Page 45 of Velvet Betrayal

I hesitated. “No,” I replied.

He grimaced. “I’m not going to let you go anywhere by yourself,” he said in a whisper.

The lawyer in me wanted to keep him out of Rosie’s normal, but the rest of me didn’t want him gone—not today. It was like craving a lost city, or a meal from childhood, even if you knew it was bad for you. “You can’t be seen with me,” I replied, just as quietly.

“Then you can’t go to the library,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Mami?” Rosie pressed.

“Wait,” Kieran said. “Give me a couple of hours. I have an idea.”

“What is your idea?” I asked.

“She wants a library? I’ll build her one,” Kieran said. “You two go to your room, and watch a movie.”

I shook my head. “Wait, what?”

“You know that scene in Beauty and the Beast, Rosie? When the Beast shows Belle her own library?” Kieran asked. “If you keep your mom in her room for a couple of hours, I can make that happen for you.”

“Mami, can he?”

How could I say no to that when I could see the hope in her face? And what Kieran said made sense. We couldn’t just go anywhere. Not with a target on my back.

“Okay,” I said. “Just...don’t go too crazy.”

“You don’t use your she-shed anymore, do you?”

I shook my head.

“Perfect for this little menace,” Kieran said.

Rosie wrinkled her nose. “I’m more like a tornado.”

“Yeah,” I said, finishing my coffee. “She is.”

He wouldn’t let us look. For two hours, Rosie and I curled up under blankets in my bed, watching The Secret Garden while I tried not to obsess over the sound of drills, shuffling, and occasional swearing from outside. I texted and offered help once. He told me to mind my movie.

When he finally knocked, Rosie bolted past me.

The shed door had been propped open with a brick. Inside, it was… transformed. Not perfect—nothing ever was with Kieran—but magical in that cobbled-together way kids love most. A rug had been dragged in from the hall closet. Two mismatched lamps lit the corners. A bookshelf I didn’t recognize had been filled with Rosie’s favorite stories, plus some from my room, plus a stack I think he must’ve bought from somewhere, somehow. There were beanbags. A folding chair. Her pink teacup on a crate labeled “Returns.”

And taped to the wall, in glitter marker:

THE ROSIE BRANCH LIBRARY

OPEN DAILY

LATE FEES = 1 KISS

Rosie screamed. Not out of fear—pure joy. “It’s mine!” she yelled, spinning in a circle. “You made me a library!”

Kieran looked sheepish. “Still needs a stamp and a checkout system. But I figured it was a start.”

“You even put the Pigeon books first,” she said reverently.

“You went out to buy all the Pigeon books?” I asked, eyeing the bookshelf.

“What can I say? I’m a completionist,” Kieran replied with a shy smile.