Page 217 of Ruin My Life
“It was… Con?” I repeat, the shape of them foreign on my tongue.
Lee’s blood-smeared lips part again. “Killed Jennifer… Anya…” His voice cracks, more blood sliding from the corner of his mouth. “Has Brie.”
The floor tilts under me, like I’m standing on the deck of a sinking ship.
Connor?
That can’t be right.
He’s been like family to me. A brother.
I remember the first time we met—just days after I made my deal with Matthias. There were still Songbirds testing the line, wandering into Kings territory like they hadn’t been warned. I was tracking one of them down when Connor beat me to it—gifted the guy with a bullet in his skull before I even showed up.
That night, he told me the Songbirds killed someone he loved, and he wanted them to suffer. I saw the fire in his eyes. I offered him a way to turn that rage into something useful—told him he could kill as many as he wanted, so long as they were on my turf.
He's always been violent. Unhinged sometimes. But loyal. I thought.
We fought often about the deal with O’Doyle. He wanted to draw more blood. Wanted to burn the whole empire down. I told him over and over—we’dlosethat war. The patience we practiced was the only thing keeping us alive and in control.
I thought he’d understood.
Never—not once—did I think he’d take it this far. Never imagined he’d shoot Lee.TakeBrie.
No.
This has to be a mistake. Ithasto be.
“Monroe, take him to the hospital,” I say, my voice firm. “Chavez, we’re going to check the camera footage. I need to know what the fuck happened here.”
Monroe nods without question, already moving to lift Lee. Chavez and I head down the hall toward my home office.
As I punch in the code, Chavez asks, “Do you think what Lee said is true?”
I pause. “I don’t know. I don’t want to believe it. But I’ve known Lee about as long as I’ve known Connor… and Lee wouldn’t lie to me—especially not about this.”
“Maybe he just doesn’t have all the facts,” Chavez offers. “Getting shot’ll mess with your head.”
“Yeah.” I push the door open, hoping he’s right.
I sit at my desk and power on the desktop. It only takes seconds to pull up the saved camera footage.
I scroll back to the moment Brie and I stood in the kitchen. When I told her I wouldn’t fail—that I’d be back. Little did I know she had already set everything in motion to make sure I could keep that promise.
I scrub through the feed. Hours pass in minutes—Brie and Lee at the kitchen island, laptops open, heads down. Connor standing near the door, motionless. Just watching.
When Connor steps closer, I stop scrubbing and watch.
At first, everything seems normal.
But then I notice Brie’s expression.
Her eyes shift—wide, alert, uneasy.
“What's wrong, Brie?”Connor’s voice crackles through the speaker, deceptively calm.
“Nothing,”she answers too quickly, flicking her gaze toward Lee.“I think we should call Damon. Tell him what we’ve found.”
Lee doesn’t hesitate to pull out his phone.“I’ll text him. See if he’s finished with Matthias—”
