Page 14 of Velvet Chains (The Dark Prince of Boston #2)

Chapter Fourteen: Ruby

I ’d blocked his number without hesitating.

I didn’t even let myself read the text twice.

Can I see you?

No. He couldn’t.

Not after everything. Not after the hospital, the FBI, the look in Alek’s eyes when he warned me what I was playing with.

Not after Rosie clung to me that night and whispered, “You’re safe now, right, Mommy?” like she knew more than I ever wanted her to know.

I wish it had been easy in the first place, but it was only when my daughter looked at me with those eyes, with fear on her face, that I realized that I needed to get the fuck out of the situation.

I had always known that, of course; intellectually, it had always been the smartest idea.

I didn’t need Alek for that. I didn’t need anyone else for it.

But I wouldn’t stand for anyone making Rosie afraid, and Kieran was part of that. I had to protect her. I needed to.

And that meant protecting myself, too.

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 when I 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 I wouldn’t open 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.

And just like that, my resolve wavered.

Well…not just like that. It took a second. The second included me flashing back to his body over mine, the weight of him pinning me down, the heat of his skin and the way he made me feel like nothing else in the world mattered except how close we could get.

But a second was all it took.

I stepped back and let him in.

He moved past me in a blur of battered leather and uncertainty, scanning the room like he thought it might disappear on him. “Is this a bad time?”

“There’s never a good time where you’re involved,” I said.

“You could’ve called the police,” he said, starting to take off his coat, his layers. “You could’ve not answered the door.”

“Maybe I wanted to yell at you in person.”

“You don’t want to yell at me,” he said, taking a step toward me. In all the years we had been apart, he had never changed his cologne, and it was wild and masculine and heady. “I’ve never heard your voice this quiet.”

“You deserve for me to yell at you.”

“Really?” His gaze dipped to my mouth. “Not even a thank you for getting you out of hot water with the feds?”

“The reason I’m in trouble with the feds is because of you,” I replied, but it felt…silly. Like nothing could possibly be more important than getting this man back in my bed.

I was such an idiot.

Letting him in had been a huge mistake.

He took a step closer, curling a finger under my chin, tilting my face to his. That touch, maddeningly soft, made me feel…cherished, treasured, fragile when everyone else wanted to me to be strong. His eyes locked on mine, and the real world melted away.

“Hi,” he breathed. “God, I missed you.”

I trembled.

Couldn’t let him feel that.

I took a step back, putting space between us, trying to protect myself from more than just his heat.

“You got me in trouble with the law. I need to protect myself.”

“Okay, let’s say that’s halfway true,” he said. “But who scrubbed the scene, Ruby? Who cleaned the blood off the floor and out of your hair? Who made Mickey Russell disappear so you could go to bed and wake up the next morning with your daughter safe?”

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” I replied.

He offered a small, infuriating shrug. “I saved your life.”

“I know you did. But I didn’t ask you to .”

“I’d save it again. And again. And again. You’d never have to ask.” His voice dropped lower. “And when it came to cleaning up the mess…you didn’t stop me. You didn’t want to. You don’t want me to stop now.”

“No,” I whispered, turning from him again—but the word betrayed me. The ache behind it. The need.

“It might be better if—”

“If I actually disappeared?” he finished. “You don’t want that. Not really.”

He was right. And it was unbearable.

“You’re the same mistake,” I said quietly. “The one I can’t stop making.”

“And you don’t want to.”

“I need to know what happens next,” I said, facing him. “When this escalates. When your brothers figure it out. Who I am to you. Who my daughter is to you.”

His expression shifted—shocked for half a second, then resolute. “She’s mine. You’re mine. Who gives a fuck what they think? You’re my family, too.”

My knees buckled under the weight of that. Of the wanting. Of the years of silence and distance and every furious, unresolved heartbeat.

I turned to walk away. That was stupid.

Because Kieran Callahan had let me go once…and he was never going to make that mistake again.

Kieran caught my wrist, tugging gently, seductively. His fingers slid down, threading with mine, pulling me back toward him with the kind of confidence that made my stomach clench. My back hit his chest and his lips found my pulse, lips parting as his warm breath tickled the curve of my jaw.

“Kieran,” I warned, but my voice already sounded too soft.

“No more running,” he said.

Before I could argue, he spun me and backed me against the wall.

Not hard, not scary, just…inevitable. Like gravity.

His mouth found mine before I could say another word.

It wasn’t sweet. There was no careful testing of boundaries.

He kissed me like he was claiming lost ground—tongue pushing deep, lips rough, like he was furious at me for shutting him out.

My God, he was such a good kisser.

My heart stuttered as he grabbed my wrists and pinned them over my head.

“You missed me too,” he said, his voice hoarse as he broke the kiss. He nipped at my jaw, my collarbone, my pulse, his hands everywhere—mine still locked in place, his fingers so goddamn sure of themselves.

“I guess,” I whispered, and felt him smile against my skin.

“You can’t lie to me, Ruby. I can always tell.”

His hand slipped lower, skimming down my ribs to my waist, fingers curling under the hem of my shirt.

He didn’t ask. Didn’t pause. Just pushed it up, slow and steady, until the fabric was bunched beneath my arms and my bare skin met the open air.

The hall light caught the curve of my stomach, the swell of my breasts.

I shivered, but it wasn’t from the cold.

“Miss this,” he whispered, voice rough, reverent. And then his mouth closed around my nipple—hot and wet and claiming.

I gasped—sharp, helpless—my whole body jerking like he’d struck a nerve. Maybe he had. Maybe every inch of me was a live wire where he was concerned. He sucked harder, tongue laving over me, and I might’ve said his name. I might’ve begged. I couldn’t tell. I was already too far gone.

His other hand slid down with purpose, finding the waistband of my pants like it belonged there. And then they were gone—gone—pooling at my feet before I could blink. I didn’t have time to complain before his fingers found my pussy, stroking along my slit with a satisfied groan.

“So fucking wet for me, Ruby,” he purred. “Your pussy is honest, at least.”

I gasped, hands braced against his chest. “Kieran, we can’t—”

He chuckled.

“We already are,” he murmured against my lips.

And before I could stop him—before I even knew if I wanted to—he sank to his knees right there in the goddamn foyer.