Chapter 39 THE SHADOW WITH A CIGAR
I knew I had broken his spirit the moment I pulled away from him, heading straight for the edge of the pool to take a seat.
Rafael stood still in the pool for a while before he made his way towards me. Finally reaching me, his hands guarded me by the sides, giving me no chance for an escape.
A soft glint of worry settled within his dark eyes and then he said to me softly.
“I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” He apologized.
He had me on lockdown with his words, my brain shutting down the moment he said those words to me that I barely knew how to react or respond to his apology.
I couldn't let him go on about how bad it was for him to have ruined my life to satisfy his own personal desire. I shouldn't speak of things that would give him enough hints about my disappearance from his life by tomorrow.
Nothing could get past Santiano Rafael Devereaux, not while he was still alive, so I had to be extremely careful with my choice of words as the slightest hint could bring him on board.
Then I tried to change the subject, away from matters that could possibly make me quiver to his request and want him for myself again.
I finally opened my mouth to speak, my words clearing my throat.
“Don't you think there's something else you should be sorry for?” I asked, my voice calm, but my heart was throbbing against my ribcage.
Rafael squinted his eyes for a bit, his brows arching with a line of worry.
“Did I do something to you that I'm yet to apologize for?”
He was truly confused at my blurted statement, his eyes searching for an answer to his wrong doing in my eyes endlessly— he was probably hoping he would find a lead within them.
I continued, ready to make him realize what wrong he had done.
“You were in my room this morning— with a cigar to your lips.” I said, folding my arms.
“I did?” He blurted out in disbelief.
“Yes, you did. And you smiled so much I could say it was maniacal then you go; Hello, Vanessa Hudgens.” I yapped, a doubt to my resolution that he might be trying to get away with it by trying to play the almighty clueless card with me.
But the worry look on his face never changed, but instead, he sank deeper into an ocean of confusion.
“Do you have trouble remembering things now?” I teased.
Suddenly, Rafael grabbed a chunk of his hair in his hand, raising it away from his face like he was trying so hard to remember something he shouldn't forget.
His eyes ran races within their sockets and he drowned farther into this ocean of confusion I had created.
“How… it shouldn't be happening yet.” I could hear him muttering regretfully to himself that I began to worry if everything was okay with him as his actions and reactions seemed to be getting a lot more serious than the last minute.
‘Was there something going on with him?’ I asked myself in my thoughts, my heart turning sore.
I suddenly found myself holding his face and this simple act of mine pulled him out of the ocean he was drowning in— in an instant as he felt my touch.
“Wasn't not you?” I asked softly, ready to hear him speak because it seemed he wasn't so sure if that had happened or if he couldn't remember which seemed to be riveting towards a problem.
As I waited for his response, it slowly began to dawn on me that the man in the shadows, whom I think could have been Rafael, had said my name in an unusual way.
Rafael had only called me by my full name on our first time meeting at the Devereaux mansion and days after that, he would either call me Vanessa or Nessa which I was very fond of because it was quite lovely— and never Vanessa Hudgens.
Could that possibly have been someone else? Or had I been hallucinating? After all, I had had a lot to drink the previous night, I couldn't be so sure of who it was.
But my words seem to have moved something within Rafael, causing him pain as he struggled to recall.
“As long as it doesn't happen again, I will forgive it.” I quickly said and he purred within my palms, closing his eyes as he could feel my touch again.
Then he began to say,
“Your touch heals me, Nessa. You really do make me feel whole again and I have nothing to worry about when it's with you.”
I could feel warm blood rush to my cheeks and my inside churned, giving in to his words. He looked extremely pitiful as he said those words to me that my chest began to tighten.
It felt like I should hold him closer, remind him that he was safe with me, but the circumstance surrounding our moment together at that moment was still gut retching to me and I couldn't believe I had thought of consoling the same man I had vowed to loathe my whole life for the wrong he had done to me.
“Touch me slowly, Vanessa. Let your touch rest on my skin. Let me show you how completely my body belongs to you.”
I couldn't measure or imagine how much this man was in love with me. It was his claim, but every word of his, the actions he took to claim me, the way he made my presence in his life an adoring monument— could these be called love?
I was out of words to say, thoughts to think or actions to make, but suddenly, a couple of his men surrounded us with haste as they had urgent news to say to him.
Rafael sprang out of the pool, understanding the look in the eyes of his men at once and he fell out of my hold as his cold nature overshadowed him like a coat.
“Our men, boss… They've been under an attack,” One of the men said.
“I want names.” Rafael growled, stepping out of the pool at once.
“It's the Pedro family.”