Page 68 of Destroy (Deadly Hearts 2)

“And did you?” I ask Declan tightly.

“Yes,” he croaks out. “It was an act to erase what she was feeling. Nothing more.”

“It was awful!” she cries out.

Declan grunts and looks away.

“I mean, the whole thing was a living nightmare,” she tries to make it better, but somehow ends up making it sound worse.

“I know it wasn’t my finest performance, Princess, but living nightmare?” Declan says, rallying himself enough to give her a smirk.

She laughs. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean you, I mean the whole thing. But it worked, and I felt nothing but relief. It was over so fast…” She bites her lip.

“I couldn’t do it for longer than about three seconds,” Declan adds.

I breathe in deeply through my nose and then out through my mouth. “There was no reason for you to feel so alone,” I say to Ruby. “You should have talked to us about this.”

“I know,” she says. “I wanted to, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say the words.”

Ramsey takes her other hand and then I turn to Cillian, still leaning up against the car, staying out of this private conversation.

“So, you’re Cillian,” I say, changing the subject from this painful one. I will discuss it further with Ruby when we are alone. Right now, she has been through enough.

“Yep,” he says.

“I’m Layton, this is David and that’s Ramsey,” I say, introducing everyone, seeing as no one else has taken the initiative.

“Hey,” he says, standing up straighter.

“So what are you doing here?” I ask, arms folded.

“Uhm,” he mutters, appearing confused for a moment. “Didn’t Ruby say?”

She giggles, the previous conversation seemingly forgotten. “They know you are here for me. I didn’t get round to telling anyone yet that you are here right now.”

“Ah,” Cillian says. “Well…long story…”

“Just tell them,” Ruby remarks, exasperated.

Already she is so comfortable with him. Is it because he looks like Declan, it’s easy to fall into familiarity with him, or is it so much deeper than that?

“Okay,” he drawls. “Long story short…my boss told me to kill Ruby so that he could take over her operation in Manchester and I refused. That put me on the outs, so here I am, on the lam with you lot.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And your boss is?” I ask.

He exchanges a glance with Declan. “Might as well get it out there,” Declan says.

“Hm,” Cillian murmurs.

“Wait!” David says. “Forget that for a minute. You’re saying that Ruby’s life is in danger and we’re standing here on the side of the fucking road in plain sight for anyone to drive by?”

Man has a point. I position myself in front of Ruby, blocking her from view, but I turn back to Cillian.

“What’s it going to take to get the hit off her head?” I ask.

He breathes out. “There is only one way and even that isn’t a guarantee,” he says. “And that’s to take him out first.”

I nod slowly, meeting Declan’s gaze steadily before I look back at Cillian. The rest of the group is silent.

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