Page 34 of Ruin Me With Lies
THE O.
Of course.Leave it to them to ruin my goddamn Sunday.
To make room, I slide the chessboard aside.Gio sets the box down, and I untie the silken red bow, popping the lid open.
Nestled inside is a gold bishop, a black pawn, and a card that reads…
Well done on keeping it clean.It appears you’re only good at taking orders when the threat of death is around your neck.
You’re one step closer to your target.Keep going.
We’re watching.
“Does that bishop mean—”
“Forsyth was one of the alliances,” I cut in.
After the ordeal with the Russians, it took everything in me to curb the vengeful urge to lay waste to those fuckers.Instead, I took the advice of bold-as-brassrule-breakerRaya.Let the Russians go to catch the one who paid them.
We laid the trap.Let them raid us.Then tracked them right back to their boss.
James Forsyth.A business tycoon.One of our most lucrative partners.Most importantly, the middleman between us and our artillery clients.
It was a blow, to be honest.
To end Forsyth outright would mean to take a big financial hit.So we pulled back, regrouped and plotted how to retaliate without burning our partnership to the ground.In the end, we targeted his eldest son, Finley.Next in line to inherit the entire Forsyth empire.
Knowing this day might come, I’d begun cozying up to Finley long ago.We’re golf buddies.I know he’s been chafing under his old man for a while now, impatient for the old bastard to kick the bucket so he can put his “big plans” in motion.So when I told Finley what his father had been up to—the Russians, the raid, the betrayal—he was livid.
A little extra fabrication about a gun battle, men lost, and a fake gunshot wound on my shoulder?That was all it took to push him over the edge.
Four days later, business news sites exploded with James Forsyth’s fatal “heart attack.”
An enemy down, our partnership intact, and our hands unbloodied.
The cleanest I’ve ever operated.
And now, this golden bishop confirms it.Forsyth allied against me.
“What’s that on the bottom of the pawn?”Lorenzo asks.
I flip it over.“The Russian flag.”
“They were the pawn,” he muses.
Gio whistles.“Wowza.Raya was right on the money about—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I snap.“For fuck’s sake, if I hear that name one more time, I’m shooting everything in sight.”
“Well,RIPto us, because Raya might’ve found a lead on our leak,” Lorenzo says.“One of our bartenders at Liquid Blue’s been making secret exchanges with a Skullaz.I’ll pick her up later.Quietly.Take her to the zoo, get some answers.”
Fucking hell.IsRayaour savior now?
When I just glare, at nothing in particular, Lorenza sighs.“You need to get over your issues with Raya.I don’t know about you, but I’d like to wrap this shit up and get back to my regular programming.All of this sucks ass.Can’t trust anyone.Cutting out men who’ve been with us from the beginning.I fucking hate it.Not a good look for us.”
He pauses, then adds, “Yeah, we’ve only known Raya a month, but I’ve done my due diligence.Background check.Kept her contained.Kept her glued to me, kept Luca glued to her.Watched.Waited.Let her know you want to kill her…”
He rubs his jaw.“People with ill intentions slip up when they feel restricted, closed in, threatened.They start looking for a way out.With Raya?No cracks.I left her to her own devices for a day.No warning.Just to see what she’d do.Made sure every path was clear.She could’ve done anything.Snooped, dug around, poked where she shouldn’t, ran…” He shrugs.“But all she did was overstay at the gym.”His gaze sharpens.“You don’t like her, fine.But trustme when I say, right now, she’s the help weneed.”
