Page 96 of Abundance of Obsession

“Honestly, kid? There are a lot of things going on right under your nose that you don’t know about.”

I clench my jaw at the humiliation.

They stand facing each other, aiming their guns. Only a dozen steps separate them. Ryker’s finger is on the trigger, ready. So is mine.

“I heard you have something of mine,” Ryker says.

His sister. That’s who he means.

“She’s mine now,” Ruiz says, laughing. He’s confident. The air around him feels charged, expectant, as he stands tall, a palpable aura of certainty surrounding him like a warm embrace.

And that’s enough. The fuse.

The silence that now reigns is a heavy blanket, muffling all but the ringing in your ears. Then, a single shot cracks through the stillness, a sharp, violent sound that obliterates everything else.

Without hesitation, without emotion, Ryker fires a precise shot straight into Nico’s heart. The bullet hits.

Nico freezes.

And then he falls.

Still Ryker, unhurried, approaches his body. “I’m afraid it’s you who’s lost your way after all.” He fires two more times.

Just to be sure.

Or for the sheer satisfaction of it.

I walk up to them. Ryker doesn’t even take his eyes off Nico. Maybe he’s expecting Theo or me. Or maybe he doesn’t care.

I stand next to him and I look down.

A pool of blood is fast spreading beneath Nico’s body. It’s dark as pitch, like his soul.

I let what has happened sink in. We’re silent. And so is everything around us.

“Mission accomplished,” Ryker finally says. “Let’s get out of here.”

But there’s more to those words than meets the eye. We both know it.

Nico Ruiz is dead.

And we know what that means.

Now they’ll be coming for us.

Fuck me.

Chapter 24

Eli

Zoe…

I can’t tear my gaze from her, captivated by the shimmer of her dress under the soft, ambient light. Everything fades as I focus on the gentle curve of her smile.

I can’t take my eyes off her, and I’m not even trying.

For the past ten minutes, I’ve been standing here like an idiot, looking down from the gallery of Ryker’s office.