Page 2 of Velvet Chains

“Huh, no, I must’ve just missed them,” Alek said. He started up the stairs.

“Put the gun away,” I said. “You don’t want him to worry.”

She didn’t answer. Just turned her back on me, like it cost her something, put the gun away, and slid the drawer of her nightstand shut. The gun disappeared, but the air between us didn’t change.

“I think you should leave,” she said softly.

“And I think I should stay,” I replied, matching her tone.

I stepped away, wiping a hand down my face. I tried to look casual, but my heart was hammering in my chest. I could pretend this was just another day; I could act like I hadn’t just dared the mother of my child to shoot me. Like my chest wasn’t burning where the muzzle had pressed against my bone.

Jesus…I was a dad. I’d been a dad for years.

The door opened before either one of us could say anything else, and Alek walked in, holding two cups of coffee and a brown paper bag that smelled like blueberry muffins. I had seen him before. In pictures, he looked less towering, more serious, less disarmingly sweet. In person, he stood a few inches taller than me, the expression on his face only shock for a second before he masked it with well-practiced stoicism.

Still…not even that level of stoicism could hide the shock on his face.

“I would say good morning, but I’m not sure what’s happening right now,” Alek said.

Ruby cleared her throat. “Hi,” she said. “Thank you for coming so quickly. Do you two know each other?”

“I know of him,” Alek said. He didn’t move, his gaze ping-ponging between us.

“We’re just working something out right now,” she said. “If you give us a minute—”

“I think I’ll stay here,” Alek replied. “You needed me urgently. Here I am. Maybe Kieran can give us a minute. You look…”

For the first time since he had arrived, he took a good look at Ruby. He was a pale man usually, but he paled even more then, as his gaze slowly drifted down over the bruises Russell had left on Ruby’s throat, the blood still on her arms, the way her disheveled hair framed her pretty face.

“I’m fine.”

“Cool,” Alek said, clearly not believing her. “I’m still going to stay here.”

“You think I did that?” I said, suddenly offended, though I wasn’t sure why. The idea that I would ever hurt Ruby…it made something in my stomach coil, it made me sweat in a way I hadn’t anticipated. I had never cared about what people thoughtof me. Indifference came with the territory. If you’re a Callahan, if you earn your living the way I do, you grow a thick skin.

But not this. This felt personal. It felt insulting in a way that I hadn’t anticipated.

Alek didn’t blink. “Shouldn’t I?”

“I’d never lay a fucking hand on Ruby,” I said, my hands fisting at my sides.

“I don’t know you,” Alek replied calmly. “But I know her. I know what she sounds like when she’s in shock. I know what she looks like when she’s trying to hold it together.”

His voice was smooth, measured. I imagined this is what he sounded like in the courtroom. It made me burn with fury.

“I didn’t do any of that,” I said. “You want to be her white knight, great. But don’t confuse me with the villain in this story.”

Alek raised an eyebrow. “If you’re not the villain in this story, why is she shaking?”

I looked at Ruby.

Shewasshaking.

Just a little, almost imperceptibly. She had wrapped her arms around herself and her fingernails were digging into the fabric of her pajamas like she didn’t know what else to do with them. Her mouth was a hard line, her eyes unreadable.

“I would appreciate it if you two don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” she said. “The dick-measuring contest is a little tired, too. Have men, as a species, considered a new routine?”

Alek approached Ruby, handing her a coffee. “Should I have brought three of these?” he asked.