Page 4 of Velvet Betrayal
“They don’t take it down the first of January, mi amor.”
She was unconvinced. “What if Daddy doesn’t take us?”
I could lie, or I could tell her something that would stick for years. I opened my mouth, and something else came out—soft, unfiltered. “Then I’ll steal you away myself. We’ll have our own adventure. Just us.”
She grinned and, for a moment, the snow outside seemed like old news, the world resolvable. Her little hand clutched mine, so small and pale it hurt to look at.
I knew then—I couldn’t protect her from this. From any of it. But I could show her, and myself, that we still had choices. Even if it was only in the words we used.
I stayed with her until her breathing evened out, until the static in her hair went quiet and the house settled around us.
Downstairs, muffled, the clatter of Kieran in the kitchen. That was familiar, a muscle memory from a different life. When I tried to get up, Rosie pulled me down, curling into my side, all warmth and need.
“Valerie is so nice,” she said. “I like that Dad has a friend.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Is Key your friend like Valerie is Daddy’s friend?”
Her question was a scalpel—clean, precise. “Key and I are…old friends,” I said. I tried to sound casual, but even I heard the gap between the words and the truth. “From before you were born.”
She thought about that, mouth wobbling. She was either going to fall asleep or ask a thousand more questions. “Do you miss when I wasn’t born?”
“I don’t remember it,” I said, which was not entirely untrue. “My brain is all Rosie, all the time. Origin story.”
She rolled over, and for a second, I saw myself in her: the way she scanned the room, the corners, the closet shadow. “What if something bad happens to you?” she whispered, so soft I almost missed it.
I hesitated. There was the right answer, and there was the answer she’d remember. I tucked her hair behind her ear, smoothed her cheek, wishing I could give her strength by touch. “If something ever happens to me, you think about all the things we did. Pancakes, subway, the time we fell ice-skating. Youremember I loved you so much it could break the world.” My voice dipped. “But I swear, I’m not going anywhere.”
Her eyelids fluttered. “Except maybe to New York.”
I laughed, the sound wet and shaky. “Except maybe to New York. But you’re coming too.”
“Okay,” she said, and tucked her hands under her cheek, and with a tiny sigh, was out.
I waited. For a phone to buzz, for Kieran’s voice at the bottom of the stairs, for the unspeakable to finally show its teeth. But nothing followed except the hush of snow on glass, slow and continuous.
The quiet reminded me of another night, another door that wouldn’t open.
A memory I wasn’t ready to name.
I let myself lie there, curled next to this small human I had made, and buried my nose in the space where scalp met neck, and breathed in and counted.
Not sheep—not tonight.
Just the number of minutes until someone would figure out we were gone.
Ruby
When I woke up, it was dark.
Midnight in the Berkshires.
And I wasstillfucking kidnapped. But at least, for now, my daughter was safe. I just had to wonder how long that would last.
Rosie was asleep—out cold, little fist curled by her cheek, breathing slow and even. At least she was safe, for now. That was all I could ask for. But sleep wasn’t coming back for me, not with the questions gnawing at the inside of my skull. I needed to know what Kieran was planning.
The house was quiet, but the kitchen glowed too-bright, like a spotlight on the wrong side of midnight. I stood in the hall for a second, just watching him. Kieran looked like he belonged there—forearms tense, sleeves rolled, plating pasta like this was some weeknight date and not a hostage situation.
