Page 16 of Ruined

“Fuck,” I whispered. What the fuck had I done to the sweet, innocent girl that used to be Adelaide?

“The two years between her eighteenth birthday and Helene’s death, Adelaide seemed normal for the most part after she got clean. She did the runs for Joey, and she fought when she needed extra money.” Jessie released a sad sigh. “But Adelaide lost the last part of herself that kept her sane when Helene lost her fight to cancer on the morning of Adelaide’s birthday.”

I fucking remembered that day like it was yesterday.

I had been sitting in my clubhouse, staring at Addy’s picture on the background of my phone, wishing I had everything figured out so that I could go back and claim her as mine again. I had been daydreaming about the day that Adelaide would be mine again.

Then, I had received a call from the hospital.

Helene was pronounced dead when paramedics got to her apartment.

“She won’t celebrate her birthday anymore, Tristan,” Jessie sadly informed me.

I swallowed past the sudden lump in my throat. “I can guess why,” I muttered. Not only had Helene passed away on her birthday, but I had destroyed her.

I wouldn’t want to celebrate my birthday either after that kind of luck.

“She was so happy when she got up that morning and drove over to Helene’s apartment. I was with her,” Jessie told me. I swallowed thickly as I stared down at the bar. I knew this was shit I needed to hear, needed to know if I wanted any chance of understanding Adelaide any better, but it sure as fuck didn’t make it any easier to hear. “We were all going to go shopping, eat out, and party our hearts out at a club that night, but when we got there, Helene wasn’t responding to the knocks on her door.”

I swallowed hard. “Don’t tell me,” I whispered, my chest aching.

“Adelaide unlocked the door and found her on the couch, but Helene was already gone,” Jessie continued. My chest tore wide open. “I called 9-1-1, and Joey had to come to get Adelaide because she was losing her fucking mind. She was screaming and crying, not making any sense. I didn’t know how to help her.” Jessie drew in a deep breath. “Joey saved her that day. She was ready to end her life to be with Helene.”

She’d found my sister, and on the same day without ever knowing it, I’d almost lost Adelaide, too.

I dropped my face into my hands, blowing out a harsh breath.

“Are you okay?” Jessie asked me, as if I deserved any kind of kindness after the hell I had put Adelaide through.

I nodded. “I hadn’t realized it was her that found Helene,” I admitted. I should have known, though. “The doctor only toldme that a friend of hers found her and called 9-1-1. I can’t even begin to imagine what the fuck that did to her.”

“The girl you saw beat the fuck out of Rachel earlier, that’s the Adelaide we all know now. She’s a fighter, and she’s vicious as fuck. Deadly, even. Even Joey treads carefully around her sometimes, but Tristan… be careful around him. Joey will destroy the fucking world over her. They may scream and yell at each other, and sometimes, Adelaide might even throw shit at him, but Joey loves her in his own twisted, fucked-up way. He made her into a monster to help her, and sheisa monster, Tristan. She’s destructive.”

“That scary?” I asked her.

Jessie shook her head, looking over toward the hallway as Addy emerged, her face twisted into a scowl as she hollered something over her shoulder.

“Nope. Just that unpredictable,” Jessie muttered.

“Don’t fucking be a bitch when you were the one fucking usingmeto get to him!” Joey roared after her as he came out of the hallway as well, his eyes narrowed on her back.

“Go fuck yourself!” Adelaide yelled back at him.

“I don’t need to fuck myself, sweetheart, when there’s plenty of other women in this clubhouse willing to fuck me in your goddamn place!” he roared down at her as he gripped her arm and spun her around to face him. She glared up at him, jealous rage shining in her eyes at his words. My heart sunk to my feet. Even fighting, she still wanted him. How the fuck was I meant to compete with what they shared? “I am second best tono one, Adelaide. You best fucking remember that,” he growled.

“Well, fuck,” Jessie grumbled, watching the scene unfold in front of us. I clenched my fists, wanting to bash Joey’s face in for the way he was treating Adelaide.

Adelaide’s hand came up and flew across Joey’s face with a resounding slap that sent his face swinging to the side. “Fuck!” I heard Jessie yell.

I lurched to my feet at the same time Jessie jumped over the bar, rushing toward the two of them. Joey roughly shoved Addy away from him, sending her crashing into a table and down to the floor.

I saw fuckingred.

I stormed over to Joey and slammed my fist into his face, sending him crashing back into one of the pool tables. Joey spit out blood, glaring up at me. “What the fuck?” he snarled up at me.

“Keep your fucking hands off of her,” I snapped down at him.

He chuckled, spitting out more blood as he pushed himself off the floor and rose back up to his feet. He looked deadly, like the monster everyone described him to be. “You go ahead and deal with that fucking whore,” he snarled, jabbing a finger at Adelaide. “I’m done with her.”

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