Page 19 of Ruined By a Devil

Riley bursts into laughter. “Can’t say I blame you. I only briefly saw him, but he doesn’t look very nice.”

“He’s handsome, but only when he’s keeping his mouth shut and not moving,” I shrug, remembering his hand on my lower back.

“I can’t believe that Malachi managed to get you to agree,” she continues, her eyes on the screen. “So, are you going to marry my brother-in-law now?”

“That’s the plan,” I cross my arms, leaning back in the fluffy chair.

“When I married Zeke, I don’t think I was realizing what carrying the Kavanagh name really meant.” A faint smile touches her lips. “It’s a heavy name. But they take care of their own.” She then pauses, leaning back in her chair with a knowing look on her face. “Of course, I’m biased when it comes to Zeke, but if you’re with Malachi, you’re in good hands.”

“Riley, we need you!” The office door opens and a man in his mid-twenties sticks his head inside.

“What is it?” She raises her eyes to meet his.

“We have a few bottles that were never registered,” the guy explains. “And no one seems to know where they came from.”

“How many is a few?” Her eyes darken at the news.

“Twelve,” the guy says. “More or less.”

“Damn it,” Riley gets up from her desk elegantly, turning to me. “I’m sorry, I have to take care of this.”

“It’s okay, not a big deal,” I smile.

“Will you be okay by yourself?”

“Yeah,” I nod, hoping Malachi returns soon so we can leave. “No worries.”

“Okay,” Riley says. “It was really nice meeting you. I hope we see each other again soon.”

“Me too,” I surprise myself with how honest that feels. Maybe it’s because I’m not used to having friends or being around people that I genuinely want to get closer to, but Riley seems like someone I wouldn’t mind having in my life.

I wait a few more minutes, staring at the closed door Riley walked through, convincing myself that Malachi will come back any second. He said he would finish quickly and I want that to believe him. But I know better than to assume things in this world ever go according to plan.

The silence starts getting to me. Riley’s office is comfortable, almost too comfortable, but sitting here knowing what Malachi is doing somewhere in this building makes it impossible for me to relax.

I get up, smoothing down the oversized shirt. The corridor outside is quieter than when we arrived. I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.

I wander around for a few minutes, and just when I start wondering if I might have gotten lost, I hear shouting coming from the dark corridor on the opposite end of where I was. Before I have a time to think things through, I follow it.

Maybe I should turn around, but I don’t. I continue following the sound, the hairs on my back rising the closer I get to the shouting, my footsteps becoming softer. As the voices become clearer, I recognize one of them immediately. Ironically, it’s the one that’s not shouting.

Malachi.

I reach the slightly opened door at the end of the corridor, hesitating only for a second before pushing it enough to see what’s happening inside. A disgusting metallic smell of blood wraps around me like a cloud, making my stomach twist before my brain even catches up.

There is a man tied to a chair in the middle of the room, his face covered in bruises. Blood is running from a cut near his eyebrow and down the side of his cheek, his breathing uneven, his head hanging slightly forward.

Malachi is standing in front of him, his posture and tone disturbingly calm. “You’re running out of time,” His words cut through the air, and I wrap my hands around me as a shiver runs down my spine.

“Go to hell.” The man spits blood at Malachi’s feet.

“What did Nolan send you to find?” Malachi repeats his question with the patience of a saint, but the man lets out a broken laugh.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Even I can tell that the grin on the man’s face is clear confirmation that he does indeed know what Malachi is talking about.

“You sure?” Malachi tilts his head slightly, studying him.

“Yep.”