Page 35 of Beautiful Ruins
She hesitated just long enough for honesty to win.“I don’t know.I told you—I was looking for him the night you brought me here.”
“And you have no idea where I can find him?”
Her mouth curved, sharp and unimpressed.“Why?So you can blow him up?”
I huffed a short laugh before I could stop myself.“You really think that’s my go-to?”
“Given your résumé?”she shot back.“Yes.”
I stepped closer—not enough to touch, just enough to remind her I could.“If I wanted him dead, you wouldn’t be standing here wondering about it.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, something hot and indignant sparking there.“You wouldn’t.”
“You’re welcome.”
She folded her arms, mirroring me again without realizing it.“You act like I’m supposed to be relieved he’s missing.”
“The guy is a drug dealing low life scum.I’d be doing you a favor.”
“That’s not your choice!”she said flatly.
That stopped me.
I studied her then—really looked.The fire in her.The stubborn refusal to let go of things she believed were worth saving.That was the truth of it.Nathan hadn’t been a great love to her; he’d been a project.Something broken she thought she could mend.Less a loss, more an inconvenience that had finally reached its limit.
“How,” I dragged out slowly, “did a woman like you end up with a man like him?”
Her jaw tightened.“Because not everyone announces who they are right away.”
Fair.
Still, the thought irritated me more than it should have.That she’d wasted time—hertime—on a rat like Nathan Azzopardi.That she’d fed him, covered his rent, defended him, while he ran drugs for my enemies and vanished the moment things got complicated.
She deserved better.
I didn’t say it.The space between us was enough.
Her gaze lingered on my face, searching.“You’re not going to tell me what you’re really planning, are you?”
“No.”
She smiled faintly.“Didn’t think so.”
Silence stretched again, electric this time.Not hostile.Not safe either.
“Just so we’re clear,” she added, voice softer but no less steady, “if you hurt him to make a point, that’s onyou.Not me.”
I leaned in just enough that she felt it.“And if I find him, it won’t be about making a point.”
Her breath hitched.Just once.
Then she straightened, refusing to give me the satisfaction of noticing.
“Good,” she countered.“Because I’m done cleaning up his messes.”
The mouth on this woman.
God help me—I was starting to admire it.
