Page 103 of Velvet Chains
I didn’t want him to leave.
“Are you sorry about what you said last time?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I was just telling you the truth.”
“Did you call Darnell?” he asked. “Are you going to offer me a drink?”
I stared at him. Jesus…theaudacityof this man. He’d told me to fuck off the last time I saw him, made completely absurd demands, acted like I was the one who’d hurt him…and now he was–what? Asking for an apology?
“You show up here uninvited, track snow across my floor, and now you want a drink?” I said.
He didn’t smile. Just looked at me like he already knew the answer.
“I did call her,” I added. “We have a meeting scheduled. After New Year’s Eve. She’s on a break.”
“Lucky us,” he said.
He exhaled, slow and rough, like he’d been holding that breath for days. Maybe he had.
“Fuck,” he said. “You really did it.”
“You’re surprised?”
“No,” he said. “Just… scared.”
That caught me off guard. He wasn’t a man who used that word easily. He looked away, jaw tense, hands still shoved into the pockets of his coat.
“She’s going to ask questions,” I said. “About Russell. About the club. About me. About you.”
“And?”
“And I’m not going to lie for you,” I said.
He met my eyes again. “I’m not asking you to.”
The silence between us stretched long and strange. The fire popped behind me, a soft crack like a joint dislocating.
He stepped closer.
I didn’t move.
“I came here,” he said, “because I needed to see you one more time before everything changes.”
I swallowed hard. “Why?”
His voice dropped. “Because I miss you. Because I hate this. Because I want to fix it and I don’t know how.”
I stood there, trying to remember how to breathe.
“I told you,” I said, voice low, “this doesn’t end well.”
“I know,” he said. “But I want you anyway.”
I took a single step back. He followed.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” I said.
“I know.”
