Page 96 of Velvet Chains

“Hey, Siri. Stop the music,” Alek said. The music stopped as Alek took a step closer to me before he sat on the edge of the sofa. “I’m going to give you a civics lesson, Batman. One-time offer, so listen closely. I’m not going to repeat myself.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Special Counsel to the DA means I oversee major case integrity and coordination. I don’t prosecute most cases myself anymore, but I interface with the feds all the time. FBI, DEA, ATF, DOJ. You name it. It’s my job. That’s not a secret, Kieran—it’s literally in my job title.”

“Funny how you didn’t answer the question.”

“No, I did,” he said. “You just didn’t like the answer.”

I leaned back. “The Southern District isn’t your jurisdiction.”

“And yet,” Alek said, folding his arms, “when a RICO case touches multiple circuits, it’s called interagency coordination. When a Boston-based defense attorney files a motion to suppress on behalf of a client also named in a New York trafficking case? Guess who reviews that motion.”

He gave me a look. One of those perfectly calibrated lawyer stares. Not hostile—just factual. Ruthlessly so.

“You think I’m selling her out?” he said. “You think I’m walking into DOJ war rooms with a fucking manila folder labeled Callahan Empire: Greatest Hits? Ruby is my family. I’m protecting her, at great fucking cost and risk to myself, because of you.”

I shrugged. “I think you’ve been talking to people who want Ruby to flip. I think you’ve been helping her come up with strategies that keep her out of a jumpsuit. I think you’re smart, Alek. And I think smart people hedge.”

That landed. Not hard, but enough. His mouth flattened.

“I advise her,” he said carefully. “I don’t control her. And if you think she’s a puppet, then you’ve never really known her.”

I smiled slightly. “That makes two of us.”

He exhaled. Walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water like he needed to cool off. He didn’t offer me one.

“Let me ask you something,” he said, voice casual. “Why now? Why the sudden interest in my DOJ calendar? You’ve never cared about federal procedure before.”

I didn’t answer.

He set the glass down. “Something spooked you.”

I shrugged again. “We’re all spooked.”

“Sure,” he said, “but you showed up at my door. Which means either Tristan Callahan is putting pressure on you…or Ruby isn’t answering your calls.”

That one I didn’t like.

Because he was right on both counts.

He saw it. Of course he did. He was Ruby’s best friend—probably the only person who could still get under my skin with a single sentence.

“She pulled back,” he said. “Didn’t she?”

“None of your fucking business.”

“She’s not doing it to hurt you,” Alek said. “She’s doing it because she’s finally being smart.”

My jaw clenched. “You think I’m the threat?”

He didn’t answer right away. Just looked at me for a long moment, then said, “I think you’re dangerous. I think you like her. And I think both of those things are true.”

Like her?Like her?How could I make this man understand that what I felt for Ruby transcended far beyond liking, that it felt like it consumed every waking moment of my life, that all I could think about was her. And what good would it do me? No fucking need to get into that right now when he was already being so unreasonable.

I didn’t know what pissed me off more: the accuracy or the pity.

“You want me to back off,” I said.