Page 11 of Rafael

Chapter Seven – Amelia

I pass out almost as soon as we get to Rafael's safe house. He says it belongs to one of his friends. We should be safe here.Â

For now.

My dreams aren't easy. They rarely are, and being chased by mob killers doesn't help. The pursuit lasts while I sleep. I'm sprinting down dark alleys and running from people I can't see. I hate it and I want it to be over.

I hear a gun cock and the dream dissolves.

Rafael holds me throughout the night, but I wake just after sunrise. He's still sleeping. His face is relaxed and for a second I can pretend that this is some couples' retreat and that he's holding me because he loves me and what we have is real.

Sounds perfect.

I ease myself out of his arms. I'm afraid that if he wakes up we're going to start arguing about witness protection again. I don't want to go. And it's not just some stubborn instinct. Going into protection means leaving my entire life behind.

Will I ever see my brother again? Will I ever see Rafael? I have a life, even if it is complicated by my connections to the criminal underworld. I don't want a new name and identity.

I want to be me.

I sneak off to the living room. I need time to think to myself. I need to figure out my next move. I could go back to the family. I could talk to grandfather and do what he says and have something like a normal life.

At least as normal as it gets for a girl like me.

Rafael won't be in any danger then.

But I will be.

The closer I get to my family, the more dangerous things become for me. Always.

And if I go back, I can't have Rafael. I shouldn't be thinking about that. The stakes are too high. But I want him enough that I'm willing to consider risking it all.

I see the house phone sitting on the table next to the couch. I stare at it for several seconds. There's one person other than Rafael who can help me. I was hoping I wouldn't have to drag him into this.

But I need another perspective. I can't just give myself over to Rafael and trust what he tells me to do. It doesn't work like that.

My body yearns for him with every breath. Even though it's fast he owns my heart. But this is still my life and I have to make my own decisions.

I pick up the receiver and dial before I can think better of it. I'm not sure what time it is right now but it's early. And that means the time difference shouldn't be too bad for Angelo.

He picks up on the third ring. "Hello?" He sounds confused, and I realize I'm lucky that he picked up since he probably doesn't know this number.

"Hey, Angelo, it's me." Now that I've called, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say.

"Amelia, thank God! What's going on? Where are you?" The demands come out harshly, but I know he's asking from a place of love. If there is one person in the entire world that I can trust, it's Angelo.

And I tell him everything. Well... almost everything. He doesn't need to know about the more intimate details of my relationship, if it can be called that, with Rafael. The whole story only takes a couple minutes to tell.

And when I am done Angelo was cursing up a storm. "Of course it would be Vinnie DeLuca. That-" I'm pretty sure I hear him muttering curses in Italian. That's bad. He doesn't like speaking Italian if he can avoid it.

I wait for him to get over it. He does. "What does Rafe say?" He asks.

I sigh. "Witness protection." He can hear just how much I don't want to do it in those two words.

And he curses again. I don't need to explain why I want to keep my own identity. "You don't have to do it," he promises. "I can clean this up for you."

I jerk in my seat. "No!" I called Angelo for perspective, not to get him further involved in family drama. "We can figure this out. You don't need to do anything." I can solve my own problems. I may be Angelo's baby sister, but I'm an adult. I didn't call him for him to wave a magic wand and make all the bad stuff disappear.

But my big brother isn't going to let up. "Don't worry about it. Just stay out of sight for a few days until I call you back. Is this number good?"

I don't know how to stop him. "Don't do anything crazy, Angelo. I know that your-"

It's impossible, but I can actually hear him shrug through the phone. "Plans change. Sometimes they have to. Is this number good?" There's no room for argument.

Maybe I'm a coward to give up, but my brother is even more stubborn than I am. "It's the house phone. You might need to call Rafael's cell phone number." I don't tell him not to do anything stupid a second time. Once Angelo gets an idea in his mind there's no turning back.

"Don't worry. You'll be safe. Trust Rafael and wait for my call." Angelo hangs up and I'm left staring at the receiver.Â

Why do I feel like I just made the worst mistake in my life?