“Your hands,” I say.
He shrugs. “I’ve had worse. I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”
I shake my head and rise up on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips. His arms come around me, and he presses himself against me, taking the kiss deeper. My head spins when I finally break from his lips. “Yes, I’m starving.” We touch foreheads, and this time, his smile wrinkles his eyes.
We get takeout again and go back to his house. I had to leave Stormy when I came to the station, and with the house in such disorder, I just stuck him in the backyard. When we open the front door, I can hear him barking, and I let him inside. He rushes at us, covering us both in kisses. After we eat, I roll up my sleeves and dive into helping Ruin clean up, but the words he said to Snake continue to echo in my head.
“What did you mean earlier? When you were punching Snake into another dimension? You said that it was all his fault. That he ruined both of our lives and that he killed Tiffany.”
Ruin stops picking up the demolished coffee table bits and sighs. “That’s what took so long at the station. I had a lot to talk about with Detective Nguyen.” He pauses and then stands up, brushing off his hands. “Come on. I think we need a drink for this one.”
I follow him into the kitchen, and he opens a cabinet. Inside are several nearly full bottles of alcohol. He selects one and takes it out, looking at the label. Twisting the cap, he opens the next cabinet and removes two glasses, setting them on the counter before pouring us each two fingers of the amber liquid.
Handing me a glass, he puts the bottle on the counter and walks out to the patio. I follow him out into the night. As we step outside, I brace myself against the evening’s chill. The nights are getting crisper with the whisper of fall around the corner. Gazing up at the night sky, he chuckles softly.
“I actually begged the universe earlier for a little help and justice. I guess someone or something is out there listening after all. When you were outside and I thought you were escaping with Stormy, Snake admitted he was there that night of the wreck. Apparently River had called him to tell him he had found our father and gave him the address. That’s why he was on that back road, since it linked up with the street I grew up on.”
I take a sip of the drink, and it’s warm as it travels down my throat and heats up in my stomach. It’s smoother than I would have thought from the smell and sweeter, like it was aged with honey. I think about that night, and I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Snake was the one behind the wheel. Funny the way fate works.
“Snake was drunk and saw us on the side of the road, but he thought we were in the middle of it. So, he swerved, and when he did, he clipped Tiffany’s car. It was all just a freak accident, but his dumb ass fled out of fear.”
Ruin tenses up as he rehashes his brother’s crime.Half brother.My stomach churns, and I can’t decide if it is the alcohol or my disgust at Snake’s actions.
“So, it was Snake. And you can finally claim your innocence with hard evidence,” I say, putting it all together.
“Hopefully. I don’t know if they still have any of the evidence or DNA from that scene, but if so, they can link it to him. I guess it was easier to pin me to the crime, aside from obvious reasons, because Snake and I share some shred of the same DNA.” Ruin sighs, taking the last of his drink in one gulp. He smacks his lips and looks at the bottom of the glass. “You know, I don’t drink very often. When I do, it’s only a little. I never want to be anything like my father or those two idiots he loved so dearly.”
I tilt my head and wish I could take it all away for him. Wash away the pain he has had to endure.
“When I thought Carter might hurt you, I imagined how I would take out Snake and then Carter, just to get to you. But when Snake was running at you, that was what really set me off. I lost myself in that temper, and I know it frightened you. But you have to know, I will kill for you if it means I can protect you. I told you I will never let anyone hurt you again, and I mean to keep that promise, Avalee.”
I stare at this man who would do anything for me, and my heart brims with love for him. He is everything I have ever wanted, and I will love him for the rest of my days. “I love you, Ruin,” I say. “I have always loved you, every bit of you.”
Ruin tenses again, turning slowly to face me. He reaches out and plays with a strand of my hair, twirling it in his fingers. “You love me, huh?”
With every bit of me, I think. This man would throw down everything to protect me, even though he has already risked and lost so much. His heart is as pure and virtuous as a saint. Now, if only he could see it too.
“There’s more,” he says. “My PI found out where Yury Letov ended up.”
I hold my breath, old fears resurfacing at the mention of his name, though they are much less prevalent than before. “And?”Please don’t make me beg you to drop this again.
“He’s dead. Died a few years ago,” he adds, grinning. “I know it’s not nice to celebrate someone’s death, and I’m not smiling about that. I’m just thankful that justice is finally coming around.”
I take this news and process it. If Yury is out of the picture, I can breathe a bit easier and hopefully not have to worry about Ruin taking off on some vengeance crusade when Yury was released on parole someday. “Oh,” I say.
He places his hand under my chin and tilts my head up to gaze at me. “I already decided before the PI updated me that I wouldn’t chase down your attacker. It was hard, but I would rather not spend any more time behind bars and away from you if I don’t have to.” He strokes my chin with his thumb, sending chills down my neck and back. A new, but already familiar heat rises in my core, and I swallow hard.
“That’s good,” I say. I began to realize the reason I returned was never about Tennessee pulling me back; it was always Ruin. My Ruin. “Anything else you want to report?” I ask.
“Actually, there is one more thing,” he replies and looks away into the night. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of Tiffany’s death.”
I suck in a breath of surprise.
“I visit her grave every year to bring her flowers. I thought, maybe—if you wanted to, of course—you might join me?”
“Of course,” I whisper. He kisses me softly, and I melt into him. There isn’t a doubt in my mind of Ruin’s kindness. I’m beyond impressed and even humbled that he cares so much for a girl he didn’t even know—that he cared so much for me, even with all of the years apart.
“By the way, Avalee,” he says, his voice low and husky. His eyes are deep and full of something else. “I love you too.”
