Page 102 of Vows of Ruin

He shakes his head. “Comms went down. You know how it is out there.”

“Don’t insult me.” My voice comes out too calm. “We traced a relay from your old access codes to Sebastian’s network. You want to try again?”

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

I drag a chair across the floor and sit opposite him. “Start talking,” I say. “Now.”

He laughs, quiet and humorless. “You always did like the straight line, Reaper. No warm-up, no small talk.”

Torque’s voice is low. “We’re done playing patiently. You’ve got one chance to tell us why Sebastian’s been getting intel from you.”

Noah looks up at me then, eyes cold, hollow, and somewhere under it all, hurt. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“Enlighten me.”

He smirks, “You all think he bought me. Money, leverage, blackmail. It’s none of that. It’s simpler.”

Torque tenses. “Then say it.”

Noah leans back, shoulders hitting the wall. “Wrenley.”

Her name lands heavy in the air. I feel the word more than hear it.

He keeps going, tone sharp, like every syllable’s a blade he’s been saving. “She broke me in ways Sebastian never could. I tried to move on, I really did. But then I saw her again—at his penthouse. Max’s. The woman who said I was too dangerous, too unsteady, sitting there like she’s found some religion in his damn smile.”

Torque mutters something under his breath, he moves fast punching Noah in the mouth.

Noah’s grin turns bitter with blood in his teeth. “You don’t get it, do you? You all ruined me. She made me believe I could belong somewhere other than a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, and when she walked away, all that was left was the wreck. So yeah, I helped Sebastian. Fed him what he needed. Let him burn down the world she built. Maybe now she’ll know what it feels like to lose everything she thought was safe.”

The words sit between us, heavy as smoke. Torque moves before I can, clenching his fist and striking Noah again and again, stringing together curses that would make the devil think twice.

“Enough.” I say quietly.

Noah’s smile fades, replaced by something almost empty. “What now, Reaper? Are you going to kill me?”

“No,” I answer simply. “You’re going to live long enough to see what you’ve done.”

Torque hauls him to his feet, dragging him toward the door. He doesn’t fight. He just laughs under his breath. The sound of someone too broken to care who wins.

We pull into the mansion just as the sky starts to turn molten. Hugo’s already outside, tail flicking, waiting like he knows what’s coming. Torque shoves Noah out of the car, the man stumbling but not resisting.

“Sit,” Torque growls, pointing to the steps. Noah does. Elbows on his knees, head tipped down, expression unreadable. Hugo pads over, sniffs once, then sits beside him, tail twitching like he can sense the rot but doesn’t know what to do with it.

I lean against the railing, watching. My chest feels too tight. Not from anger anymore, but from the cold fact of what betrayal really looks like.

Torque’s voice is quiet. “You want to tell her?”

“No,” I say. “He will. Take him inside.”

Torque nods, hauling Noah to his feet by the collar of his shirt.

I sit on the steps with Hugo and wait for Wrenley to return. Contemplating what all this means for not only us but for Wrenley.

It's not long before headlights sweep up the driveway. Tires crunching on gravel. I already know who it is before the door opens. Wrenley climbs out of the car, Wrecker steps around, and pulls a sleeping Daisy out of the back. She spots me and practically ignores Hugo, bounding toward her.

Wrenley hits me at full force, arms around my neck, body trembling, the kind of hug that says more than words ever could. For a second, everything stops. The night air, the noise in my head, the weight of what’s waiting behind me. All I can feel is her.

When she finally pulls back, she reaches up, palms warm against my jaw. “I was so worried,” she says, voice soft and frayed at the edges.