Page 14 of Queen of Ruin

Creeping forward and using the wall for support, I reach the door and strain to listen.

“I’m busy, Tech,” comes Diego’s muffled voice. “Can we talk later?”

“Nah, listen.” Tech sniffs deeply. “You turned me down last night but I wasn’t kidding when I said this was the deal of a lifetime, okay? Look, I know you’re not in the biz anymore but you need money, right? And I need legwork. You’d be doing me a solid.”

“No,” Diego states firmly. “I want nothing to do with it.”

“One night!” Tech whines. “You’d make more money in one night than you do in a month at that stupid bar.”

“Fuck you, Tech,” Diego remarks sharply. “I don’t shit on your life choices, so don’t fucking shit on mine.”

“Why, ‘cause you’re better than me now with your shitty little job?” Tech sneers, then immediately goes back to begging. “One night, Diego. Two max. Your money struggles are a thing of the past. You could even afford to decorate this shit hole.”

This Tech sounds like quite the charmer, but the longer he lingers, the higher my anxiety crawls. Pushing away from the door, I reach for the handle, but as my palm clasps the cold metal, I pause.

I look a state.

Going out there like this will raise far too many questions.

Turning, I approach the closet and pull open the door to find an array of shirts and slacks of all different sizes. Most of them look like they’ve lived several lives before ending up in here. I choose a simple black shirt and remove Diego’s T-shirt, then slip the long-sleeved shirt over my body and button it.

The sleeves hide all of my bruises and the shirt is long enough that it reaches my knees, keeping everything else hidden too. There’s not much I can do about my face and head, but I can’t stand listening to that scratchy voice insulting Diego any longer.

Sure, I barely know him, but he saved my life. The least I can do is chase away his guest.

“Just leave, Tech,” Diego mutters, clearly at the end of his polite tether.

“Trust me,” Tech whines as I finally open the door after ruffling my hair as much as pain allows. “I’m offering you gold here. I’m offering you a deal most would kill their grandmas over— What the fuck!?”

Reaching the front door is exhausting, but I fix a pleasant smile on my face and drape one arm over Diego’s shoulder for support as soon as I arrive.

“Are you coming back to bed?” I ask innocently.

The man at the door, Tech, stares at me with wide, dark eyes peering out from ashy skin. His mouth falls open, straining so much that his neck hollows and two thin, bony arms raise upward.

“Bed?” Tech chokes. “How the—who the—ain’t no fucking way you bagged someone like that?”

“Amber?” Diego’s eyes are just as wide, but it’s concern that swims in their depths when our eyes meet. “I was just⁠—”

“Amber, huh?” Tech snorts.

“Mmhmm, and you interrupted us, so if you would kindly call again another day, that would be amazing.”

“Kindly?” Tech stumbles over himself and then leans back, taking a step down the stairs. “Diego, you sly fucking dog. Does Mindy know you’ve moved on?!”

“Tech… leave me alone, alright? I said no. The answer stays no.” With that, Diego slams the door in Tech’s face and the man’s dry, cracked laughter fills the air. Thankfully, it gradually fades into the distance and Diego sighs deeply, then wraps both his arms around me.

“What the hell are you doing out of bed?”

“I’m fine,” I insist with a light smile. “I’m sorry to interrupt. That man’s voice was driving me crazy. It honestly hurt worse than any of my injuries.”

“That’s because I doped you up on the highest painkillers I could find,” Diego replies, adjusting his grip around my waist and beginning to lead me back to the bedroom. “You can’t trust anything you’re feeling right now.”

“I can trust that scratchy voice.” Despite my surge of energy, it begins to fade quickly and by the time we reach the bedroom, I’m sagging into Diego’s arms.

He wastes no time and scoops me up bridal style, then carries me back to the bed and gently sets me back down. “No more getting up by yourself,” he scolds softly. “At least until you’ve got color back in your cheeks.”

“Not even to chase away people like that?”