Page 201 of Ruin My Life
Her cheeks flush, though I’m pretty certain she doesn’t understand what I’ve said—aside from maybemi amor.
I’ve never called someonemy lovebefore.
Not Isabella. Not anyone.
It always felt too final. Too… vulnerable.
But with Brie, it slips off my tongue as easily as water over a cliff’s edge. As natural as wind weaving through tall grass. As inevitable as flame catching on bone-dry kindling.
Because she is the waterfall I’ve already fallen over.
She is the warm breeze that quiets the war in my head.
She is the spark that lit my hollow chest on fire.
And I will not let this be our end.
I’ll claw time from fate’s hands if I have to.
At the elevator, Connor leans against the wall as Monroe and Chavez file in behind me. When the doors open, I step inside—then pause in the threshold.
I turn back and catch Connor’s gaze.
“Watch her with your life, brother,” I murmur, voice low but leaving no room for misinterpretation.
His eyes flick to Brie—just for a breath—then lock back on mine. For a heartbeat, there’s something dark in his stare. Something that coils cold and tight in my gut.
It’s the same look he gave her last night—raw distrust, a flash of hate I’d hoped he’d bury, at least for today.
But then it’s gone.
He flashes that familiar cocky grin, all teeth and swagger, like it never happened.
“Seems I got the most important job,” he says.
I roll my eyes, but can’t stop the ghost of a smile tugging at my mouth.
Then he claps my shoulder firmly before nudging me back into the elevator. “Don’t worry,” he says, “Everything will go according to plan.”
The doors close between us.
And I pray—quiet and desperate—to whatever god still bothers listening to bastards like me, that he’s right.
THESONGBIRDheadquarters is just as bleak and harrowing as I remember.
Hidden in plain sight behind the façade of a run-down used car lot, the exterior still reeks of rust and motor oil. But beneath the surface? The rot runs deeper.
They started simple with stolen cars. Easy money. Strip the VINs, repaint the bodies, resell to desperate souls who never asked questions. Clean, fast, and profitable.
But greed never stays small.
Somewhere along the line, they shifted gears. Became loan sharks. They preyed on the broke, the broken, and the barely breathing—offering salvation laced with poison. Short-term loans with impossible interest rates. The kind no one can crawl out from under.
And when you fail to pay? They don’t kill you.
No. Theyownyou—piece by piece, debt by debt—until you beg for death and still don’t get it.
The only thing that disrupted the system was Xander.
