Page 211 of Ruin My Life
Lee runs a hand through his hair. “Damon. Me. Connor. Monroe. Chavez. And I guess… you, once you broke in. But aside from that, no one.”
“Is there any way someone else could’ve gotten in?”
“There’s been no signs of forced entry, so I doubt it. Not unless they had keys.”
Keys.
The only reason I got in was because I stole Damon’s keys, but no one else has had theirs go missing.
But what if someone didn’t need tostealthem?
What if they already had them?
My pulse spikes as the pieces start falling into place. Faster than I can catch them.
Xander said his partner was someone Damon knew.
Someoneclose.
Someone smart. Calculated. Patient. The kind of person who would play the long game. Who would pretend to have skin in this fight while orchestrating the whole thing behind the curtain.
My mind races, ready to ask Lee for a list of everyone on Damon’s payroll who might’ve been capable of sneaking access—
But then I see it.
Connor shifts his weight, leaning closer to Lee’s laptop. His sleeves ride up slightly. Just an inch. But it’s enough.
Four jagged red scratches mare his wrist, stark against his lightly tanned skin.
Evenly spaced. Fresh. Still healing.
My lungs seize.
Connor?
No. It’s not possible.
The man who raped me had long black hair and venom-green eyes. Maybe he shaved his head, but Connor’s eyes are russet. Brown, not green.
It doesn’t match.It doesn’t match.
But the DNA doesn’t lie. And those scratches—those could’ve only come from Jennifer, fighting for her life.
Unless… hewantedto be unrecognizable to me. Put on contacts to disguise the only feature I’d be able to clock, so he could watch his plan unfold in real time.
My entire body bristles with fear as my mind flip-flops.
My heart starts hammering. My hands tremble on the counter. I can’t feel my feet beneath me.
“Brie?” Connor’s voice slices through the fog. “What’s wrong?”
I flinch.
He noticed. I was staring, and henoticed.
He tilts his head, his brow pressing together in concern that I’m sure is fake—but there’s something else in his eyes. Something cold.
Familiar.
