14. Chapter Fourteen Ruby #2
I slammed the door harder than I needed to, the impact reverberating through the early morning quiet.
It wasn’t until I was halfway up the steps that I realized how badly my hands were shaking.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to laugh. Mostly, I wanted to march back to the car and tell him—tell him what? I didn’t even know.
But…this was my car. He was going to take Hannah’s car. I needed to get my keys back.
Fuck.
I turned back around and grimaced.
“Looking for these?” he asked, waving them in front of my face.
“Just give them to me.”
He smirked, depositing them softly into my uninjured hand, his skin practically burning mine.
“See you later, Ruby,” he said.
I didn’t say anything—because even if I told him to stay the hell away from me, I was sure he would be back.
I turned around, walking purposefully up the stairs.
But the sound of the engine faded into the distance, leaving me alone with nothing but questions and the taste of that goddamn coffee still on my lips.
The door clicked shut behind me, and I exhaled, pressing my back against it for just a second.
It was different here. Not like the curated tidiness of Kieran’s place, where everything had been set exactly as he wanted it—designed for control, for efficiency, for calculated charm.
My home would have life. It would be messy, imperfect, mine.
Which meant that the fact that this was Julian’s home—just as perfect as Kieran’s—felt like a slap in the face.
And yet, standing here, I could still feel the ghost of Kieran’s presence. The warmth of the coffee still clung to my lips. The weight of his words sat somewhere deep in my stomach.
Fuck him.
I shoved off the door and stepped into the kitchen—where I immediately realized I wasn’t alone.
Alek was sitting at the kitchen table, arms crossed, jaw tight, eyes fixed on the doorway like he’d been sitting there for hours—like he’d been waiting.
Natalia was perched on the counter beside him, holding a steaming mug of coffee like she was the smug villain in a spy movie.
She was already dressed—immaculately, of course.
Crisp blouse, neat braid, one of my robes draped over her lap like it belonged to her.
Meanwhile, I looked like I’d been dragged backward through a war zone.
I was still in yesterday’s clothes, and—Jesus. There was dried blood on my jeans.
Natalia spotted it immediately. Her lips curled, and I could almost hear the gotcha behind her expression. But she stood up and hugged me anyway—tight, warm, familiar. And even though she didn’t feel like my friend at that exact moment, it was really, really good to have her home.
“Oh, finally,” Natalia said, her British sarcasm poised to cut. “Lovely of you to join us. Just in time for the intervention we were planning.”
I ignored her. “How was your flight?”
“Let’s talk about you,” she said. I glanced at Alek, who was sitting at the dining room table, a sheet of paper in front of him with a list of…
Hospitals.
Shit
He was making a list of emergency rooms to call.
My heart dropped to my stomach.
“Well?” Nat said.
I groaned, dropping my bag onto the floor. “Nat, it’s barely morning.”
“Yes, and yet I’ve been awake for ages, darling. Can’t imagine why.”
I could feel Alek’s eyes drilling into me, the weight of his silence more intense than anything Natalia could throw my way.
“Where the fuck were you?” he asked, voice calm. Too calm. It was his I’m pissed, but I’m containing it for your benefit voice.
I rubbed at my face, trying to will away the throb behind my temples. “Couldn’t text. My hand was fucked.”
Natalia’s eyebrows shot up. “Your hand?” she echoed, eyes flicking immediately to the offending appendage like it held all the answers. Her expression shifted from mild interest to razor-sharp curiosity. “Well, now I’m intrigued.”
I sighed, already too tired for this interrogation.
“It’s nothing,” I said, sidestepping her concern and trying to sound convincing. “Alek, chill. I crashed on a friend’s couch.”
Natalia grinned like a cat that just found a bird with a broken wing. “A friend, you say?” she mused, taking a sip of coffee. “And what exactly happened to your hand while you were at this friend’s house, hm?”
I barely stopped myself from groaning out loud.
I was cornered.
Alek’s jaw was still tight, his worry not melting one bit under the humor. His gaze flicked down to my hand, then back to my face, unamused.
“You worried us,” he said, his voice a low simmer. “You could’ve been straight with me when you called. You needed help and you acted like it was no big deal…like always.”
