Page 230 of Ruin My Life

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Murdered her family.

Assaulted her.

Left her for dead.

All so her grief—hertrauma—would cut deep enough to twist her into doing his dirty work for him.

He didn’t train her to be his weapon.

Heshatteredher into one.

But he never saw what would come next. Never predicted how I’d feel about her. How fast she’d matter. How I’d change my rules for her.

We threw a wrench in his perfect plan. Made him pivot. Now he’s spiraling. Killing innocent women just to get my attention. Baiting the hunter with fresh blood. And when I left her with Lee, he offered to stand watch.

To protect the very girl he ruined.

Fuck.

I need to find her.

He’s probably threatened her life. Promised to kill her if she didn’t lead him to my mother. And part of me prays—begs—she didn’t. That she’d never risk Rebecka.

But I can’t blame her either.

Not after what he’s done. Not under these circumstances.

And I trust her enough to believe she’s at least trying to buy me time.

Because Brie is smart. The smartest girl I’ve ever met.

And she’s strong. Stronger than most.

But Connor is trained. Unstable. And he has a gun.

“Damon,” Chavez says, snapping me back to reality.

I turn to him. We’re skimming the shoreline now. Just ten more minutes until the ferry docks—then we move.

“Whatever happens,” Chavez says, his voice low, steady, ironclad, “we’ll handle it together.”

I nod. “We will.”

But the words feel like a lie on my tongue.

Because the truth is—I don’t know if I’ll survive this if Connor wins.

If I loseher… I won’t recover.

I’ve only had her for a heartbeat in the grand scheme of my fucked-up life. But that doesn’t matter. She’s carved her way under my skin, into my veins, buried herself in my goddamn soul.

She’s more than important—she’severything. The only thing in years that’s made this existence feel worth the fight.

And if it comes down to it?

I’ll tear this island apart to get to her.

I’ll drain the ocean dry if I have to.

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