Chapter 31

Chapter 31
Raelyn pov

My chest tightened,my heartbeat was racing. I looked between them. Rafael's rigid jaw and a gun still in his hand but not raised. Dante was smirking,he had no weapon but his words were lethal.

"Rafael," I whispered,my voice cracking,"who is Valentina? What is he talking about?"

Rafael's eyes met mine and for a heartbeat,I saw the man from last night,the one who kissed me like I was everything he had ever wanted. But that moment passed. His expression tightened into stone and my stomach dropped.

"She is no one," He snapped,his fist curled slightly "She doesn't matter here"

"Bullshit!" Dante snapped,his voice raising cutting through the tension. "Valentina is not a ghost. She was standing in our damn backyard stirring up trouble because of her. Do you think this is a coincidence? Rossi is dead and now Valentina is back? You are fucking blind Rafael!"

" Enough!" Rafael roared finally stepping forward. His gun rose aimed directly at Dante chest. My hands flew to my mouth, breath caught in my throat as the room seemed to shrink around the two men.

Marco reacted instantly sliding between them. " Raf—put the gun down! Dante back off. We don't need this right now"

Dante didn't flinch,he stepped closer his voice low and venomous.

" You are choosing her over the family". He hissed,his eyes boring into mine" And it is going to get all of us killed".

I felt like I had been slapped. My heart raced, Panic finding it's way through my every nerve. I looked at Rafael waiting for him to deny it, defend me or even reassure me that I wasn't the problem between him and his family. But he didn't move. His gun remained raised, eyes locked on Dante, he was silent but deadly.

The silence felt thick and suffocating,worse than any words could have been. I couldn't breath,I couldn't think. The weight of Dante's accusation crashed over me.

Was he right? Was I the problem? Tearing this family apart?

"Rafael," I whispered, my voice breaking at the end. "Say something please".

For a fleeting second,his eyes softened as they met mine but it was short lived. His jaw tightened and he spoke, voice firm yet carrying the weight of something he had been holding back.

"Raelyn,go back inside," he grunted. "I will handle this myself".

"No!" I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. "I'm not some child you can send away. You kidnapped me from my family—at least I deserve to know who Valentina is and what does she want from me. Why is she here? And Why does Dante think im the problem?"

Rafael’s eyes softened slightly, then hardened again, a war waging inside him. guilt, fear—all tangled inside. “She’s someone I used to know,” he said,his voice was low and strained. “Someone I thought was gone. She’s not important, Raelyn. You are.”

I wanted to believe him, to cling to that promise and hold it as a shield. But Dante’s voice cut through again, slicing the air. “Keep telling yourself that, Rafael. Maybe you’ll believe it.”

A scream of panic interrupted us as Sofia burst inside, her face was pale and eyes wide with fear. “Stop it, both of you!” she shouted, voice shaking. “We’re under attack, and you’re fighting like idiots! The guards found another body. It was Stabbed, just like the first and there is a message painted on the wall outside.”

My heart froze. I looked at Rafael, searching his face, eyes wide. “What does it say?” My voice was barely a whisper.

Sofia swallowed, trembling. “It says… ‘She’s next.’”

I felt my chest collapse under the weight of those words. My pulse thundered in my ears. Rafael’s grip on my hand tightened, pulling me closer to him.

“Merda di merda! ,” he hissed his voice low and dangerous, more to himself than to me. The rage and fear in him made me tremble. “Not until I find who’s doing this.”

Dante didn’t move. He watched us, his eyes glinting with triumph, satisfaction curling at the edges of his cruel smirk. “Looks like your past just caught up with you, Rafael. And the present isn’t safe either.”

My stomach turned over. Every instinct screamed to run, but there was nowhere to hide. Not here –not with Rafael at my side. Not when every shadow outside who could hold a knife, a gun, a secret enemy.

Rafael finally lowered his gun slightly, though his body remained coiled, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. “Stay close to me,” he said to me, voice low, deadly. “No one touches you. Not her, not Dante, not anyone.”

I shook my head,my heart racing,"No! I'm done listening to you Rafael, when you decide to tell me the truth, is when I will listen to you!"

I turned around and stormed upstairs to our room when Rafael caught my hand abruptly.

"Don't be fucking stupid Raelyn! Your life is in danger? Learn to fucking listen to me. puttana del cazzo!

I pressed my lips together,my body coiled in anger as I let Rafael drag me with him.

When we got outside the villa was suddenly alive with motion. Guards kept patrolling the house with their weapons drawn, checking doors, windows, every corner of the building.

Mateo barked orders, radios crackling, while Sofia tried to keep everyone calm. But the tension was thick, electric, suffocating.

Unable to resist myself I pressed my face to Rafael’s chest, trying to force my racing thoughts into something I could control.

Valentina. Dante. The note.

And then, a sound made me flinch. Someone was out there, watching or waiting for us to make the wrong move.

Rafael stiffened. I could feel it in the tension of his body, the way his fingers gripped mine like iron. “Inside,” he murmured, guiding me back toward the stairs, every step measured.

But I couldn’t stop thinking what “She’s next” meant. Was it me? Could I be next? My pulse rang in my ears, heart hammering against my chest like a warning drum.

Dante’s words echoed again, and again.

“You’re choosing her over family… and it’s going to get us all killed.”

I swallowed hard,my voice barely audible. “Rafael…”

He turned, his face was a mask of controlled fury and protectiveness,his eyes scanning every shadow. “I’ll handle this. Stay behind me.”

I nodded, trembling, but something in me—a spark of defiance and fear refused to sit quietly. I wrapped my fingers tighter around his hand, pressed my face to his chest, and whispered, “I’m not going anywhere.”

His jaw clenched, tension visible in every line of his body. And then, for the first time that night, a flicker of uncertainty crossed his eyes.