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“We have seven, including Clara, but she will never be sold, not after what Dury did to her face.”
“Men will always buy sex, Pablo,” Rafe speaks cruelly. “There will be some sick fucker out there who will get pleasure from her disfigurement. I want that property cleaned up by the end of next month. Even if we don’t get full value for the stock.”
“But sir…”
“Just fucking do it,” Rafe snaps, rapidly losing his temper, and I decide it’s my cue to leave. I rush back up the corridor before he comes out of the room. My fingers fumble with the heavy bolt on the front door, and I pray for it to release as I hear more yelling come from the room behind me. Then when silence falls and I fear I’ve run out of time, the bolt shifts, and the door bursts open.
The night is dark and calm. It would be so easy to run, but how can I when my son is at home sleeping soundly in his bed? My heart feels too heavy to carry as I take my only option and rush toward the car, quickly settling myself back into the passenger seat, trying to steady my breathing before he comes out.
I heard everything Rafe said, but it can’t be true. He wouldn’t be capable of selling women, not after all the things he said about Adriano. I have to calm my trembling before he comes out. I can’t have him suspect that I know anything. He’s already mad. I don’t want him to be mad at me too.
Rafe must know all this shit is wrong. Why else wouldn’t he have told me about it? He’s been lying to me all this time, and now I have to decide what I’m going to do about it.
I need time to be sure before I react, especially since it feels like my whole world has just been tipped upside down.
I watch Rafe come out of the building, his pace steady as he walks toward the car. He’s managed to find that calm before coming to me, and he smiles me a guilty smile as he slides into the driver's seat beside me.
“Sorry, that took longer than expected,” he apologizes.
“Is everything okay?” I act as normal as I can.
“Nothing for you to worry about.” His hand reaches out to stroke over my hair, and I don’t lean into his touch the way I usually do. Instead, I fake him a smile. Then, after he pulls me closer and presses a kiss on my forehead, I settle back into my seat and stay silent for the rest of our journey home.
I knew right from the first day I met Raphael Verretti that he carried secrets, but what I failed to predict was that those secrets would have the power to destroy me.
It’s hard to keep yourself contained when you’re feeling like you need to slice someone open, but I have Riley to think about. I can’t risk her being suspicious of anything.
All I’d wanted was one night, one night, to take her away from the house and show her how much I appreciated her… and I couldn’t even give her that.
It’s unfair of me to ask her to give me another child, especially after what she went through to give me Gabriel. But seeing her and my son together seems to mend all the broken pieces inside me. Their happiness is my only ambition these days. The love I feel for them is like a drug, and I can’t remember a time before I had it. What I do know, is that I couldn’t survive without it now.
Riley’s been quiet since we left the club, probably because she’s picked up on the mood I’m in. I tried so hard to get a grip of myself before I returned to the car, but what had happened here tonight was all too fucking much. Some mother fucker has stolen from me and killed one of my best clients, along with three of my guards. And it pisses me off that the mother fucker is still breathing.
For now.
My hands tense around the steering wheel as I make the long journey back home and think of how things could have been so much worse. Unfortunately, bringing Riley here with me was unavoidable. I insisted Ricardo stay at home with Gabriel because I’d been so sure that I could protect Riley by myself. Turns out I was wrong. My actions have put her at risk. She could have easily been seen, or worse, hurt. And that’s without mentioning how I put myself at risk of being exposed to her.
I feel myself relax a little when she falls asleep. Riley likes to ask questions. Her thirst for better understanding is one of the things that appeal to me most about her. But right now, I’m too wound up to tolerate them, especially since I know her questions will all be aimed at the one thing in my life I’m not prepared to share with her.
I need to speak to Gioele and see if he knows what any of this is about. Attendance to my auctions is strictly invitation only. Somehow I’ve landed up with a client seriously ill in hospital and another one dead. I’m starting to see a familiar pattern, one that I don’t fucking like. And one that I’m starting to fear could be linked to the motorcycle club that Riley’s brother is now a part of.
When we finally get home, I gently shake Riley awake. She must have been in a deep sleep because she flinches and looks shocked when she opens her eyes.
“It’s okay, we’re home,” I tell her, smiling past all the anger that’s built up inside me. She opens her own door, eager to get inside. No doubt she’s missed, Gabriel. I know she hates to be separated from him, even if it’s just being in a different room.
Riley has proved to me since the day he was born that I picked the mother of my child wisely. She’s unconditionally loving and patient and getting to share all the things our little boy does daily to make her smile almost feels too good to be true.
I slide my hand around her hips as we move inside the house where Ricardo is already standing, waiting for me beside my office door. Sylvia yawns as she steps out of the living room, still clutching the baby monitor in her hand.
“He’s been no trouble. I checked in about ten minutes ago.” She hands the monitor over to Riley, who looks at me awkwardly before dashing up the stairs to check in on him herself.
She moves so fast that I don’t have the chance to tell her that it’ll probably be a while before I join her. I’ll need some answers before I can attempt any form of sleep. I have to be assured that what happened tonight didn’t have anything to do with Riley’s brother trying to take her from me.
“Shit, boss.” Ricardo closes the door behind him once the coast is clear, and we’re alone in my office.
“Where is Gioele?” I snap. Now that Riley’s at a safe distance, I can feel myself starting to lose control again.
“He’s taking the next flight in from Boston. He’ll be here in the morning,” he assures me. “How’s Riley? She seemed a little sketchy back there. Did she…”
