Page 139 of Ruin My Life

But then I reel myself back in and consider the facts. She probably went back to her bedroom in the middle of the night. She may have trusted me in the moment to take care of her, but that doesn’t mean she trusts me anywhere outside of that.

Just because Brie and I had sex—mind-numbing, pulse-splitting,sell-your-soul-to-the-devil-for-a-second-nightkind of sex—it doesn’t change the fact that she’s pissed at me for not giving her that photo of Xander.

I just hope she understands why after everything I told her. I’m trying to protect her from accidentally waging a war with the Songbirds where she’s the number one target.

But Brie’s never been the type to wait around and takenofor an answer.

I shove on a pair of black boxer briefs and drag my jeans up my legs, the denim clinging like it resents me for rushing.

My head is still flooded with the scents of last night—her scent. A mix of shampoo and arousal and something else that I’ll never be able to scrub out of my skin.

My phone rings before I even make it to a shirt. When I see Lee’s name displayed across the screen, and I snatch it up.

“What?” I ask, not bothering with niceties.

When Lee calls—especially this early—it’s usually about business.

“I finally tracked down where I think those pictures of Xander were taken,” Lee says with pride in his voice. “It’s a mechanic shop in Queens, just off the Belt. The place is registered under an Alexander O’Malley. That’s why it was so hard to find.”

I should’ve known. That bastard.

Changing his name to dodge heat—typical.

“Good work, Lee,” I say, my voice still a little gravelled from sleep. “I’ll take the others over today. Maybe we can start putting pressure on him, see if we can’t push him into making a mistake. Did you find anything that connects him directly to Brie’s family?”

“Other than proximity? Not really. He was in the state, and yeah, Staten Island isn’t a far drive from Queens, but it’s out of the way if it was random.”

“So, you think it wasn’t,” I say, already knowing the answer.

“I think it was planned,” Lee confirms. “I just… can’t figure out why.”

And neither could the police, considering the case went cold so fast.

Xander had been spiralling even before I left the Songbirds, and it looks like he’s only gotten worse. Now that we know he’s been plotting to take me down, it’s not a stretch to think he’d track down Brie just for her skills.

But why her family?

They weren’t connected. Not to me. Not to the gang.

At least, not that I know of.

And there’s no goddamn way Xander could’ve known Brie would becomethisimportant to me.

That she’d wreck my fucking brain with one look. That I’d end up memorizing the shape of her mouth and the way she tastes when she moans my name like a prayer and a warning all at once.

He couldn’t have known any of that.

Which means what happened that night… what he did to her sister… it wasn’t about me. That was just Xander being the sick, sadistic piece of shit he’s always been.

And for that alone—he’s going to diescreaming.

“Did you have a late night or something?” Lee asks suddenly, his tone casual but curious.

I freeze.

I’d expect any of the others to take one look at me and be tipped off that I’d stayed up late doing something—doingsomeone—but Lee isn’t that perceptive, nor can he even see my face right now.

“Why?” I deflect.