Page 46 of Velvet Chains

So I blocked him.

Easy. Done. Out of my life.

Except blocking a man like Kieran Callahan didn’t actually mean anything.

It didn’t stop me from thinking about him the rest of the night, lying in bed staring at the ceiling, furious with myself for caring. It didn’t stop me from wondering what he would have said if I let him. It didn’t stop the ache.

I hadn’t heard from him for weeks and I had started to believe that things would go back to normal. I wasn’t stupid—I understood that now that I was acting DA, I would eventually have to go after the Callahans—but I was biding my time, trying to figure out the best way to do it without drawing any more attention from the feds.

That could wait until next week, though.

It was Friday, I was intent on spending the night by myself drinking wine and unwinding, and Rosie was already asleep upstairs. The TV was playing some Hallmark movie I wasn’t watching, and I was halfway through a glass of pinot whenI heard it—three quick raps. Not impatient. Not threatening. Just…there.

I froze.

Nobody came to my house unannounced at ten at night. Not anymore. Not since everything went to hell.

The knock came again.

I padded to the window and peeked through the curtain.

There was a car in my driveway—not his usual, the sleek black beast I’d come to associate with him.

A rental.

And standing next to it, hands shoved into his jacket pockets, looking up at my door like he wasn’t sure if he should knock again—

Kieran.

He was wearing a hoodie under his coat, a neck gaiter over his face, and his hair was hidden. But I knew him—I knew the way he stood, the green of his eyes, the way he cocked his head when he was waiting. His posture was tight in that way he only got when he was barely holding it together.

I didn’t open the door. Told myself Iwouldn’topen the door…when I knew I was actually just biding my time.

I stood there, hand on the knob, willing myself to turn it the other direction. To walk away. To go back to the couch and pretend I hadn’t seen him.

But I couldn’t.

Of course I couldn’t.

Rosie was asleep; she wouldn’t know anything was going on. And it would be good to clear the air, to tell him to stay away myself. Alek had been the one to tell him in the first place…but maybe if he heard it from me, it would finally get through that thick skull of his.

I unlocked it and pulled it open.

“Hi,” I said.

Kieran didn’t say anything at first. He just stood there, under the glow of my porchlight, eyes wide and unsure and almost…apprehensive. Like he hadn’t expected me to answer.

Or maybe we were both just surprised I did.

“Why did you block me?” he finally asked.

I exhaled. “Why did you wait until I was starting to forget about you to come by?”

He glanced again at the car, then back at me, a small smile tugging at his lips under the face cover. “You could never forget about me,” he teased.

I bristled. “Figured maybe you’d taken it upon yourself to ghost me again.”

His eyes softened. “Never,” he replied.