Page 58 of Corrupted Empire

“Lovely to see you, Ms. Flint,” I greet, gesturing for her to sit. I am pretending that her showing up here hasn’t rattled me, but it has. And I’m afraid she sees it.

“Lovely to see you too,” Ruby replies in a falsely cheery tone. She points to the stack of packages and letters as she walks across the room. “All your adoring fans?”

“They’re for the rehabilitation program,” I reply. “A lot of the addicts we take in don’t have anyone else. It can be hard to want to change if there’s nothing grounding you, so I thought it might help to show them that there are people who support them.”

Ruby’s eyes lift in surprise. “How very thoughtful of you.”

The way she says it is demeaning, like she thinks I am doing the absolute bare minimum. I try not to let it bother me. I have to be stronger than this.

“After our last chat, you left such a strong impression that I looked into you,” Ruby says airily.

By “our last chat” she is referring to the moment when I cornered her just outside of the police department and warned her not to continue looking into Gabriel’s case. I’d been talking about the investigation with one of my old colleagues at theUnion, who mentioned that he’d once seen Ruby at a sex club he’d infiltrated for an article, and she was there with someone other than her husband. It seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.

It was a rash move on my part, considering I actually had nothing concrete with which to blackmail her, but I was desperate to do anything I could to help clean up the mess I’d made.

I have to be careful not to acknowledge any wrongdoing on my part. She might be recording me.

“Oh yes?” I say. “And what did you find?”

“Your article on the purple heroin crisis was the first result to come up in the search, of course,” Ruby replies. “I was surprised. I remember the article coming out, and how much of a stir it caused, but I didn’t realize it was written by Gabriel Bellucci’s girlfriend.”

“That’s because I’m not just Gabriel Bellucci’s girlfriend,” I reply, baring my teeth in what could barely be considered a smile. “I’m a journalist. I’m a businesswoman. And I’m a force to be reckoned with.”

This is as much as I dare threaten her right now. I hope it’s clear enough.

“I’m sure you are,” she simpers condescendingly. Looking around at my office, she nods. “I can really see how far you’ve gotten in the world on your merits. I mean, look at the view from here. All those people you get to look down on from the top of your boyfriend’s office building.”

I want to punch her. Her cheekbones are so sharp that it looks like they might cut me if I did, but it would be so worth it.

“You’re not just all those things, though, are you?” Ruby continues. “You’re also a mother. But more importantly, you’re a daughter.”

Her lips curl, and I already know whatever venom she is about to spit, it will make me furious.

“What do you think the great Harry Wright would think if he could see you now?” Ruby taunts. “Doing your boyfriend’s dirty work. Making pathetic threats. Tossing away all your morals for the sake of a man.”

My blood boils. I clench my hands into fists, feeling my nails dig into the meat of my palm. I focus on the pain, on the distraction. If I don’t, I know I’ll do something I regret.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I force myself to say.

Ruby’s eyes glint. “Sure you don’t.” She stands. I nearly sigh with relief. She will be gone soon.

But Ruby doesn’t leave right away. She lifts up the framed photo of Harry on my desk and stares at it, smiling wistfully.

“It’s a shame, really,” she says with a sigh. “You were a disappointment to your father, and now you’re going to be a disappointment to your son too.”

I explode, jolting to my feet.

“Listen, bitch,” I snarl. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you might want to think for a second about who I am. What I can do. You ought to be careful what you say around me if you want to avoid any trouble.”

I freeze, horrified at what I’ve just said, but it’s too late.

Ruby smiles knowingly. “It’s been nice talking to you, Alexis.”

She saunters out of my office without so much of a backward glance, and only once she’s gone do I sink back into my chair and release a long, frustrated groan.

What have I done? I was supposed to keep my cool. Gabriel would have.

Fuck.

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