Page 80 of Velvet Corruption

It was one thing when she was just running for DA—someone I could flirt with, fuck with, stall long enough to keep Tristan from sending in a cleaner. But this? This was personal.

And it shouldn’t have turned me on.

…but it did.

I sat there with my hands clenched around the wheel, breathing hard. She was so fucking beautiful like this—driven, defiant, reckless as hell. She didn’t even know how close she was to getting herself killed. Or worse—getting me to break every line I’d ever drawn.

The smart thing would’ve been to intervene. To pull her out. To warn her off before Tristan made good on his threats.

But I didn’t move.

Because some sick part of me wanted to see how far she’d go. Wanted to see her fall deeper. Wanted to know how close I could let her get before I yanked her back—and made her pay for every fucking step she took toward betrayal.

Because that’s what this was. A betrayal. Not just of my family. Of me.

I should’ve hated her for it. Maybe I did.

But more than anything, I wanted to drag her into the backseat of my car, shove her down, and fuck the righteousness out of her. Make her say my name with that mouth she used to lie. Make her beg for mercy with the same voice she used to chase down truth.

I wanted to ruin her for this. And God help me, I wanted to be ruined right along with her.

The longshoreman shifted. Looked like he was about to bolt. Ruby noticed—her body tensed, already calculating her next move. But then he looked past her, over her shoulder.

And everything changed.

He wasn’t just nervous anymore. He was afraid.

I sat up straighter, instincts firing like a live wire. A shadow moved behind them. Someone stepped into the light, slow and sure and wrong.

Fuck. Of course Tristan had someone watching.

My stomach tightened. Shit.

The enforcer moved toward her with a swagger that made me want to put a bullet in his fucking knee.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he barked, loud enough for me to hear from across the dock. He knew who she was. And he didn’t care. That made him both stupid and dangerous.

Ruby squared her shoulders, lifted her chin—like she wasn’t alone on a dark dock with a made man twice her size. Of course she didn’t flinch. Of course she stood her ground. That was Ruby: fearless when she should’ve run. Unbreakable until she bled.

But I wasn’t watching anymore.

I was out of the car before I even realized I’d moved, every stride forward stripping away whatever leash I thought I had onmyself. I didn’t weigh the consequences. Didn’t stop to consider how this would look. Didn’t give a single shit.

Because he was looking at her like she was prey. And he wasn’t alone.

The longshoreman bailed, smart bastard. But Ruby didn’t. She didn’t run, didn’t plead. She stood her ground as the enforcer got in her face—and then grabbed her wrist.

That was it.

I saw red.

By the time his hand wrapped around her, I was already behind him. Already moving fast. I didn’t give him the chance to turn around. I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into a shipping crate so hard the metal rang like a bell.

I knew him. Danny…something. He worked for me. Henormallyworked for me, anyway, but clearly, Tristan had given him this assignment. That was…very bad news. But I could worry about that later.

Right now, all I could worry about was Ruby.

“You put your hands on her again,” I said, my voice low, calm, deadly, “and I’ll break every bone you have left, then send you home in a trash bag.”