Then Monroe finally speaks.

“Any updates I should know about?”

Chavez sighs. “Not much. Lee’s still digging for a location. Damon and Connor left about an hour ago.”

“To do what?”

“To get information,” Chavez says. “Or... try, at least.”

There’s another long pause, like they’re somehow communicating without speaking.

The air in the hallway grows heavier with every second I stand here. It’s like every word they say, and don’t say, is pressing against my chest.

Then Monroe asks, “Are they planning to tell her?”

My heart skips—then drops like a stone.

“I don’t know,” Chavez replies. “It’s a dicey situation. You know that.”

“This situation isn’t going to getlessdicey if she finds out on her own,” Monroe says, his voice low and serious. “She has the right to know. Especially knowing what he did.”

“I agree,” Chavez says. “But you know the risks. Damon knows them better than all of us. That’s why it has to behimwho makes the call.”

Monroe sighs—softly. Barely more than a breath.

“I know.”

That’s all he says.

Quiet.

Final.

Before they can catch me listening, I push off the wall and walk the rest of the hall as if I wasn’t just pressed against it like a child eavesdropping on the grown-ups. I slip into the bedroom, shut the door, and twist the lock with more force than necessary.

Damonknowswho he is. Theyalldo.

And they won’t tell me.

I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not like they trust me. I’m The Black Rose, the girl who hacked her way into their lives. The outsider. The weapon no one fully wants to claim.