Page 29 of Velvet Chains (The Dark Prince of Boston #2)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Ruby

F our days before Christmas, City Hall smelled like cinnamon and bleach.

Someone had plugged in a holiday-scented diffuser near the elevators, and it clashed horribly with the industrial cleaner the janitorial staff used after hours.

My assistant had left a tray of cookies on the breakroom table with a note that said Take one!

—and I had, just so no one could accuse me of being a Grinch.

But it sat half-eaten on my desk now, the frosting too sweet, the sprinkles too cheerful.

Across the room, Alek leaned against the doorframe of my office, arms crossed, coffee in hand. He hadn’t said anything since he walked in. That wasn’t like him.

“You didn’t get me one of those?” I asked.

“I assumed you’d already drank one.” He sipped his coffee, more to rub it in my face than anything else. “You know it’s eleven o’clock in the morning?”

“Fuck, already?” I asked, looking up from the documents I was reviewing. “Are you going to come in?”

“Yes,” he said, closing the door behind himself. He closed the blinds, too, so the bullpen couldn’t see us. “Did Jana make those cookies?”

“She did,” I said. “They’re good. Take one.”

“Oh, I have. I’m not taking more. I’m waiting to binge until after Christmas,” he said.

“You’re still coming on Christmas day?”

“Yeah, of course,” he replied. “Nat is coming too. She’s bringing her boyfriend.”

“Martin is real?” I asked. “Not a catfish?”

“He could still be a catfish, but yeah, he’s real,” Alek said. “And apparently, an absolute sweetheart.”

“Good. Your sister deserves a good boyfriend.”

“Yeah, she does.”

I cocked my head. “What does that mean?”

He didn’t meet my eye right away, just lifted his mug and took a long sip. “You don’t need to be a member of MENSA to figure that one out, Ruby.”

I set my mug down a little harder than necessary. “Ugh. I hope you’re not talking about him. Because you and I had this conversation.”

“Did we?” he asked, tone light but eyes sharp. “I think we danced around it.”

I folded my arms, trying not to let the tightness in my chest show. “He’s a terrible idea.”

Alek raised an eyebrow. “Lot of terrible ideas feel pretty good at the time.”

I rubbed at my forehead. “There’s something I need to tell you. Sit down.”

He sat down, taking a sip from his coffee.

“I told Julian I’m going ahead with the divorce,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I want Rosie legally protected.”

Alek didn’t blink. “No chance Kieran is stupid enough to assert.”

“I don’t want to give the Callahans any leeway at all.

” I wrapped both hands around my mug, anchoring myself.

“Look, I don’t want to die, obviously, right?

I need to be here. I need to see my daughter grow up.

But if anything does happen to me—if I…” My voice wavered.

“If they prosecute me. Or if they disappear me. I need to make sure Rosie isn’t raised by a Callahan. ”

A flicker of something crossed Alek’s face—impressed or maybe just deeply, deeply sad.

“Wow,” he said after a pause. “You’re really doing it.”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “I’m really fucking doing it.”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, setting the coffee cup aside.

“This can work to your advantage. If you sever ties, there’s no motive for the feds to pin conspiracy on you.

Lean into it, Ruby. Act like your life doesn’t depend on him, even if it does.

Tell them everything. Control the narrative. ”

“Everything?” I asked, brows lifting.

“Not about the night Russell died,” he said quickly, “but Christ—everything else, yes.”

“Seriously?” I blinked at him, unsure if I’d heard right.

“I’m not telling you to snitch,” Alek replied, his tone sharp but low. “I’m telling you to think smart. You know more than any informant they could turn. And you’d mitigate your own risk. Stop being…I don’t know. Noble?”

I stared at him for a moment, jaw tight. “It wouldn’t mitigate his risk.”

“You’re so sure about that?” he shot back.

“You think the DOJ cares where his cock is? You said it yourself—they’ll charge him eventually, and they’ll charge what they can.

The charge will be conspiracy. Isn’t it better to get ahead of it than wait for them to figure out your connection? It’s proximity. It’s circumstantial.”

I shook my head slowly. “This isn’t like you. You’ve never wanted me to roll.”

“I’ve also never had a district attorney on my hands before,” he said, voice hardening. “You’re a target, Ruby. Get your story out before theirs. Make them believe you’ve been acting like a DA—not like a girl in too deep.”

My stomach twisted. “He could turn against me,” I said quietly. “He could tell them about all the crimes I committed when he, you know, killed Mickey Russell for me—and I let him clean it up.”

Alek’s eyes softened just a little. “You were in shock. You’re his victim.”

“Rosie is his daughter.” My voice cracked on the word daughter. “How are you going to spin that?”

He didn’t hesitate. “He’s never asserted his parental rights. And only three people in the world know that: you, me, and him.”

