9. Chapter Nine Kieran #2
There was a pause on the other end, and I could practically see Hannah calculating her schedule in her head. “I don’t know…”
“I’ll double your fee,” I said.
That seemed to do it. “Okay. I can leave in ten. What’s the address?”
I looked at Ruby for an answer. She glared back at me.
“As if you don’t know,” she hissed.
I cocked my head, smirking. “Twenty-three Willow Lane, in Brookline,” I said.
Ruby glared. I grinned.
If we were still fucking, the hate sex later would have been so good.
“Got it,” said Hanna. “I’ll see you soon.”
I ended the call and slipped the phone back into my pocket. Ruby opened her mouth, probably to tell me off or to revoke the tentative trust she’d just placed in me, but I spoke first.
“You have thirty minutes to decide,” I said. “In the meantime, let me at least rinse your hand.”
Ruby stared at me, her lips pressed into a tight line. Her eyes flicked toward the house, then back to me. I could see her weighing her options, calculating whether I was more trouble than I was worth.
“Fine,” she said, the word heavy with reluctance. “But not here. Follow me. And try not to be, I don’t know, so noticeable.”
“I have no idea how you expect me to do that,” I scoffed.
“Whatever. Just hurry.”
She turned on her heel, not waiting for a response, and headed toward the side of the house.
I followed her without a word, staying a few steps behind.
The narrow path led to a small shed tucked away at the back of the yard, half-hidden by overgrown ivy and the shadow of a massive oak tree.
Ruby glanced toward the house again, muttering under her breath, “God, I can’t believe I’m doing this. ”
She pushed the door open, revealing a cluttered but functional space—shelves lined with gardening tools, a folded lawn chair, and an old workbench scarred from years of use. The air smelled faintly of damp wood and earth. “This your she shed?” I asked. “Didn’t take you for the domestic type.”
“Fuck off,” she scowled. “It’s Julian’s. He doesn’t use it anymore so it’s a fucking mess.”
“Too busy?”
“What do you care, Kieran?” she asked. “Just do whatever the fuck you’re going to do.”
“Okay.”
She gestured for me to step inside, her posture still defensive. “If Rosie sees you, she’ll have questions I don’t feel like answering. So whatever you’re doing, do it here.”
I nodded, keeping my movements deliberate as I entered. Ruby stayed by the door, watching me like a hawk, before finally stepping in and closing it behind her.
“You have a first-aid kit?” I asked, scanning the room.
“There should be one on that shelf,” she said, motioning toward the far wall.
I found it tucked between a box of screws and a rusty toolbox, the plastic case covered in a thin layer of dust. I wiped it off with my sleeve and set it on the workbench, flipping it open to reveal neatly organized bandages, antiseptic wipes, and gauze.
“Sit,” I said, motioning to the lawn chair.
Ruby hesitated, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t start giving me orders.”
“Ruby,” I said, my tone soft but firm. “You’re bleeding. Let me do this.”
She huffed but sat down, resting her injured hand on the armrest. Her fingers twitched as I knelt in front of her, the proximity making the air between us feel heavier.
“This might sting,” I warned, tearing open an antiseptic wipe.
“I can handle it,” she said, her voice clipped.
I didn’t doubt that. Ruby Marquez could handle anything, but the way she flinched when I dabbed the wound told me she wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted me to believe.
The cut was worse up close, deep and jagged, with a shard of glass and tiny slivers of it still embedded in her palm. I worked carefully, using the tweezers from the kit to remove the shards. Each one made her suck in a sharp breath, but she didn’t pull away.
“I’m surprised your husband couldn’t make the time,” I said, breaking the silence. I’d have been lying if I said it didn’t give me a sense of satisfaction though—that I was the one who was here for her, not him.
“Julian’s working through some urgent deposition. Judge’s orders—it’s not optional, apparently,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’d think he’d at least call instead of leaving it to his secretary to let me know.”
“So it’s the judge’s fault.”
“Why are you going to bat for Julian?” she asked. “He’s an assh—he’s a complicated human, okay? But he’s always there for Rosie. If he knew about this, he would be here in a heartbeat.”
I was not going to bat for her husband, but this was good. This told me that this rift that I thought I perceived was real. That I could take advantage of it, even if the very mention of Julian’s name made me want to send my fist flying into the nearest wall.
“I’m sure he would,” I said, focusing back on Ruby’s hand. The last piece of glass came out clean, and I wiped away the blood with gentle strokes. “But until he gets here, you’re stuck with me.”
“Just finish up. My patience with you is wearing thin. Plus…I don’t know if my cleanup job was quite up to snuff and I can’t let Rosie get hurt.”
I plucked the last shard free—at least the last one I could do anything about—and Ruby let out a shaky breath.
Blood welled up quickly, and I pressed a sterile pad against it, holding her hand in both of mine. This close, I could see the tension in her shoulders, the tightness around her eyes.
