All Chapters of Falling Into Ruin.: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

[Briar’s POV]“Why is it you?”The words are leaving my lips before I can stop them, but honestly, I don’t care if he gets offended.“I thought you would be happy to see me.” Jeffrey cooes, leaning back on the black leather sofa that he lounges on. “Especially since we haven’t seen each other in months.”“For good reason,” I point out, crossing my arms. “When I broke up with you, I told you to not come find me.”Frowning, I examine the man in front of me, noting that his wavy brown hair is styled in a new way and he has grown a goatee that I can only assume he thinks makes him look sexier. I mean, it does, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Not when we were no longer together.“Come on, baby,” he sighs, standing to his full six-foot-five height and walking toward me. “I told you that I had a momentary lapse in judgment and that it would never happen again.”Grimacing, I remain in place, watching as he continues to close the distance between us, and when he

[Ciaran’s POV]I stare at the woman leaning against the wall, clutching her ribs while her whole body shakes. She’s clearly weak and useless, but even now in this place with two monsters so close to her, she’s staring fiercely like a lioness ready to attack at any second.Smirking, I continue to watch her while the delicious scent I smelt earlier on wraps around me.So it was you. I think inwardly, understanding what this meant and hating that such a weak fucking human was the one the goddess intended for me.“Please,” she repeats now, taking my silence as disagreement. “I’ve promised to give you what you want, so please…”“Shut up!” Jeffrey growls, lashing out at the woman again only to be stopped by me. “What the hell are you doing?” He roars, turning on me. “You dare touch me when you’re…”“I’m what?” I ask, testing his arm until I can feel the bones beginning to break. “What am I?”Of course, I already knew what he was going to say. I was his lackey. I was hired to help him deal w

[Briar’s POV]I remain in place, staring around, taking in the space that looks almost unlived in while my savior, or possibly my downfall, heads toward the kitchen and grabs a beer.“Want one?” He asks, peeking at me over my shoulder. “Or do you intend to just stand there looking like a statue?”“I…” I begin, wondering if that was a rhetorical question. “I’ll have one.”“Atta girl,” the man chuckles, moving toward me and passing me a bottle of some cheap beer that probably tastes like the toilet water at a frat house. “Sorry it isn’t fancy, but this is all I got.”“It’ll do,” I say, moving toward a chair and taking a seat. “Alcohol is alcohol, right?”As I speak, I try to keep my voice even, doing my absolute best to keep my nerves from being noticed, but from the way those golden eyes burned into me, I knew I wasn’t doing a very good job.“Hey,” the man says, taking a seat across from me. “Tell me something.”“What?” I ask, taking a sip of my beer and wincing from the taste. “What i

[Ciaran’s POV]Later, I lounge on the couch, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other, as the scent of my little mate continues to linger around me, taunting me and making me want to rip the fucking city apart to find her and claim her as my own.Fuck. Who knew that a mate bond could be so suffocating and so fucking frustrating? If I had known, I would have turned and left the minute her delicious scent started enticing me. If I had just left, I wouldn’t have gotten to lose myself in it, to feel her warmth against me, or to even learn the cute expressions that she was capable of making.“Dammit,” I growl, bringing the whiskey to my lips and chugging the rest of the burning liquid. “Get your shit together, Ciaran.”I wasn’t a man who was allowed to let himself indulge in such things. I didn’t live in a world where I could keep someone so weak and yet so strong beside me. I already knew that the best thing for us was for our paths to never cross again, and to make su

[Briar’s POV]The next morning, I stand in front of the precinct, my adrenaline pumping and my determination rising. This was it; this was the step I worked so hard to take, and now that I was here, I wasn't going to let anything stop me.Appear in front of me again and I'll fuck you.That dangerous man's voice pops into my head unbidden as I realize that once I’ve stepped foot through those doors, the possibility of us meeting was highly likely.“Oh well,” I mutter, pushing that handsome bastard’s face and voice aside. “You’re the one that appeared in front of me to begin with.”Settling on this, I begin to move, heading inside and up to the reception desk where a young man with slicked-back brown hair sits.“Yes, ma’am,” he says, eyeing me, his gaze slowly trailing up and down my body. “How can I help you?”“I’m here to meet with Detective Miles.” I respond, giving a smile. “I’ve got an appointment with him at nine.”Nodding, the man checks his computer, and when I’m certain he find