Page 126 of Velvet Corruption

“Hey, boys,” I said. “Quick and quiet as can be, yeah?”

“Yep,” Lorenzo said. “Got it. Where?”

"On the stairs," I said, stepping aside.

Mac let out a long, exaggerated sigh as he stepped in. "Fucking hate cutting bodies up in houses like this," he muttered. "Too many angles. Too much risk of tracking shit around."

"Yeah, well, do it right and we won’t have to worry about that, will we?" I said.

"Mm." He rolled his shoulders. This was just another night on the job.

Ruby hadn’t moved from the kitchen.

She was staring at them. Not in shock. Not in horror. Just watching. Assessing. Her gaze darted between me and my men, as if she expected that to provide some answers.

Mac looked at me. "You got a tarp or something? Plastic sheeting?"

I shook my head. "No. Work with what you got. I put a sheet on top of him so you wouldn’t have to look at his dumb face."

Mac let out another exaggerated sigh. "Fucking fantastic. We’re gonna have to dismember him, then."

Ruby blinked.

Lorenzo barely reacted, just running a hand over his jaw like he was considering logistics. "Would be easier if we had a chainsaw," he said absently.

Mac perked up. "Oh, yeah. That’d speed things up."

I glanced at them, then at Ruby, who had paled. She was still standing there, staring. “You should go to your room,” I said, then looked at the men again. “What part of a chainsaw is quiet?”

Lorenzo and Mac looked at each other for a second before the latter addressed me. “What do you suggest?”

“An axe,” I said. “Slower work, but less noisy. You have an axe, Rubes?”

She looked…she looked like she wasn’t processing it yet.

Like it had just hit her that the cleanup wasn’t just wiping away blood. That this was real. And then, before I could stop her, she laughed. Not a normal laugh. Not one of those broken, what the fuck is my life kinds of laughs.

No. This one was cold. Sharp. Her eyes were still wide when she looked at Mac and Lorenzo, her voice too calm.

"You need an axe? Just go outside. My ex has one in his shed," she said. “Avail yourself to anything you need for your clean-up. Then put it back as if you hadn’t used it.”

Lorenzo tilted his head, considering her. Mac, the bastard, just grinned.

Mac let out a low whistle. “Damn, boss. I like her.”

I shot him a look, but Ruby wasn’t paying attention to him. She was still staring, still standing there like she hadn’t just offered her soon-to-be ex-husband’s axe like it was a bottle of Windex under the sink.

Fuck, it was sexy as hell.

Lorenzo, ever the professional, just gave a sharp nod. “I’ll grab it.”

Ruby didn’t move as he brushed past her, heading out the back door.

Mac exhaled through his nose, rolling out his shoulders like he was warming up for a workout. He glanced back at me. “You sure you don’t want her upstairs, boss?”

Ruby turned slowly, her gaze cutting. She didn’t look at Mac—she looked at me. “Yeah, boss,” she echoed, voice soaked in venom, exhaustion, and something else she didn’t want to name. “You sure you don’t want me upstairs?”

Her tone was mocking, but it didn’t land the way she wanted it to. Her smile was razor-sharp, but her eyes—flat, cold—held heat just below the surface. Like she was daring me to take control. Like she wanted to know what I’d do if she pushed too hard.

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