Page 120 of Velvet Corruption

“He’s a liability,” I cut in. “You call him, and now he’s involved. You want that for him? Because I guarantee you, Ruby, the second he picks up, the second you put this in his hands, you make him an accessory.”

Her breath caught. Her gaze flicked to the body, to the blood drying on the tile. She didn’t have to say it—I could feel the panic starting to take hold, creeping in around the edges.

“This?” I said, voice low. “This is a career-ender. A scandal. You’ll be crucified in the press. You’ll lose everything you just fought for.”

Her chin tipped up, defiant, but I could see the calculation flickering behind her eyes. “Alek can help—”

“No,” I said, cutting her off again, sharper this time. “He’s your best friend, right? Spare him. He can’t fix this—not the way I can. If you care about him at all, don’t drag him into this. Don’t put this on him.”

She hesitated. It was subtle, just the briefest flicker of doubt across her face. But I saw it. I felt it. And I knew what it meant.

She realized she was trapped.

She realized I had her.

And fuck, I should’ve taken a sick kind of pleasure in that. Tristan would have. He’d be grinning ear to ear, already drafting the press release. This was what he wanted. For her to owe me. For her to be compromised. For me to ruin her in the most efficient, bloodless way possible.

And now I could. One word from me, and she’d be neck-deep in something she couldn’t crawl out of.

My lips curled.

“So what’s your plan, huh?” she snapped, arms crossed tight over her chest like armor. “Let me guess. Call in your guys? Make the body disappear? Erase everything like it never happened?”

“Yes,” I said. “That’s exactly the plan.”

Her mouth opened, then snapped shut. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She hated this. She hated that I was right.

“I can’t—” she started, then exhaled sharply, pacing toward the counter. She pressed the heels of her hands against theedge, shoulders rising and falling with each breath. She was unraveling, trying to hold it together.

“Ruby,” I said, softer this time.

She didn’t turn around. I could feel the anger in her spine, the way her body tensed at the sound of my voice. I stepped closer, carefully, until I was right behind her. Close enough that I could have reached out, touched her. I didn’t.

“You don’t have to like this,” I said, my voice low, deliberate. “You don’t have to be okay with it. But you do have to let me handle it.”

Her knuckles were white where she gripped the counter. “This is my house,” she muttered. “My life.”

I stepped in closer, not touching her—but close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off me. “And I’m trying to keep it from blowing up in your fucking face.”

“You killed Russell,” she said, jaw tight. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I did,” I said flatly. “And I’d do it again. Slower, if I had the time.”

Her lips parted, a sharp breath escaping. I could see the outrage bubbling under her skin, but I didn’t back down.

“I understand it’s a complicating factor—”

“It’s a huge clusterfuck, not a complicating factor—”

I held up my hand, silencing her instantly. “Hey. You’re good at what you do, right? You put this bastard away. And he came back for you. He wanted to kill you. I’m also good at what I do.”

She looked away, like she was trying to find some way out of this that didn’t involve me…trying to interpret my words in some way thatdidn’tmean my job was to kill for her.

That was cute.

“This is my life,” she repeated, quieter now. Like she didn’t quite believe it anymore.

I leaned in, letting my voice drop to a rasp. “Not tonight, it’s not.”