Page 38 of Ruin My Life

I’m silent in the back seat, limp and useless, as they continue to treat me like a package already wrapped and tagged.

Then a phone rings.

The driver taps a button on the dash, and the car’s speaker crackles softly to life.

“Target acquired,” he says. “We’re on our way back.”

Target acquired?People actuallysaythat in real life?

Jesus.

A new voice responds.

Low. Smooth.Dangerous.

The kind of voice that doesn’t have to shout to command a room—or kill someone.

It slithers out of the speaker, practically brushing the shell of my ear with how close it feels.

“Good,” the voice says, slow and venomous.

It immediately makes me shudder.

“Bring her to me.”

Chapter Seven

Damon

THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF WAYSIENJOYspending my evenings when I’m not working.

Tracking down whoever hacked into my private networkisn’tone of them.

As soon as I end my call with Monroe and Connor, I head straight for the back of The Speakeasy, into the dim little office I share with Lee.

He’s already planted at his desk, hunched over the glowing screens like a surgeon mid-operation, fingers pounding the keys in a relentless, percussive rhythm.

Even from behind, I can feel the tension radiating off him.

Lee’s always been an aggressive typer—I’d know, we’ve shared this office for years—but this isn’t his usual rhythm.

It’s harder. Angrier.

Frustration bleeds from every keystroke. Directed at whoever cracked his system.

And at himself, for not being able to stop it.

His onyx eyes haven’t blinked in what feels like hours. Deep-set shadows cling beneath them, and his wiry black hair sticks up in the back from being raked through one too many times.

I rest my forearms against the back of his chair, watching the lines of code flicker and shift across the screen. “Monroe and Connor have her,” I say quietly. “Apparently, she’s just some girl.”

Lee snorts—sharp and humourless—eyes still locked on the monitor.

“Just some girl?Are you out of your mind?” He shakes his head, typing even faster. “Whoever she is, she’s notjustanything. She’s one of the best I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen a lot. She slipped in like the network security didn’t even exist. Got around every perimeter I put in place without triggering a single alert. I’m not even sure I could’ve done it that cleanly, and Ibuiltthe damn system.”

I say nothing. I don’t need to.

Out of the five of us, Lee is the calmest. Quiet. Composed. Usually unshakeable.