Page 70 of Ruined

I stare out the window as we leave the Feretti mansion. My hands won't stop trembling. Jessica. My little sister. The only person in my family who ever truly loved me for who I am, not what I could do.

"We'll find her." Noah's voice cuts through the silence, firm and certain.

I don't look at him. "You don't know that."

"I do."

"If Ivan has her..." My voice cracks. I force myself to continue. "If he has her, I'm going to him."

Noah's hands tighten on the steering wheel, knuckles going white. "No."

"It's not your decision." I turn to face him fully now. "She's my sister, Noah. My baby sister. She has nothing to do with any of this."

"And you think Ivan will just let her go if you turn yourself in?" His voice is deadly quiet. "He'll kill her anyway. Then he'll have you too."

"You don't know that." I throw his words back at him.

"I know men like Ivan."

"I can't just sit around while my sister is in danger because of me." The tears I've been fighting finally spill over. "This is all my fault. I signed that contract. I put her in danger."

Noah reaches across the console and takes my hand. His touch is surprisingly gentle for someone so lethal.

"Listen to me. If you go to Ivan, you die. Jessica dies. Everyone loses." His eyes flick from the road to me. "The only way through this is forward. Together."

I pull my hand away and press my palms against my eyes. "If anything happens to her?—"

"It won't."

"You can't promise that."

"I can promise I'll do everything in my power to get her back safely." His voice softens. "And my power is considerable, Evelyn."

I look at him again, this dangerous man who's somehow become my protector. "If Ivan hurts her, I'll never forgive myself. And I'll never forgive you for stopping me from going to him."

"I can live with that," Noah says, "as long as you're alive to hate me."

I turn back to the window, watching the city pass by. "I'm going to him if he has her, Noah. I mean it. You can't stop me."

"Watch me."

I stare at Noah's profile as he drives, his jaw set in that stubborn line I'm coming to recognize all too well. The anger bubbling inside me is different from before—colder, more calculated. He thinks he can control everything, even my decisions about my own sister.

"You can't just lock me up forever," I say, my voice steadier than I expected.

"Not forever. Just until Ivan is dead."

I laugh but there's no humor in it. "And how long will that take? Days? Weeks? Meanwhile, Jessica could be—" I can't finish the sentence. The thought is too unbearable.

Noah reaches for my hand again but I pull away.

"I need you to trust me," he says.

Noah might be watching my every move but he can't be everywhere all the time. He has to sleep. He has meetings. There will be opportunities. I just need to be patient, to wait for the right moment.

"Fine," I say after a long silence. "You win."

Noah glances at me, suspicion clear in his eyes.

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