“He could tell them,” I whispered.

“They wouldn’t believe it, Ruby,” he said, more gently now. “This isn’t a spin. It’s the truth.”

He sat back again and tilted his head, looking at me with something like reluctant admiration.

“And from what I’ve read about your boy toy?” he said. “I doubt he’d put her in a position to lose you.”

My heart thudded, low and sick.

“You think I should just give them the rope?” I asked. My fingers trembled around the mug, and I wasn’t sure if I was angry, afraid, or already grieving. Maybe all three.

“I think you should stop letting them dictate the narrative,” Alek said.

“I think you should start acting like the goddamn district attorney.” He didn’t pause.

“You should see Darnell on your terms. The time, the place, the game plan. You should get ahead of this, not just react every time they decide to drop the hammer.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Kieran’s not going to like this.”

“Who gives a fuck? This is about Rosie, Ruby. Not Kieran.”

“You’re right, but upsetting him scares me. Wouldn’t it scare you?”

“No. Don’t be scared of him,” Alek replied. “Make the appointment, Ruby. Before they do. Don’t hide this time. Control the optics. Start playing offense.”

I stood up and paced for a few minutes, then I sat down on the edge of my desk, looking at him.

“I know you’re right,” I said. “But the thought of losing her to them—I can’t.”

“Then don’t,” Alek said. “But don’t lose her to them because you didn’t try.”

“Alek—”

“Ruby,” he said. “It’s time. You know it is.”

“And what about him?” I looked up. “What if—I mean, what if he doesn’t give it all up? What if this isn’t what they want?”

“The Callahans don’t want you to investigate them.

You got in this office because you told them you’d look into the corruption running rampant in this city,” Alek said.

“Now they have something over you, and it’s your turn to be practical.

You need to figure out what this means for you, for your office and for what you do for the city.

You care about being District Attorney, right?

And you care about being a good role model to your daughter. ”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I do,” I said. “And if he was anyone else, I feel like I would’ve walked away already.”

“Maybe you need a boyfriend.”

“I don’t need a boyfriend, Alek,” I said, suddenly annoyed. “I need…”

I trailed off, because what I wanted to say was that I needed him. That I needed Kieran Callahan.

Alek must’ve seen the shift in my face, because his expression softened. “You don’t need to finish that sentence,” he said quietly.

“I wasn’t going to,” I muttered.

“You don’t have to defend wanting him,” he said. “You’re not the first person to fall for someone impossible.”

“He’s not impossible.”

“Okay,” Alek said, sitting back. “Then he’s just dangerous. Which, believe it or not, is worse.”

I let out a slow breath and rubbed my palms against my skirt. The fabric was already wrinkled from the hours I’d spent hunched over my desk.

“He’s not going to like it,” I said again.

“And?” Alek’s voice was razor sharp. “What exactly are the consequences of Kieran not liking something? He glowers at you? Pouts in his millionaire fortress? Sends flowers to your doorstep while his brother buries bodies in the harbor?”

I gave him a look. “He doesn’t send flowers.”

“Yeah, Ruby, that’s the point. He doesn’t send flowers and his brother buries bodies in the harbor. Both of those things are true.”

The silence after that was heavier than it should’ve been. The weight of everything that had happened with Kieran felt like it was shackling me in place.

“I think he’s trying to protect me,” I said.

“I think he’s trying to save himself,” Alek said.

There was no venom in his voice. Just quiet, brutal honesty. And maybe that’s what I hated most about him sometimes—how well he knew me. How easily he could strip the romance away and show me the truth underneath.

I crossed the room and poured myself a cup of coffee, even though I didn’t want it. I just needed something to do with my hands.

“Okay,” I said at last. “You’re right. We make the appointment.”

“I’ll call Darnell.”

“No,” I said. “I will.”

“I’m your attorney,” he said.

“I know, but I’m the DA, and I need to start acting like it.”

“Okay. You sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah. It needs to come from me.”

He stood. “Then I’ll wait outside while you do it. You don’t want your voice shaking when you ask her for a time.”

“That obvious?”

“Only to me,” he said.

I watched him leave and close the door behind him.

And then I picked up the phone.

I stared at the screen for a long time before I finally scrolled to the contact Alek had saved for me months ago, back when Darnell was just a distant possibility, not a guaranteed wrecking ball.

My thumb hovered. Then I pressed call.

“Lucy Darnell,” came the clipped voice on the other end.

“This is Ruby Marquez,” I said, voice steady. “I think it’s time we talk.”

A pause.

Then: “I’ve been waiting for your call.”

Of course she had.

I hung up five minutes later with a time, a place, and a million new reasons to panic. But it was done. I stood alone in my office, looking out over the city I had sworn to protect.

And I realized I was finally doing it.

Even if it meant I might lose everything else.