Page 144 of Velvet Corruption

My voice, by some miracle, didn’t shake.

Rosie. Sweet and small and mine. She clung to me, fingers twisting in my hair like I might disappear if she let go. Like she could hold me here forever, and it would keep me safe.

Maybe it would.

I wanted to stay like that, buried in her warmth, in her perfect innocence, in her complete, unwavering love. Like the world outside this moment didn’t exist.

“I missed you,” I whispered.

Rosie giggled, her voice bright against my skin. “I was only gone one night!”

One night. The longest of my life.

She pulled back, looking at me with wide eyes, trying to make sense of the heaviness I felt settling into my chest. I kissed her cheek, breathed her in, didn’t let her go. I didn’t know how to let her go.

I glanced up and saw Julian leaning against the doorframe, watching me closely.

The look on his face was a punch to the gut. Careful. Assessing. Like he knew how close I’d come to losing everything. To losing her. Like he could see right through the mask I was trying so hard to keep in place.

“You okay?” he asked.

I nodded, forcing a smile. “Fine.”

I didn’t fool him. Not for a second.

Rosie wiggled in my arms, and I set her on the bed. She immediately flopped onto her stomach, kicking her feet in the air as she launched into a winding story about some stuffed animal drama at Julian’s place.

I tried to listen. I really did.

But Julian was still watching me.

His gaze flicked to the bed, to the mess of sheets and pillows that I hadn’t even thought to fix in my panic.

The window. The faint smell of bleach that clung to everything. His brow furrowed.

He had to have noticed something was off. His gaze roamed around the room, pausing on my pillow, on the messed up sheets.

“What happened here?”

I swallowed. “We can talk about it later.”

“Rosie, peanut, why don’t you go put your things in your room?” Julian asked. “Then, if Mami isn’t too busy, we can go for breakfast.”

“Uh, I’m not—I mean, Alek is coming over soon.”

“Is Nat coming?” Rosie asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“I think she’s still in New York City, baby,” I replied.

“She could bring her boyfriend!” Rosie declared.

Julian smirked. “Yeah, we’ll ask next time Alek’s sister is in town. You know, Ruby, the more the merrier,” he said. “Now go put your things away before I have to tickle-torture you into it, mi amor.”

Rosie groaned, leaning into Julian. “But, Daddy—”

He kneeled down in front of her. “Hey. What did we talk about? When we get to new places, we put our stuff away. It’s not just polite, it helps us later when we’re looking for them.”

Rosie glared at him for a second, then looked at me. As if I was going to contradict him.