Page 46 of Queen of Ruin

“He’s a monster,” Mindy snarls. “You’d be better off with me than him. He’s not the kind of man who cares about anyone but himself.”

“Maybe that’s the version you knew,” I reply. “And if so, I’m sorry. But the things you’re doing? Manipulating him and threatening us? That makes you even worse.”

“The fuck do you know?” Mindy raises her voice and starts pulling against my hold. “You’re just some uppity bitch that⁠—”

“Let’s go.” Diego interrupts with a gasp as he makes it back to us. “I hot-wired the car. Let’s get out of here.” He takes over helping Mindy and he’s as gentle with her as he was with me, even as she curses him out while we hurry across the parking lot to the stolen car. He even helps her into the back and ensures she doesn’t bump her head.

For a man she views as a monster, and who has every right to leave her behind, he’s doing a lot to ensure that she’s safe.

I climb into the passenger with the bags at my feet, and Diego drives as soon as my butt hits the seat. We race out of the rear parking lot and he takes us onto a road that leaves the motel in the dust behind us, along with all those people. No one speaks, and for the first few miles, there’s nothing but a heavy silence and several worried glances at the rearview mirror.

No one follows.

The road behind us remains dark and quiet with only a few random cars weaving in and out of view.

“So.” Mindy smacks her lips together and leans between the front seats. “You wanna tell me what you’re running from?”

“No,” Diego replies tiredly.

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“Tell me or I’ll scream.”

Diego shoots her a withered look. “Who would you be trying to reach with a scream, anyway? You’d just piss us off.”

She genuinely looks like she’s contemplating it but ultimately decides against it and plays with one of her bracelets as her attention shifts to me.

“What happened to your head?”

“I fell.”

“When?”

“A while ago.”

“Hmm.” She sucks on her teeth. “Why are you with my Diego?”

“I’m not yours,” Diego repeats with the weight of a man who can’t understand why the message doesn’t sink in.

“Sure, that’s what you tell yourself so your new bitch doesn’t think you’re a cheater.”

“I don’t think he’s a cheater,” I reply. “But we have different views on Diego and I’m not going to argue.”

“Why?” Mindy’s face comes close to mine, and her sour breath floods my nose. “Too uptight to argue?”

“Too tired.”

“Tired?” She snorts and leans back. “You look like you haven’t worked a day in your life. How the fuck can you be tired?”

I grit my teeth. Maybe that is what I look like. There’s no denying I’ve taken care of myself, but given the skills I unlocked and the men I escaped from, there must be something I’ve been doing. Something I can’t pinpoint.

“Mindy, enough,” Diego mutters.

“Pay me and I’ll shut up.”

“Is that really all you care about?” I turn in my seat to face her. “You just want someone else’s money?”