Page 69 of His Ruin
I ruined her.
“Ourfiercest enforcer was brought down by a woman,” Sergey chuckles. “We all have our weaknesses.”
No.
She wasn’t just a woman. She wasMelody. My reason for fucking existing this long. My only hope of a better future where I wasn’t constantly shrouded by the demons that had been dragging me into hell since the very beginning. My whole fucking world.
Everything snaps back into focus, but the pain twists abruptly into rage, building impossibly high as I stand.
“He lives,” Sergey muses.
I turn to Ivan, my eyes wide and unseeing. “Why?”
My friend takes a slow drag of his cigarette before flicking it toward me. “She deserved to know, Kaden.”
I’m on him so fast he doesn’t have time to process. My hands curl into the lapels of his suit, yanking him so close that he can see the insanity leeching through me. “That wasn’t your call!”
His face remains firm and set, not an ounce of emotion as he sighs. “Don’t make them put you down before you’ve even started.”
I shove him away, stabbing my fingers into my chest. “She saw it, Ivan! I never wanted her to see—”
“What you are?“ He advances on me, puffing up his chest. “You can’t contain yourself anymore. Admit it, Kaden! She would have found out eventually—”
“Not like this!” I yell, running my hands through my hair. “Not like this…”
He straightens his suit jacket, sniffing. “We need to erase every shred of evidence. Get some men to Mr. Wilder’s estate.”
“On it,” Sergey says.
“If you hurt her—”
“I don’t need to hurt her, Kaden,” Ivan curls his lip. “You’ve done enough damage to last a lifetime. Let her go.”
The rest of the night moves like a blur, everyone steering clear of me. Even as I abandon my bike by the side of the road, I’m not in my own body.
“Light it up,” Saint says from beside me.
I flick the lighter on, the small flame dancing. There’s nothing left of Kaden Wilder. That night, I died with all of my possessions—withher.
Chapter thirty-three
Melody
Idon’tknowhowImade it home. I don’t know how I dragged myself up the stairs and found my way to my room. I don’t even remember falling into bed.
All I can recall is the pain—the heartbreak. As I rise, it’s like I haven’t even slept. The light from my open window is bright, and the sun is high in the sky, signaling it’s almost noon.
I peer around, my face puffy and swollen from crying all night. As my eyes close, I wince at the mental image of the dead man that slams into me. My stomach churns, and I swing my legs around to distract myself. The cold floor bites into my bare feet as I haul myself up. I ache from head to toe—a chill settling in my bones.
I swallow past the lump in my throat, finally able to think clearly for the first time in hours. What I said to Kaden was harsh, and I don’t like how I left things. I didn’t even hear him out, not that it would have done much good, but I still could have tried to understand why he did it.
I’m trying to reason this the best I can, but it’s no good. I need…
The first person who comes to mind is him. It’s always him. Even when I’m so destroyed and hurt by him, I want his comfort.
I’m moving without much thought, my limbs wading through water with every step. As I near his door, I don’t even hesitate to knock.
“Kaden?” My voice is tremulous and quiet, but there’s no answer. I turn the handle, pushing the door open before my mind blanks.
