Page 21 of Velvet Corruption

And Tristan didn’t even realize there was an added layer to this—where I’d been in love with this girl once upon a time.

Well, maybe love was too strong a word.

More like, I still thought about how good her pussy felt wrapped around my—

“Kieran, you still with me?” Tristan asked.

I cleared my throat.

“Yeah…so what’s the play?”

“I need you to take care of her before she becomes an issue.”

“‘Take care of her’,” I repeated, incredulous. “You…you want me to kill the future DA?”

He waved me off. “No. Killing her is not the play,” Tristan said. “It’s too messy, and she’s got the public’s eye. No, you’re going to dismantle her reputation piece by piece until there’s nothing left but doubt and scandal. Until she’s completely and totally unelectable.”

I felt the air in the room change, moving from dense with threat to thick with intrigue. A cold pragmatism laced his words as if he were discussing market fluctuations, not the deliberate ruin of a woman.

My stomach churned. This was no less destructive than a bullet, just quieter.

“Understood.” The word came out jagged, catching on a breath I fought to keep steady. Relief washed over me for a fleeting moment—relief that Ruby would live, that I wouldn’t have to carry her death on my conscience.

But dread replaced it almost instantly. Destroying her reputation? That felt even more intimate, more cruel. It was one thing to take a life in the shadows, another entirely to poison it under the scrutiny of daylight.

I tried to mask the turmoil churning inside me, but it was like trying to smooth ripples in water with your hands—futile. Tristan watched me, no doubt reading every flicker of emotion that dared to surface.

“You’re hesitating,” he said.

“What can I say? I’ve gotten real soft ever since you had kids.”

Tristan’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought he might call me out on the true source of my reluctance. How could he know? I’d never even told him her name. He had always been able to read me, though. But then he leaned back, tension easing from his shoulders.

“We’re family, Kieran. You know that means something. If you have concerns, voice them.”

“She’s not a player. Just some random politician,” I said. “Couldn’t we try to bribe her first?”

“You think I haven’t already tried?”

Of course he had. Tristan didn’t bring problems to my doorstep until he’d already burned through every backdoor, handshake, and envelope of cash in the city.

But this one stuck.

And suddenly I realized why.

Ruby.

He didn’t know about us. I’d never told him. Never told anyone. Not because I was ashamed — I mean, maybe a little — butmostly because I wanted to keep her clean. Untouched by any of this.

But now?

Now he’d gone to her like she was just another name on the ledger, offered her a deal, and watched her torch it without blinking. Because he didn’t know about our history, but she did…and it probably felt like a slap in the face that my brother would try to pay her off, when I wouldn’t even talk to her.

Jesus. No wonder she was pissed.

I nodded slowly, letting the weight of the task settle on me. “Alright.”

“Can I count on you?” he asked, all business.

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