I could also see the ridges of her lips, the golden specks in her brown eyes.
“You need stitches,” I said. “As soon as Hannah gets here, you’re going to urgent care. That’s not a suggestion.”
She exhaled hard through her nose, still refusing to look at me. “I can take care of it.”
Right. Of course she could. She always could. But her hand was shaking, her whole body was, and still…she’d rather bleed out on her driveway than let me in.
“You shouldn’t have to,” I said.
Her head snapped up, eyes like razors. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Talk to me like you give a damn.”
Her voice cracked on the last word. She tried to yank her hand back, but I held on.
“You think this is an act?” I shot back. “You’re bleeding, Ruby. Forgive me for not leaving you to collapse on the pavement.”
She laughed—a brittle, cutting sound. “Oh, right. You just happened to be parked outside my house. Totally normal, completely not-deranged behavior.”
“I didn’t know you were hurt.”
“But you were outside.”
I gave that a beat to settle…considered being open with her, telling her that yes, I was watching her.
I wanted to challenge her, to test her, to see how she would react if I admitted that I’d watched her masturbate last night and knew she was still thinking about me and not her piece-of-shit husband.
I wanted her to confront what I knew we were both thinking.
That neither of us had forgotten how good it felt—how right—when I was inside her.
“I told you, I was passing by,” I said instead.
She scoffed. “Passing by. At nine in the morning. In this neighborhood. Totally plausible. Do you think a jury would believe you?”
I gave her a smug smile. “You and I both know you’re not getting me in front of a jury.”
“Don’t test me, Kieran.” Ruby’s voice rose, her anger spilling out like the blood staining her palm. “You think I don’t know how you operate? You’re always watching, waiting for an opportunity to sink your claws in deeper.”
“I’m the one helping you with this injury. You could stand to be show a little more gratitude.”
“Don’t think I forgot your threat—what, on behalf of your brother? The Callahan empire?”
“That wasn’t a threat. It was just a conversation.”
She was unraveling now, every word coming faster, sharper.
“And you know what pisses me off the most?” she continued. “You act like you’re doing me a favor by being here. Like I should be grateful that you showed up to play hero. But I don’t need you, Kieran. I’ve never needed you.”
The words were a punch to the gut, but I didn’t move.
Not an inch.
“Yeah?” I said. “You’re bleeding all over your nice suburban shed and shaking like you might pass out, but sure. You don’t need anyone. Message received.”
Her jaw tightened. Her free hand curled into a fist at her side, nails digging into her palm.
“You don’t get to show up now like you care,” she hissed. “Not after what you did.”
“I don’t give a damn what you think,” I said. “I’m here anyway.”
There was a beat of silence.
Her chest was rising fast now, breath shallow and furious.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Tell me to fuck off. Tell me you don’t need me. But don’t pretend I don’t still know you better than anyone. Don’t pretend you’re not scared shitless right now and trying like hell not to show it.”
Ruby flinched. Not much. Just enough.
Her gaze dropped to her hand again, blood seeping through the makeshift bandage.
Finally, she pulled in a breath and stood up, forcing me to back up a couple steps. “I know you’re trying to help,” she said, voice clipped and bitter. “You can help by leaving.”
Yeah…no.
I wasn’t doing that.
Her chest was rising fast now—breathless with fury, or pain, or maybe both. Her jaw was clenched tight, her mouth a hard line, but her eyes were shining with something else entirely.
I stepped closer, just enough to feel the heat coming off her skin. “You sure about that?” I asked, voice low. “Because I don’t think you are.”
She didn’t back up. Didn’t blink. Her voice was low when she spoke, threatening.
“Kieran…if I ever see you on my street again, I will call the police. And I promise you that, if I’m elected as DA, I’ll make your life very difficult. Thank you for the help.”
“Listen—“
She didn’t listen, brushing past me and moving toward the door instead, so I caught her good wrist. She gasped, eyes snapping to mine.
“No one knows about us, Ruby,” I said, voice low. If what had passed between us before was just a conversation… this was a threat. “If you call the cops, they find out. The whole world finds out. Then what happens to your precious campaign? To your husband? To your daughter? ”
Another beat. My hand on her wrist. Her eyes burning into me.
Then she schooled her features and tossed her head back, chin lifted high.
“Thank you for the help,” she repeated, opening the shed door. Sunlight streamed in, casting a harsh line between the gloom of the shed and the bright yard outside. “Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind and call them anyway.”
She stepped outside and the door slammed shut behind her, leaving me standing alone in the shadows. The air smelled of blood and damp wood.
I should’ve left then. Should’ve walked away and never looked back. But I knew better. I was tied to Ruby in ways neither of us could escape. No matter how much she hated me, I wasn’t going anywhere.
My brother had given me a job: to destroy Ruby Marquez.
And maybe it made me a bastard…but I was going to have fun doing it.