Ever.
Putting his hands on Elizabeth…a woman who loved him like a child, was douchey.
“It was a mistake.”
Raphael knew that this whole shitmess had no winners—only losers. Devon Slater had made sure of that, and now, the fallout was happening all around them.
“She’s not the one you should be mad at.”
He was aware.
Only, he knew he destroyed what little chance he had at a relationship with Elizabeth from this point out.
That rage dissolved everything he’d had and now, he was empty, broken, and alone.
He wouldn’t be shocked if she told him to pack his shit and leave. Caspian would too, since he’d crossed a very bad line that no man should ever jump.
Deep down, he knew it wasn’t Elizabeth’s fault, and that he’d hurt the messenger.
This all lay at the feet of Devon Slater. Caspian hated that man with every ounce of energy he had in his body, and he wasn’t one to hate anyone.
His father had been brutal and unloving, and he’d never allowed that hate to creep in. His mother never stood up for him, or his brothers, and he never hated her.
But here he was, so filled with hate that it made him do things that he found…distasteful.
Putting his hands on Elizabeth, out of rage...
At some point, he’d have to apologize to her and hope she didn’t make him leave. Now that he’d lost Rayna, all he had left was his job and family.
It broke something in him that it was likely gone, too.
“Can I ask you something?” he asked, all the tears dried up, but the anger still there.
Raphael put down the crossword puzzle.
“Yes.”
Caspian needed to know or he was going to do horrible things to Devon when he walked out of this building to go find him. Because that was the plan.
“Did she suffer?” he asked.
Oh, boy.
Why wasn’t he shocked?
Out of the levels of grief, they’d seen him cry, rage, and now, ask questions—which would take him back to step one if he knew the truth.
Raphael bought time, and this was why they all wanted Elizabeth to lie to the man.
There was no way he could handle the truth. As a soldier who lost lots of people, he knew when someone was a man on the edge.
Caspian was teetering precariously.
“I didn’t see her,” he said, lying. “Elizabeth wouldn’t let anyone see her. She gave her privacy and protected that for Rayna in death.”
His heart hurt, but in order to start healing, and to not do something that made him a monster, he needed to know more.
He needed to knowALL.
