Page 291 of Power Play

I couldn’t make my feet move. “Ryan—”

He looked directly into my eyes, and when he spoke again, the English disappeared.

“Vete. Ya terminé contigo. Sal de mi vida, de mi corazón y de mi puta alma. Me mataste. Ahora déjame descansar sin tu recuerdo.”

I understood only some of what he said, but what I knew was enough to shatter me.

Get out. I’m done with you.

My knees weakened, but Ryan didn’t reach for me. The instinct to catch me moved through his body. I saw it in the sudden tension across his shoulders and the twitch of his empty hand, but he forced himself to remain still.

That hurt more than if he had never moved at all.

I stepped into the hallway.

Ryan shut the door behind me, and the deadbolt turned before I reached the stairs.

I didn’t remember getting into my car. One moment, I stood outside his apartment with my keys cutting into my palm. The next, I was behind the wheel, sobbing so hard that every breath scraped my throat raw.

My phone kept chiming inside my purse. The first notification was followed by another, then several arrived close enough together for the sounds to overlap.

I ignored them.

I backed out of the parking space and drove toward the ABC apartment because there was nowhere else left to go. Tears distorted the road, turning headlights and traffic signals into long smears of white and red. I wiped at my face with one hand, only for more tears to replace them before I could see clearly.

Ryan was gone in every way that mattered.

He wasn’t angry for the night or waiting for tomorrow so we could say everything more gently. The key was gone from my ring. His door was locked, and his voice repeated inside my head in a language I couldn’t fully translate but understood down to my bones.

Ya terminé contigo.

By the time I reached the apartment, my entire body was shaking.

Easton’s truck sat beside Aura’s car. I parked crooked across the faded line and left my purse behind when I climbed out. The stairs tilted beneath my feet as I forced myself upward, gripping the railing with both hands.

The apartment door opened before I reached it.

Aura stood on the other side wearing leggings and one of Easton’s old KFU shirts. Her braids were pulled into a loose knot, and sadness softened every sharp line of her face.

Easton stood behind her with his arms folded across his chest. His expression wasn’t sad. His jaw was set, and his eyes were hard enough that I immediately knew who had been sending the notifications.

Ryan had told them.

Whatever he said had been enough to make Easton look at me like he didn’t know me anymore.

“Charm,” Aura whispered.

I walked past her without answering. My purse wasn’t on my shoulder, and I turned in confusion before remembering I had left it in the car. Then I realized my phone was still clenched in my hand.

The screen lit when I lifted it. The group chat held a string of messages, but Ryan’s appeared first.

Ryan: Leaving this chat. Leaving Kimball. Headed to Flint. Charm and I had a thing for a minute. It’s dead. I’m out.

A second message sat beneath it.

Ryan: Signed, El Cuchillo.

The notification below it announced that Ryan had left the conversation.