Page 44 of Queen of Ruin

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Grabbing Mindy’s arm, I drag her into the motel room and slam the door closed before her screeching can give any other residents cause to make a noise complaint.

“Ow!” Mindy yells, dragging her arm from my grip. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Get your hands off me, you fucker!”

“Me? How the hell did you even find me?!” Alarm bells blare in my mind with each frantic pound of my heart. If Mindy can find us, then anyone else with a brain definitely can.

“I followed you from Tech’s place, asshole,” Mindy snaps, adjusting her ruffled clothes with her necklaces clattering together and several bracelets colliding with her elbow. “You wouldn’t call me back. Wouldn’t text me. What the hell else was I supposed to do? I knew you’d cave eventually. You always do, and Tech’s been after you for a long time.”

“Don’t bullshit me,” I reply coldly. “You were there trying to score.”

“Some would take the hint that he’s not interested,” Valentina replies coolly from near the bed. “It’s embarrassing to chase a man who has no interest in you.”

In those few seconds, Valentina has never looked hotter. Maybe it’s the jeans hugging her ass so tightly I could bounce a quarter off it, or the casual way her shirt rests around her shoulders with the top lapels wide open, or the way she narrows her eyes and watches Mindy with every ounce of suspicion I mirror in my own heart.

“And who the fuck are you? Wait, you’re that whore from the other day. I remember you.” Mindy scoffs roughly and paces around the room. “Is this really what passes for a romantic date these days? Then again, with trash like that, I suppose she loses her mind at the concept of a spork.”

Valentina snorts with barely restrained laughter. “Wow. That’s a new one.”

“Get out,” I snap.

“You dragged me in here!”

“Only to stop you from yelling at the neighbors, but I have nothing to say to you, so get out.”

“No, we have to talk.”

“Mindy, how can I be any clearer with you? I have zero, Z-E-R-O, desire to talk about anything with you, okay?”

“How about what you owe me?”

My shoulders straighten and I exchange a glance with Valentina. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“Don’t you?” She talks forward and grabs the hem of her hoodie sleeve, then rips it up her arm to show the dark, painful bruises from the various needles she’s shoved in her arm over the past week or so. “You did this!”

“No, Mindy. You did that.”

“You enabled me! What kind of monster gives an addict money, huh?”

“The kind that was trying to stop you from killing yourself in my fucking kitchen!”

“And why would I do that?” Her voice pitches. “Maybe because my boyfriend got me fucking addicted to drugs and then abandoned me when I got too messy!”

“Don’t you dare!” I yell back at her. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“But it’s true!” She turns to Valentina next. “Did he tell you that? Did he tell you that he’s the reason I’m a fucking drug addict, huh?!”

Pain and confusion flash over Valentina’s face, and she meets my gaze. “No, he didn’t mention that.”

“It’s not what it sounds like,” I say weakly.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like! He was an addict. He was the filthy fucking addict and persuaded me to join him, and then he went and got clean and abandoned me, but it didn’t last very long, did it?” She turns and slams both her hands into my chest. “I know why you were with Tech and I know how much he pays, so give it!”

“No—”

“Give it!” She slams her hands into me again and then suddenly jolts backward as Valentina grabs her by the arm and drags her toward the door.

“Thanks for visiting, but you’re leaving unless you want me to call the police, and who do they think they will believe if I tell them you broke in here and threatened us?” Valentina snaps. “Get out, Mindy. Go home.”

“Why are you defending him?” she screeches, and the fake tears flood her eyes. “I’m like this because of him! And he’s just spent all night selling drugs to everyone but me, so he owes me. He owes me big time, and I’m not leaving here until he gives me what he owes me!”