All Chapters of PROOF TO RUIN: 10 STEPS TO KILL A BILLIONAIRE : Chapter 31 - Chapter 39

Pain flickered across his face. "I was protecting you. The video wasn't meant to hurt you—it was meant to make you hate me. To make you cut ties with me. If they knew I cared about you, they would have—"He stopped, jaw tight."They killed my men. Three of them. Because they were close to me." His voice cracked. "They'd kill anyone I love, Katherine. That's why I pushed you away. It was the only way to keep you alive.""You could have told me." I stood, backing away from him. "You could have trusted me.""You were seventeen. I couldn't drag you into this. I thought if you hated me, you'd forget me. You'd survive.""I didn't forget you." My voice broke. "I couldn't. You ruined me."He leaned towards me, then stopped. "I know.""No, you don't know." I was crying now, tears spilling down my cheeks. "My father worked himself to death trying to put our family back together after what you did. My mother is in the hospital because of the stress, the poverty, the shame. You didn't protect me.

Mum's eyes had already fluttered closed, the effort of consciousness too much to sustain. Her breathing deepened into sleep, her hand going slack in my grasp.I sat frozen, my heart pounding against my ribs. My father. The symbol. The men who'd attacked my mum. It was all connected. It had always been connected.I kissed my mum's forehead and left the room, closing the door softly behind me. Heath was waiting in the corridor, his back against the wall, his expression unreadable."She's asleep," I said."Good." He pushed off from the wall. "We need to talk."We moved to the living room, a space that was too elegant for a safe house. I sank onto the sofa, suddenly exhausted. Heath sat across from me, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together."I've been thinking," he said slowly. "About what happened tonight. About the men in the hospital.""They were MARIS, weren't they? Or whatever group controls it."He nodded. "My father's people. Or Steen's. I don't know which. But the fac

I pressed my forehead against the cool window, watching London shrink into a patchwork of lights and shadows below. Six hours ago, I'd been standing in a safe house, my mother's hand in mine, trying to memorize the lines of her face in case this was the last time I'd see it."Still afraid of flying?" Heath's voice came from behind me, that low rumble I'd learned to read like a pulse. I could tell when he was trying to be light, when he was deflecting, when the weight of everything we carried pressed down on his shoulders."I'm afraid of everything," I said, not turning around. "Didn't you know that's my defining characteristic?"He moved closer, and I felt the warmth radiating from his body before he settled into the seat beside me. Our shoulders almost touched. He'd given me space for the first hour of the flight, retreating to the opposite end of the cabin with a tablet full of encrypted files. Now he was here, and I could smell his cologne—something expensive and subtle, like cedar

The men trying to kill us had better accommodations.Our safehouse was three rooms above a pharmacy in Alexandria, with a door that didn't quite close and a kitchen that contained one can of chickpeas.We'd nearly died twice today.Apparently, surviving came with a terrible meal plan."Feast," Heath said, setting the items on the counter like he was presenting me with a five-course meal.I picked up the can. There was no can opener, so I peeled the lid back with my fingernails and ate three chickpeas straight from the tin.Heath watched me. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, blood dried dark against the fabric."Stop staring," I said."I'm not staring.""You're checking if I'm about to break.""I'm not—"He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck."Fine. Are you?"I ate another chickpea, chewing it slowly. From outside, I heard the sound of an engine stop right outside.Heath stopped eating.“What?”“Nothing.”He kept looking at the window. “Is someone there?”“No" he squinted throug