Page 53 of Ruined

"Just me," he whispered. "Who's with you?" He seemed to be searching and squinting, but he couldn't make out who crouched beside me.

"Daisy Lasalle," Daze said. "You're interrupting our girls' night." She sounded a little disappointed, if glad it was him and not someone else that found us here in the darkness.

Anyone else, and things could be messed up already. Someone would be dead, and it wouldn't have been either of us, if we could help it.

His teeth flashed white in the darkness. "Sorry, but I wasn't going to let you be out here by yourself. Unless you're working, in which case you could have asked me to give you a ride, or borrowed one of Reuben's cars."

"I'm not working," I said. "Not exactly."

I gave him a quick rundown of why we were here. I couldn't see the expression on his face, but I heard the change in his breathing as I spoke. I could almost feel his pulse racing faster and his mind turning over with possibilities. Including wondering if he should contact Reuben or Damon.

"I'm definitely not leaving," he said when I was finished. "First of all, you can't make me, and second of all, you might need my help."

"We can make you if we have to," I said. "But now you're here, you might as well stay. But I expect you to do what I tell you to do."

I had a plan. I could adjust it to fit him, but I didn't have time to rethink everything. If he followed what I told him to do, everything should go smoothly.

'Should' being the key word. It had to; I had no room to fuck this up. This might be the best shot I got. I was taking it and I wasn't going to miss.

"Sure thing, boss," he said easily. "I live to serve."

"I'm sure you do," I said. "Now, be quiet. We don't need anyone to hear us and find us here."

"Got it," he whispered.

I slipped my knife away and crouched, scanning the surrounding streets and listening carefully.

What was the time? I was certain only a couple of minutes had passed, but I didn't dare to turn my phone on again. The light would give us all away. That was probably how Gianni found us in the first place. One little glance was all it took.

Of course, he knew to look, others might not, but I wasn't taking the chance.

A car roared past, then another. A fourth car was quickly followed by a fifth.

It was the fifth that slowed down and turned into the car park behind the block of shops.

My whole body stiffened with anticipation and a dose of anxiety bigger than I was comfortable with.

I forced them both down. Adrenaline was bad at times like this. I needed a clear head, precise thinking and exact action.

I took a deep breath, and another, regaining my calm. Forcing my mind to the state where I didn't simply react. I needed to act on instinct and training, with careful precision, not recklessness.

Gianni would have called it assassin mode, or something similar. Whatever it was, I needed it right now.

The car stopped in a parking space and the engine was turned off.

Clarissa stepped out of the driver's side. "I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow morning. I'll have to give myself a few minutes to have a bed ready. I have an apartment above my shop." She gestured vaguely in that direction, her movements illuminated by the light inside the car. The look on her face suggested her passenger was not a welcome surprise.

From inside the car, a male voice responded. Slowly, the passenger side door was pushed open and a man stepped out.

CHAPTER 21

DAMON

I stopped outside the door to Reuben's room. Even this close to midnight, the door was open and a light was on inside. I didn't hear any groaning, so I decided it was safe to push the door open a little further and peer inside.

Typical of Reuben, he was still fully dressed, sitting on a chair near the window reading a recently released, thick epic fantasy.

Not my kind of thing, but they kept him engaged for hours. I'd bet that when he was a child, if he was quiet, it wasn't because he was up to something. He would have been sitting in a corner reading. When he wasn't learning to take over from his father.

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