Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Rafael POV

I stood on the balcony outside my office with a cigarette burning between my fingers, staring out over the soaked ground below. My guards moved across the property in pairs now, already armed and alert.

No one slept especially after the man we caught.

I took another drag from the cigarette, letting the smoke settle in my lungs before exhaling slowly.
“Smoking again?”

Raelyn’s soft voice drifted from behind me.
I turned slightly and found her standing in the doorway wrapped in one of the blankets from our bedroom. Her hair was messy from sleep, her face still warm from the pillow, but her eyes were fully awake.

I crushed the cigarette immediately against the railing. “You should be asleep.”

She ignored that completely and stepped outside anyway. Cold wind whipped through her hair as she moved beside me. “You left me alone”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“That makes two of us.”

For a moment neither of us spoke. Rain hammered against the stone below while thunder rolled across the hills. Then quietly, she asked, “How bad is it?”

I closed my eyes briefly. I never knew how to answer without either terrifying her or lying to her.

“Rafael.”

I looked at her and the concern on her face nearly destroyed what little restraint I had left.

“I caught one of Vincent’s men near the wall,” I admitted finally. “He was spying on the villa.”

Her lips parted slightly. “For my father?”

Father? That fucking cunt didn't deserve to be her father or anyone's father for that matter. Vincent Moreau didn’t deserve that title.

“Yes.”

She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself as wind swept across the balcony. “Do you think he’s really coming?”

“I know he is.”

Fear flickered across her face before she forced it away.

I hated how much courage she kept trying to have in a world determined to crush it out of her. I stepped closer automatically, my hand settling against the back of her neck. “You’re freezing.”

“I’m okay.”

“You’re not.”

The words came out rougher than I intended but there was nothing I could do.

Her eyes softened slightly then she reached up carefully and touched the cut across my knuckles from earlier. “Did you punch something.”

“Someone.”

Her brows lifted in confusion.

“He deserved it.”

A small breath escaped her, somewhere between amusement and worry. “You solve everything with violence.”

Definitely not everything.

My thumb brushed lightly against her throat.
Her pulse fluttered beneath my fingertips instantly.

The tension shifted suddenly, becoming softer, warmer, but exhaustion still sat heavy inside my chest. Raelyn studied me quietly for another moment before whispering, “You look tired.”

Tired wasn’t the right word for it. I was unraveling I'm every going second. Every instinct inside me screamed that something terrible was approaching, and no amount of guards or weapons would stop it once it arrived.

But I didn't know what was it. I could deal with Vincent, Rossi or anyone for that matter but when it comes to Raelyn everything seems to go in opposite direction.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Raelyn murmured.

I looked away toward the storm again. “I’m thinking I should’ve killed Vincent years ago.”

“When Luca died,” I continued quietly, “I was too weak to finish it. Lorenzo stopped me from going after him because I was angry and stupid.” My jaw tightened painfully. “Maybe he was right then. But now…” I shook my head. “Now he’s coming for you because I let him live.”

Raelyn moved closer until her body pressed lightly against mine. “That’s not your fault.”

“You don’t understand men like him.”

“Come back to bed,” she said softly.

I should’ve refused. I still had security reports to review,guards to question and plans to make.
But exhaustion clawed at my bones, and the warmth in her eyes was the only thing keeping me sane lately.

So I followed her.

Raelyn climbed onto the bed first, settling beneath the blankets while watching me silently.

I removed my gun from the back of my jeans and placed it on the nightstand. Her gaze lingered on it briefly. She was getting used to seeing guns beside the bed.

I slid beneath the covers beside her and immediately she curled against me instinctively, resting her head against my chest.

“You know,” she murmured sleepily, “normal couples probably don’t fall asleep discussing mafia spies.”

I snorted quietly. “You married the wrong man if you wanted anything normal.”

“I didn’t exactly have much choice.”

Guilt twisted sharply through my chest.
I know I had been impossible and denying her freedom. But I just couldn't let her go not when I finally had her in my arms.

After so much stalking, I finally found the chance to make her mine forever even if I had to fabricated everything from the start. Starting with the flower shop visitation to murder to marriage. I did all that for revenge.

Vincent had taken something precious from my life and I vowed to do the same, so when I found out that he has a daughter I did everything I could to know who she was.

But the day I saw Raelyn, I was captivated by her innocence but couldn't forget the pain her father inflicted on me.

What started as revenge now turned into a dangerous obsession. No matter what is going to happen, Raelyn is mine and mine alone. Whether she liked it or not.

“No.” I stared at the ceiling. “You’re right.I forced you into this life.”

Her expression softened instantly. “You also saved me.”

I frowned slightly. “Saved you?”

“You could’ve killed me that night.”

I don’t think I truly could have.

Not after months of watching her from afar like some obsessed psychopath, memorizing the way she smiled at customers in her flower shop. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear while arranging roses.

The way she looked at the world like goodness still existed inside it.

I was fucked long before she ever knew my name.

“You should hate me,” I said quietly.

Raelyn touched my face gently. “Maybe I tried to.”

“Tried?”

A faint smile touched her lips. “You make it difficult.”

God.

Every time she looked at me like that, something dangerous shifted inside my chest. Something softer and hungrier.

I rolled suddenly, pressing her into the mattress beneath me.

Her breath caught instantly. “Rafael?”

“You shouldn’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” She whispered.

“Like I’m worth loving.”

Emotion flickered across her face before her fingers slid slowly through my hair. “Maybe you are."

I kissed her before she could say anything else,slow but deep enough to make my chest ache.

She sighed softly against my mouth, her hands resting against my shoulders pulling me closer.

For a few precious seconds, the world disappeared.
Just her.

Then my phone rang and the sound shattered everything. I cursed under my breath immediately, reaching for it from the nightstand while Raelyn sat up beside me.

Lorenzo’s name flashed across the screen. I answered instantly. “What happened?”

Lorenzo’s voice came low. “We found Dante.”

Every muscle in my body tightened. “Where?”

“An abandoned warehouse near the docks.”

What a relief. At least he was alive.

Then Lorenzo spoke again. “And he wasn’t alone.”

The relief I had felf vanished instantly. I sat upright slowly. “Who was with him?”

“Vincent Moreau.”