Page 131 of Velvet Chains

“I was drunk. Wasn’t thinking straight,” he said. “Well, I rarely do.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I know.” His tone dropped, low and worn. “I know I’m supposed to protect you.”

“But you chose him.”

There was a pause, the kind that felt longer than it was.

“I did,” Alek said finally.

“And you didn’t tell me,” I said. “You’ve been walking around with all this righteous anger about me and Kieran, and you didn’t tell me.”

“I’m an idiot,” he said. “I chose wrong. I’m sorry. I kept trying to figure out when, but—how do you say something like that? I just wanted you to stay away from Kieran because I thought I was protecting you. I thought—”

“You failed,” I cut in, my voice shaking now. “You failed me.”

He was silent.

“You can be furious,” he said eventually. “If you want. I deserve it. I just want you to know…I won’t let it happen again.”

I closed my eyes, pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead. My voice was quieter when I spoke again. “Do you like him?”

“Um, yeah,” Alek said after a second. “He’s really nice. He asked me out for a date but I had to say no because, well, there’s too much baggage there for me now.”

I shook my head, quite aware he couldn’t see me. “You can still say yes. I don’t get to be mad. I’ve chosen men too, right? I get it. But you don’t get to lecture me again.”

“Okay. That’s fair. If I could go back—”

“You can’t. None of us can,” I said, sighing heavily. “I’m not mad, okay? I just need to…I don’t know. I just—I need to process. I’m going to get off the phone and try to get some sleep.”

“Okay,” Alek said, his voice soft. “You know I love you, right?”

“I know,” I said. “I love you too.”

I hung up without waiting for anything else.

Then I sat there in the quiet, staring at the phone in my hand. My chest felt tight. My skin was hot, too hot. I was exhausted and wired at the same time. I don’t remember getting into bed. Don’t remember if I brushed my teeth. I just remember the weight of everything pressing down on me all at once.

At some point, sleep came.

When I woke, it wasn’t to my alarm. It was to the smell of coffee.

Coffee I hadn’t made.

I blinked hard, disoriented. For a moment I didn’t know where I was—if I was late for court, if I was still on the phone, if Kieran had found a way in again, like a shadow slipping through the lock.

I sat bolt upright, heart hammering. The room was too quiet. Too normal. Sunlight slipped in through the blinds, and downstairs—

A voice.

Low. Calm. Familiar.

And Rosie’s laugh, high and bright, like a wind chime catching a sudden gust.

Julian.

I pressed the heel of my hand to my eyes. The stress hadn’t left. It had just sunk deeper. And I wasn’t ready for what came next.