“Understood,” he hisses after a beat. A pause. “Be right there.”
When Ryder hangs up, he looks at me again. That same yearning I’ve noticed for days flickers across his face—something softer than what Ruin carries, but similar enough to unsettle me. “I gotta go, love.”
It’s the first time I’m actually absorbing that term of endearment.
“Is everything alright?” I ask, my throat tightening as I notice how dark his expression has turned.
“Don’t worry, okay?” he says, trying—and failing—to keep his tone gentle. “I’ll send Ruin back when we’re done.” He presses a quick kiss to my cheek before hurrying out.
And just like that, the charged moment we shared dissolves into dread. My entire body itches to move. To follow. Something tells me there’s a new development, and I don’t want to wait for Wolf to give me the watered-down version later.
I push off the stool and slip out of the dining hall. My feet carry me quickly toward Wolf’s office.
The main hall is scattered with people, but no one pays much attention to me or the nervous energy thrumming under my skin.
I slide into the side corridor just in time to see Ryder disappear into Wolf’s office near the staircase.
I wait a few seconds. Then I quietly plant myself outside the door, listening.
At first, I think they’re speaking too softly. But the first clear words reach me—and the air leaves my lungs. My knees give out before I can stop them and I sink to the floor.
“I don’t want any of this getting to Charlotte yet,” Wolf says inside. “But Hell’s Army’s president—Hellfire—was just seen meeting Ioana Ro?ca. She’s the one our mother—fuck… Sandy coordinated with to sell Charlotte.”
“Fuck me,” Ruin groans.
I flinch when another voice cuts in.
“That fucking bitch!”
Torch. There’s a vicious edge in his voice I’ve never heard before.
Then again—I didn’t know until this moment my own mother had tried to sell me.
While the man who wasn’t my father… traded me.
TWENTY
Ruin
“Who is this… Ioana?” Dad asks sharply. “I’m guessing she’s some kind of intermediary for the Ro?ca family?”
I’ve never seen him this heated. Not even two years ago, when everything went down with Charlotte. He’s pacing the entire length of Wolf’s office, boots thudding against the floor, hands clenched at his sides like he’s barely holding himself back.
Ryder answers before anyone else can. “She’s the sister of their Na?u,” he says evenly. “Or whatever the Romanians call their mafia head.”
Dad stops pacing long enough to glare at him. “You’re telling me the sister of a Romanian mob boss is sniffing around my Charlotte?”
The warmth from his words lasts less than a second before Ryder’s jaw tightens. His voice stays controlled. “There isn’t much on the Ro?ca family,” he continues. “They’re ghosts online. But I did confirm Sandra Wentley was in contact with Ioana years ago. She was negotiating the sale of a thirteen-year-old Charlotte.”
The words land like a punch.
“All communication went through a burner email account until… Savage intervened,” Ryder adds quietly.
Dad drags a hand down his face. “Christ,” he mutters. “That woman didn’t have a single decent bone in her body. Thank fuck she’s dead.”
No one argues with that.
Wolf leans forward against his desk, forearms braced as he studies the phone lying between us. “We’re trying to figure out why Hellfire would reach out to Ioana now,” he says slowly. “Especially while attacking our clubs.”
