Page 150 of Ruin My Life

And then I saw her.

It wasn’t the way she stood over Alexander, calm and poised with a gun to his temple. It wasn’t the bruise on her cheek—though that redirected a lot of my rage toward him.

It was herface.

The fire in her eyes.

Raw, unfiltered, explosive. She burned with it. Rage so hot I could feel it from across the room. It crawled over my skin and sank into my blood.

She looked like me two years ago, the day I almost killed Xander myself.

But whereIhesitated,shedidn’t.

She wanted it too much to pause. Needed it.

Now she shakes in my arms as I carry her down the stairs, light and trembling like she might fall apart if I loosen my grip even a little.

And I don’t let her go.

Even when I climb into the back seat of the SUV, I keep her curled in my lap, her face tucked into the hollow of my neck like she’s trying to vanish into it.

Chavez slides in beside us, while Connor and Monroe take up the front.

Connor glances over the seat, giving Brie a quick once-over. Then his gaze settles on me.

“What’s the plan?”

All three wait. No one says a word.

I fucking hate this part of my job—the way they always look to me. Like I’ve got answers when half the time I’m just surviving on instinct.

I never wanted to be a leader. Never wanted the weight of other people’s lives balancing on mine. But when shit goes sideways, I’m the one they follow.

“We go back to The Speakeasy,” I say finally. “Regroup. Meet with Lee. Find out how long we’ve got before O’Doyle figures out Xander’s dead.”

Monroe adjusts the rearview mirror until it catches my eyes. His brow lifts—just once. A silent question.

What about her?

I glance down.

Brie doesn’t react. She just stares at the space between us like it’s something she’s already fallen into and can’t climb out of.

I want to be angry. Want toscreamat her. Demand why she didn’t wait. Why she didn’t trust me.

But I already know.

Because I didn’t wait either.

When Isabella died, I didn’t ask anyone’s permission. Didn’t stop to weigh the consequences. I went after the men responsible and made them suffer.

And Brie did the same.

She just did it better.

I wish she’d trusted me. But maybe shecan’t. Maybe she doesn’t know how.

That night Xander tore her life apart... it didn’t just break her. It rewired her. Made trust into a luxury she couldn’t afford.