“I could handle it,” I insisted, holding up my bruised, useless hand for emphasis. “Wait, no. I couldn’t. I thought I did. I tried…”
“Ruby, if I had known, my sister could’ve found her way to my place in a cab. She wouldn’t have cared. I wouldn’t have cared. You didn’t tell me. How can I be there for you if you don’t tell me everything?” Alek asked, this time sounding more concerned than annoyed.
“He’s right. I’m an adult. I can take a car,” Natalia helpfully interjected. “Or, I don’t know…wait? If it’s an emergency, of course I’m going to wait.”
I took a deep breath. “Look, I get it. I deserve the lecture. But I’m very tired, it’s been a very long twenty-four hours, and I want to have a shower and go get my daughter. So can we at least postpone the talk until we’re going to Julian’s?”
“Nat, give us a minute,” he told his sister.
She nodded. “Alright,” she said. “I’ll just be upstairs.”
Alek watched me from across the table, silent, unmoving. His face was unreadable, but I could feel it—the weight of his frustration pressing down on the room.
Natalia, on the other hand, was dying for gossip.
She’d barely made it halfway up the stairs before stopping, obviously deciding that whatever was about to happen was far too juicy to miss. Now, she leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, eyebrows raised.
“Well?” she prompted. “Someone gonna explain why I’m up at the crack of dawn to the most delicious tension I’ve ever seen?”
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “Nat, I love you, but I do not have the energy to deal with your shit right now.”
Alek, however, wasn’t in the mood for distractions. His fingers drummed once on the table before he spoke, voice measured. “ Where were you, Ruby?”
I could hear the restraint in his voice. It wasn’t quite anger—not yet. But the concern had curdled into something sharper. “I’m a grown-up. I don’t need to account for my whereabouts to you.”
“You do, though.” Alek’s voice was firm but not unkind. “You’re running for DA in a city that’s more dangerous than it’s been in years. You refuse to play ball with the Callahans. You’ve put away what… at least a hundred domestic abusers who might be free any day now? That makes you a target.”
“I sent you a bunch of texts,” I shot back. “All of them asking for help, to be clear.”
“You were cryptic as hell.” He scoffed. “And if you wanted me to take you seriously, maybe you shouldn’t have written, and I quote—‘it’s just a halogen lightbulb lol don’t worry about it.’”
I groaned. “Did you have to quote me?”
“Yes.” His voice sharpened. “Because I was worried sick about you. Were you getting wasted? At the hospital? With a hookup? I don’t care. I just need to know. I need to know where you are, Ruby, so I can protect you. So I can advise you. So let me in.”
I exhaled, shaking my head. “You’re acting like I faked my own death.”
Alek’s jaw twitched. “You disappeared for ten hours.”
“…I was bleeding.”
His expression darkened. “Exactly. And how do you think I felt when I came to your house only to find blood on the driveway and on the door handle?”
I dragged a hand through my hair. “Okay, yeah, it sounds bad when you say it like that.”
"Because it is bad, Ruby." He sat back, pinching the bridge of his nose.
For a second, neither of us spoke. The weight of it settled. It wasn't just the lecture. It was the fact that he’d spent those hours not knowing. Alek, who planned everything, who anticipated every problem before it happened.
I sighed, shoulders dropping. “Alright. You’re right. I should’ve called you sooner.”
Alek exhaled, slow and measured. “Thank you.”
“…but for the record, the lightbulb thing was funny.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re lucky you’re injured.”
I smirked. “I know.”
“So,” he said. “Are you going to tell me?”
I stared at the table, chewing the inside of my cheek. My instinct was to dodge, deflect, distract—but I was too tired for that. Too wrung out. And if I didn’t say it now, I never would.
I met his gaze.
“I was with Kieran.”
Alek stilled.
Natalia, however, lit up like she’d just won the goddamn lottery.
“Oh, this just gets better,” she crowed, stepping fully back into the room. “Kieran Callahan? You know there are easier ways to ruin your life?”
Alek's reaction was the exact opposite. “You what?” His voice was sharp, clipped, his jaw going tight.
