Ninety nine

Ninety nine
HAZEL STYLES POV

What was Raphael doing here?

He stood frozen, his eyes moving from mine to Riven's.

"Um, I didn't..." He stuttered, his eyes darting away from us to the wall.

Groaning under my breath, I tried to get up, my hand pushing softly at Riven to get off of me, but his grip just tightened on my arms.

My eyes moved to his, my brows arching as he continued to pin me down.

"Riven?" I whispered, blinking as his eyes darkened into an intense scowl that had my stomach flipping. Dear Lord, He looked so hot when he was pissed.

"Tell him to go away" he whispered, the warmth of his breath sending shivers down my spine.

I shuddered in his arms, my breath catching in my throat. "I can't. He's already here. That would be rude"

Riven's head dipped lower, his growl rumbling through my skin. "He is really tempting me to stick a knife in him, little rabbit" he whispered, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. "I don't know how much longer I can restrain myself" he breathed, his threat making my skin prickle.

His words should have scared me, but all it did was turn me on than I already was.

He watched me for a bit, a slow smile playing on the edge of his lips, and then he abruptly pushed off me, his weight lifting from my body.

I missed him almost immediately.

My eyes lingered on his body, my skin tingling as I took in the flush on his face, his full lips red from my kisses, and his tousled hair that called for me to run my hands through them and tug.

I blinked, remembering that it wasn't just us in the room.

My eyes slowly moved in Raphael's direction to meet him staring straight at me, the look of defeat and sadness in his eyes glaring to see.

Recalling his confession just the day before, I knew I should feel sorry for him, but I couldn't help but hate that he'd interrupted the moment I was having with Riven.

Why did he have to come right at that moment?

Just when do we get to spend time together without something or someone interrupting us? It was like every time things got good for us, someone was always waiting to ruin everything.

Raphael cleared his throat, his grip on the bouquet tightening as he took a step forward. The sound of breaking glass made him stop. He glanced down, his gaze locking on the bag on the floor.

When he met my gaze, he looked like he was going to be sick. "Hazel" he called, the tremble in his voice too loud to be ignored. "I'm sorry about this—"

"You should have knocked," Riven bit out, his stance hostile.

Raphael's jaw ticked, his eyes flashing. "I didn't knock because I didn't know you would still be here. Besides this is a hospital, I don't need to knock"

Riven scoffed, then stepped toward him. "It is a hospital, but Hazel is my woman; her room is special, and only a selected few are allowed to see her. The only reason you can come and go as you please is because Lena is your sister, but that is going to change soon if you keep overstepping your boundaries"

"What are you going to do? Will you tell your guards to throw me out the next time I come here?"

"I do not need the guards to throw you out, Raphael; I can handle that all on my own," he said, his voice dark and threatening.

Shaking my head, I took in a deep breath and got to my feet. "That's enough, Riven; stop scaring him; he's just here 'cause we couldn't talk yesterday." I got out, then cleared my throat, and Raphael's gaze cut to mine, his eyes glassy.

Was he going to cry?

"I'm really sorry for barging in, Hazel. I thought you were alone," he uttered quietly, his gaze dropping to the flowers in his hand.

"You don't need to apologize. Riven was just messing with you. You're always welcome here"

"No, he's not, especially since he thinks barging into your room is acceptable," Riven got out, his gaze digging murderously at Raphael.

I grabbed his hand, forcing him to look at me. "That's enough. He already apologized"

Raphael scoffed, his head bobbing. He looked like he was in physical pain.

"He's right. I should have knocked" he answered, his gaze dropping to the floor. "If I'd knocked, I wouldn't be feeling so shitty right now" he got out and then faced me. "Lena said you were free for visitation today, and that's why I decided to give you a surprise... she's also on her way here but stopped to grab something." He explained then sucked in a deep breath. "I brought you flowers," he said, and my gaze moved involuntarily to the flowers that currently occupied half of the space in the room. When I glanced back, he was staring at them too.

"Um," I stuttered, reaching to take it from him. When Riven stepped in between us and snatched the bouquet out of his hand, his narrowed eyes fixed on Raphael.

"Hazel hates lilies. She's also allergic to them," he said, dumping it in the trash.

"Riven" I gasped. "I'm mildly allergic. Stop being so harsh—"

He met my gaze, his stare cutting me off, and then he leaned in, the sudden proximity stealing the breath right out of my lungs. He cupped my jaw, the pad of his thumb rubbing against my chin. I couldn't fucking breathe. A flush spread over my skin.

"You're not just mildly allergic baby... besides I'm trying to get you out of the hospital, not keep you in it"

Raphael cleared his throat, and Riven's gaze moved from me to him.

"I didn't know she was allergic and I'm sorry for bringing something that could have caused her harm, but you shouldn't have trashed them just like that"

Riven's eyes moved from his head to his toes, then back up to his face. "You're right, I should have chucked them out of the window instead"

Raphael let out a rough exhale and then met my gaze. "Can I talk to you?" he asked, then met Riven's gaze. "Alone"

Riven glanced at me, the light making his eyes shine.
He cocked his head, his intense gaze digging into mine.

His face was devoid of any emotion, but I could see in his eyes that he wanted me to let him stay... He needed me to stand my ground for him... Or maybe I was projecting since that was what I wanted to do.

I wanted to claim him, I wanted to put him first, the way he did when it came to me.

I turned to Raphael, my heart thumping hard in my chest. "No, you can't," I said, loving the way Riven's eyes widened in surprise and then glowed with pride as I reached to take his hand. "Say what you want right here and if you don't feel comfortable saying it in front of Riven, then just forget about it"

Raphael's brow furrowed, and then his gaze dropped to our hand, his brows shooting up when he noticed the ring.

His eyes shot to mine, wide with disbelief. "What's that on your finger?"

I smiled, letting go of Riven to admire the ring. "It's an engagement ring. Riven proposed. I said yes."

"What" he gasped out, his gaze darting between us. "Are you being for real... You looked so terrified of him yesterday, and now all of a sudden..." He trailed off, the smug look on Riven's face throwing him off.

Riven smirked, grabbed me by the waist, and yanked me close, his touch hot against my skin. "Don't think too hard, boy, or you're going to fry your brain. Also, that wasn't a fight you saw yesterday, that's just how we foreplay"

My jaw was on the floor as my eyes whipped to his.

He grinned. "Don't even try to deny it, baby, you know it's the truth"

Raphael shook his head. "I can't believe this. Are you really going to marry him?" He whispered, his voice shaky.

My brows furrowed. "What do you mean—"

"Exactly what it means!" He yelled, then pointed at Riven. "He's a criminal... Do you have any idea what he's done, how many innocent lives he's taken, and what it means to be with him? He's literally the opposite of the kind of guy you like. Do you think you're really going to be happy marrying someone like him!"

"Marriage?" Lena interrupted as she stepped into the room, her curious gaze darting between the three of us. "Who is getting married?"