Ruthless Regret (Ruthless Games Duology #2)

Chapter 61

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

ZAIN

Everything hurts.

That's my first coherent thought as I surface from the fog of painkillers. My side feels like it's on fire, my head throbs with every heartbeat, and even breathing sends sharp stabs of pain through my chest.

But I'm alive.

And more importantly, I'm thinking clearly for the first time since waking up in this hospital bed yesterday. Memories come back in fragments—the fight, Marcus's knife slicing through flesh, Ashley's scream.

The beeping of the heart monitor is a constant reminder of where I am. The smell of antiseptic brings back memories of prison infirmary stays.

Different circumstances, same clinical detachment. Same feeling of vulnerability.

I hate hospitals almost as much as I hate prison cells.

Rook is still here, settled in a chair by the window like he hasn't moved in hours. Maybe he hasn't. His presence is familiar and reassuring—a reminder that I'm not alone in this anymore.

"McFadden's been trying to get in to question you," he says without looking up from his phone. "Hospital's keeping him at bay for now. Saying you're not stable enough for visitors."

I try to shift position and immediately regret it. Pain tears through my side, forcing a harsh breath between my teeth. "How long can they keep that up?" I say once it recedes.

"Another day, maybe two. Bishop's got Ashley at one of our safehouses. She's holding it together." He finally looks up. "She remembered something. About the night Jason and Louisa were killed."

My heart monitor betrays the spike in my pulse. "What?"

"She saw McFadden. Standing at the end of the driveway when she ran out of the house."

"Fuck." The word comes out as barely more than a whisper. "She's sure?"

"Yeah. Which means we need to move carefully. She's playing it cool, not letting on that she's remembered, but ..." He lets the implication hang in the air.

McFadden won't hesitate to eliminate another threat. Just like he had Marcus kill Ramsey. Just like he tried to have Marcus kill us.

"What's the plan?" I try to ignore the way each breath feels like knives in my chest.

"We let him think he's still in control. Let him believe his cleanup attempt worked." Rook stands, pacing the length of the small room. "He'll want to verify you don't remember anything from before you passed out. That's our opening."

"He'll expect me to be confused. Disoriented from the attack."

"Exactly. Play into that. Let him think the head injury has affected your memory." He stops pacing, and faces me. "Meanwhile, we're setting up surveillance. Building a case. Knight's already digging into his finances, his phone records, everything."

I close my eyes, fighting another wave of pain. "We need proof that links him to Marcus. To Ramsey's death."

"We've got that covered. But we need more. We need him to slip up, to reveal something that ties him directly to Jason and Louisa's murders."

The monitor beside me spikes again as anger courses through me. Fourteen years. Fourteen fucking years I spent in prison, while McFadden got to carry on with his life, the blood on his hands invisible to everyone around him.

"He thinks he's untouchable," I say through gritted teeth. "That's his weakness."

"And we're going to use that." Rook moves closer to the bed. "But first, you need to heal. The trap won't work if you can't sell it."

He's right. I know he's right. But lying here, helpless, while Ashley's in danger ... it’s going against every instinct I have.

"Bishop won't let anything happen to her." Rook must read something in my expression. "And McFadden won't risk anything obvious, not with everyone watching so closely. He thinks Marcus got away. That his secret's still safe."

"Unless he realizes Ashley remembers."

"By then it'll be too late." His voice hardens. "We're going to bury him, Zain. Not just for Jason and Louisa. For everyone he's hurt trying to keep his obsession hidden."

The door opens before I can respond, and a nurse bustles in.

"Time for your next round of meds, Mr. Ryder." She moves to the IV stand, checking readings with practiced efficiency. "Your blood pressure's a bit high. You need to rest."

I want to refuse the medication. I need to stay clear-headed, need to plan. But one look at Rook's face tells me that's not an option.

"Rest," he says. "We've got time."

The medication hits my system almost immediately, making the edges of everything soft and blurry. But even as consciousness starts to slip away, my mind is working, planning.

McFadden's arrogance will be his downfall. His certainty that he's covered every track, eliminated every threat. He won't expect us to be ready for him.

The image of Ashley's face floats through my mind—the way she looked at me in the kitchen before Marcus attacked. Everything between us has shifted. The revenge I wanted is nothing more than a regret now, a flawed plan developed by someone who was caged and hurting.

I need to be ready.

Need to be strong enough to face McFadden.

Need to protect her ...

Through the growing haze, Rook's voice reaches me, low and determined: "Sleep. When you wake up, we'll figure out how to end this. Once and for all."

The darkness claims me before I can respond, but my last thought follows me down into unconsciousness:

McFadden has to pay for what he's done.

To Jason and Louisa.

To Ashley.

To me.

And this time, I won't be the one taking the fall.