Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2
Leather & Lark
by Brynne Weaver
Contents
Chapter Twenty-One: Enucleate
Overview
Lark and Lachlan confront fear and deepen their relationship before executing a risky break-in at the medical examiner’s office. With Conor’s tech support, they sever Stan Tremblay’s fingers and remove an eye to access his home vault. They escape ahead of arriving fire crews, learning the killer may strike again in forty days. Lachlan vows brutal retribution once they uncover the culprit.
Summary
Lark and Lachlan return home shaken by the revelation that enforcer Stan Tremblay is already dead. In quiet, Lark admits fear—about the killings, her family, and their marriage. Lachlan calls her brave and confesses how she’s changed him; desire and reassurance culminate in intense intimacy, deepening their bond and commitment.
Afterward, they finalize a plan with Conor: to breach the medical examiner’s office, retrieve biometric components from Stan’s body, and use them to open Stan’s high-end home vault faster than any hack. Conor outlines a ten-minute window after he trips the fire alarm, warning they must be surgical.
At the facility, Conor triggers the alarm and clears their entry. Lachlan leads Lark through the coolers to Stan’s body. Working against the clock and their revulsion, they sever both index fingers and thumbs for prints, then extract an eye for the iris scanner, packaging everything while Conor urges speed as outside responders close in.
They sprint out and rendezvous with Conor, who stores the grisly items for later vault access. Conor cautions that failure would cost weeks they may not have; the killer’s pattern suggests another murder in forty days. As they drive off, Lachlan squeezes Lark’s hand, promising they will find the hunter—and that he will deliver hell when they do.
Who Appears
- LarkNarrator; confronts fear, admits feelings, insists on joining the heist, helps sever Stan’s fingers and remove an eye.
- Lachlan KaneHusband and protector; reassures Lark, leads the break-in, performs the enucleation, vows vengeance on the killer.
- ConorTech ally; orchestrates the alarm, monitors building occupancy, guides timing, secures fingers and eye for vault access.
- Stan TremblayDeceased enforcer; his corpse yields fingerprints and an eye needed to open his secure home vault.
- BentleyLark and Lachlan’s dog; briefly greets them, underscoring home life before the operation.