Page 142 of Velvet Corruption

I should have known that nothing this good could last.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Ruby

The second I heard the front door unlocking, panic jolted through me. Shit. I turned to Kieran, still half-dressed, still stretched out in my bed like he fucking belonged there.

He lifted an eyebrow, lazy and amused, completely unbothered.

Shit? What time was it? I looked at the clock.

Eight. I must have overslept after Kieran woke me up.

Panic twisted through my gut, cold and frantic. How long had I been asleep? Long enough for them to be back already. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

No one could know I’d been with Kieran Callahan. Certainly not Julian.

Definitely not Rosie.

Fuck.

Kieran was still watching me, like I was some show put on for his entertainment. One corner of his mouth lifted. “Problem?” he asked, voice low and easy.

I glared at him, wishing I could be as unconcerned, as utterly at ease. “You heard that, right?”

“Heard what?”

“That.” I pointed toward the door, heart thudding against my ribs. “Julian and Rosie.”

“Ah.” He shifted slightly, stretching his arms over his head, muscles flexing in a way that would’ve been distracting if I weren’t about to have a fucking heart attack. “Okay.”

That was it. Okay. Like he had nowhere else to be. Like he belonged here. Like he wasn’t a Callahan and I wasn’t newly elected District Attorney who had just violated a plethora of laws last night, as if none of this was about to explode in our faces.

I stared at him, trying to shove down the rising tide of anxiety. He really wasn’t going to move. “Shit, Kieran, do something!”

“You seem upset,” he said, a smirk playing across his lips.

I clenched my teeth, in no mood for this. Not now.

He let out a lazy breath, letting his eyes fall closed again. “Relax. We’ve got time.”

“Rosie is going to realize I’m not downstairs and she’s going to come up here. I need you to move.”

“Okay…”

“I don’t just need you to move. If you go downstairs, they’ll see you. Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Okay, you need to hide. Get in the closet.”

He didn’t budge. “You want me to get in the closet?”

“This is not happening,” I hissed, half to him and half to myself. “Yes! Get in the closet.”

“I thought you two were broken up.”

“We are! This isn’t about him, it’s about my daughter. This is happening, Kieran. Get in the fucking closet.”

He stared at me like I’d grown a second head, utterly incredulous. “You can’t be serious.”

I was dead serious. “Kieran!”

His smirk widened, eyes flicking to the door and then back to me. “You’re panicking over nothing.”

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