Page 84 of Velvet Chains

She shook her head. “Whatever is happening between us…she doesn’t know you. You’re not her father.Julianis.”

My chest went cold. Then hot. Rage rising under my skin, fast and wild.

“That’s really fucking unfair,” I snapped. “You took that from me. Youdecidedthat. That man can’t be her father—just because he married you? You don’t evenlikehim, Ruby.”

A flicker of a smile passed over her lips, fast and bitter. “No, I don’t. He’s an asshole and a shit husband. But he’s a gooddad. That’s not a feeling, that’s a fact. He’s been there. Every fever, every fall, every first word. I didn’t change a single diaper her first year…because hedid. Because he wanted to. Because helovedher.”

I stared at her, heart pounding.

“You didn’t even give me the chance to prove I could be one.”

She met my eyes. “You’re right. I didn’t.”

I expected her to stop there.

She didn’t.

“Youdisappearedon me, Kieran. I was pregnant, and you were gone. I made that choice alone. You may not like it, but that’s the long and short of it. Rosie has a father. My ex-husband.”

My stomach dropped.

“You fucked me,” she said, soft and sharp. “And then youleft. Do you understand that?”

I shot up in bed, heat ripping through me. “Don’t fucking talk like I abandoned you.”

“That’s what happened.”

“I left toprotectyou!” I shot back. “Because you were wrapped up in something too dangerous, and I didn’t want you getting buried in it. I thought—Christ, I thought youdeserved betterthan this life. Thanme.”

She looked at me like she was trying not to feel anything. “Julian isn’t a good man, Kieran. He’s just areliableone.”

That landed like a blade to the gut.

Not a good man.

Just notyou.

I wanted to scream. To grab her andshakeher and make her see what she was saying.

But I didn’t.

“No, Kieran. No—don’t do that.” Her voice cracked, and she sat up straighter, eyes sharp. “You didn’t want me. And by extension, you didn’t want her. That was your choice.”

I flinched.

“Just because you’re good in bed doesn’t mean you get to be her father.”

The words hit like a punch. Still, I kept my voice level. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But maybe try remembering what you did say. The first time we met. What was it again?”

I looked away. “I don’t remember. It was a long time ago.”

That was a lie. I remembered every second. Every word. Ruby Marquez had been carved into me since the moment she first looked at me like I was someone worth undressing. Worth believing in.

And I’d been too much of a fucking coward to admit it.

“You told me you didn’t have a girlfriend because you couldn’t commit,” she said. “Said you weren’t built for it. Said you were really good in bed, though—that part you were proud of.”