I lifted my bandaged hand, waving it for emphasis. “I couldn’t drive. I crashed on his couch. That’s it.”
Natalia wasn’t buying it, but it wasn’t like I could tell them the fucking truth—that he was stalking me, that I kind of liked it, that I’d spent a good ten minutes with his tongue in my mouth last night.
She moved closer, tilting her head like she was inspecting me for clues. “Mmm. That’s a boring answer. Try again.”
I glared. “No.”
She pouted theatrically. “Pity. Would’ve been a hell of a story.”
"This isn't funny, Nat," Alek snapped. The sharpness of his voice killed the amusement instantly.
Natalia put up her hands, unbothered. “Fine, fine. No need to get territorial, big brother. You’re acting like she slept with him or something. And she’s right, it wouldn’t be any of your fucking business.”
Alek didn’t blink.
Natalia’s smirk dropped. "Oh my God. You think she slept with him?"
I groaned, dragging my hand down my face. I hadn’t slept with him, but hadn’t I wanted to? Wasn’t that enough? Could this woman read my fucking mind? Okay, I was too tired for this. I could deal with all of their anger later.
"I didn’t," I said, exasperated.
Natalia squinted at me. "But you wanted to."
Jesus. "Goodbye, Nat."
“Alright. You two have fun being dramatic,” she said. She took the hint this time, retreating toward the stairs, but not before shooting Alek a look that said have fun with that mess.
Alek leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "You should’ve called me, Ruby."
There was no anger this time. Only guilt. That was worse.
I exhaled. “I tried. I texted you!”
His expression didn’t change. "You did not try hard enough."
Something in my chest tightened. The exhaustion was catching up to me, making my edges sharper, making my words come out too raw. "I was bleeding, Alek. I didn’t have a lot of fucking options."
He flinched. That small movement gutted me.
I hadn’t meant to say that. Hadn’t meant to throw it at him like a weapon. But now it was out in the open, between us, thick as blood.
“I’m sorry. I’m tired. I didn’t mean to be cruel, but I’m not wrong.”
“You weren’t being cruel. You were just stating facts,” he said. “Facts can be cruel.”
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to steady myself. "Look. It’s done. I’m fine. Let me have a shower, and then…I don’t know, we can wait for it to get light and go get Rosie?”
Alek studied me for a long moment. Then, finally, he nodded.
“Ruby?” he said as he got to his feet.
“What?” I asked, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “Do you want one of these?”
I turned around. He had walked up to me and dropped his voice to a whisper.
“You know I love you,” he said. “So much.”
That was never in question, but he wasn’t the kind of friend who just said. “Wait. Are you dying? Are you sick? Are you—”
“No. I’m about to tell you something important.”
I shook my head in confusion. “I know. I love you too—”
“I’m not done,” he said. “I want to be clear here. If you pull anything like that again, I’m going to have to withdraw from your campaign.”
My stomach dropped. “Alek—”
“It’s not just your career at risk,” he said. “It’s mine, too.”
My throat tightened.
“You think this is just about optics?” He shook his head.
“I’m a lawyer. And if the Bar Association finds out that I—your closest advisor—knew you were spending the night at a Callahan’s house and didn’t intervene?
That looks like collusion. That looks like I’m compromised.
And you know what happens to compromised lawyers, Ruby? ”
He let the question settle.
“They lose everything.”
I swallowed hard. “Alek—”
He held out a hand for the water. I gave it to him, my mouth suddenly dry.
He turned away, leaning on the counter. “You’re the closest friend I’ve ever had. But I don’t know if our relationship survives this.”
“Alek…”
He took a swig of water, then swallowed like he was forcing something down.
“So think about that next time you spend the night with Kieran Callahan or—" His voice dropped even lower. "—decide not to call me.”
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.
He glanced at his watch. “Go have a shower. We need to pick up your daughter.”
I hesitated. “Are you going to let me explain?”
His mouth twitched, something bitter curling at the edges. “There’s nothing to explain,” he murmured. “You’re an adult. You don’t owe me an accounting of your whereabouts.”
He set his water down with a soft thunk.
“And this conversation is over.”