Page 243 of Ruin Me Gently

CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE

The screens cut toblack. Just like that—one second I was staring at grainy security footage. The next, nothing.

I snapped my eyes up right as Finn leaned over my desk and smacked me, hard, right across the back of the head.

“Gesù Cristo!” I shot up from my chair. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He didn’t flinch. Didn’t even react. Just stood there, arms crossed, watching me.

“You,” he said flatly. “You’re my problem.”

I started forward, rounding the desk. “Seriously?” I growled, shoving his shoulder as I closed in on him. “You’re gonna waltz in here and start throwing hands?”

He let out a lazy breath. “Nah, I’m just waiting to see if you’ll snap.”

I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms. “You’ve got three seconds to explain yourself before I throw your ass out that window.”

“Yeah? Go for it.” He gestured lazily to the glass behind him. “But first, let’s start with you explaining what, exactly, you think you’re doing.”

“I’m working.”

“Nope,” he said simply. “You’re spiralling.”

His gaze flicked to the now-dead monitors, like he could still see everything I’d been obsessing over. All the maps, the blurry footage, the endless scrolling through last known movements, everything I’d spent the last God knows how long drowning in.

“Finn—”

“You haven’t eaten,” he cut in. “You haven’t slept. You’ve barely been home. Tell me. What’s Lilith up to today, buddy?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” he snapped, cocking his head at me, “that you don’t have a clue, do you?”

“I know what she’s doing.”

“Oh yeah?” Finn shot back. “What did she have for lunch today?”

I froze.

“Got an answer for me there, Graves?”

I clenched my teeth. Nothing. I had nothing.

“Nope. Didn’t think so. She had grilled cheese and tomato soup. The day before that, she had a burger. The day before that, she had leftover pasta. The day before that, she had sushi. Should I keep going?”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I had lunch with her,” his eyes narrowed. “At your place. Every day for the past two weeks actually.”

My pulse hit hard behind my eyes. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Because she’s lonely, dude! She’s sitting in that penthouse, by herself, because you’re so caught up playing vigilante, you’ve forgotten she exists.”

I shook my head. “I haven’t forgotten.”

He scoffed. “You’re not there, Silas. Whether you meant to or not, you’ve left her alone.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

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