Page 40 of Velvet Corruption

She felt like a mistake I still hadn’t stopped making.

“I just do,” I said, keeping my inner monologue private. “You’re not going to be able to drive like that. You need stitches.”

She shook her head, stepping back toward the house. “I’ll figure it out. I don’t need your help.”

“You needsomeone’shelp.”

“Stay the fuck out of my business, Kieran.”

“Ruby,” I said again, stepping closer. Her jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought she was going to tell me to go to hell.

Then her gaze dropped to her hand, blood now dripping onto the pavement. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she sighed in defeat.

“Fine,” she said, holding it out like a reluctant truce. “But if you try anything—anything—I swear I’ll make you regret it.”

“I won’t,” I said, already unwinding the scarf from around my neck. It was soft wool, dark gray—hers once, maybe. I couldn’t remember. I folded it quickly and reached for her hand.

She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t relax either.

I cradled her fingers gently, pressing the scarf against the worst of the bleeding and winding it tight. The warmth of her blood soaked through almost instantly, slick and vivid, and even though she said she’d done it to herself…I could barely handle it.

She flinched, just slightly, her eyes locked on mine the whole time.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” I said, voice low, steady. “I would never hurt you. You know that, right?”

She gave me a long, unimpressed look.

“Cool! What a totally normal and not at all creepy thing to say.”

“Good, you’re being sarcastic,” I muttered. “At least that means you’re not on death’s door.”

“Oh, did you get a medical degree after ghosting me?” she snapped. “Doctor Mafia, MD—ouch!”

“Just let me help you,” I said. “You’re bleeding.”

“I don’t need your help,” Ruby rasped, but her voice lacked its usual fire.

“You don’t have time to argue with me. Your daughter is inside, right? You don’t want her to see this.”

She hesitated, her eyes flicking toward the building, then back to me. The mention of her daughter had struck a chord. Ruby was many things, but she was never unreasonable when it came to protecting those she cared about.

“Fine,” she said, but her acceptance was grudging. “Explain how you plan to help. Because my nanny is away boating with her boyfriend so she’s not available for an emergency, my best friend is picking his sister up from the airport and my daughter’s father is working through some sort of health insurance merger and there’s a deposition he apparently can’t get out of. You know how I know this? His secretary told me. He didn’t even text me about it. So unless you have childcare on speed dial, explain to me how I can leave my seven-year-old here while I get the lightbulb glass out of the palm of my hand.”

She closed her eyes tightly.

“I shouldn’t have told you any of that.”

“You’re losing a lot of blood. You can blame it on that.”

“Don’t do that,” she said, her eyes opening. “Don’t try to make me feel better.”

I took a deep breath, knowing that what I was about to suggest would push her even further. But it was the only way. “I’ll stay with her.”

Ruby’s eyes widened, then she laughed—a short, bitter sound. “Are you insane? You think I’d leave Rosie with you?”

“I’m just offering until someone else can get here. Or I can take you to urgent care and wait in the car with her. You’ll be in and out in less than an hour.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near me. And I definitely don’t want you anywhere near my daughter.”

---