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I didn’t want to let him win…
But after what had happened with Miley, I could see the necessity.
Letting out a huff, I unlocked the doors and dropped into the driver’s seat.
Rafael had even moved that up for me, so I didn’t have to spend five minutes waiting for the damn thing to move into place given our height difference. He was too damn thoughtful.
“You could’vetoldme,” I said as he let himself in on the passenger side, taking the seat without asking.
“I did. Bash and I were texting about it in the group chat, which you’re a part of.”
My fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
Shit.
I had seen notifications on the group chat that morning, but hadn’t gotten around to reading the messages.
His voice was gentle as he said, “I know you think I’m the bad guy here, Tater-tot, but I swear it’s never been my intention to hurt you. I’ve done my damndest to protect people for most of my life; I’ve been trying to protect you too, in the only ways I know how. I should have told you about the danger, and next time, I will without hesitation.”
He was right.
Iknewhe was right, and that made it worse, somehow.
Harder, too.
He had hurt me, but it wasn’t an intentional attack. Since I told him there could be no secrets between us, he had seemed to be trying for transparency.
“I know you’re a good man, Raf. You’re not a murderer; you’re a hero. I’ve never been under the impression that you would tell meeverything, but I trusted that you would tell me the important things. I don’t know how to get that trust back.” I finally pulled out of the parking space, forced to admit silently that the car was absolutely a dream.
He hadn’t picked the most expensive car at the dealership; he’d bought the one he knew I would choose for myself.
“I obviously haven’t been open enough, if you feel that way,” he said, watching the road while I merged into traffic. “I’ll become an obnoxiously-open book.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.”
He chuckled. “Tell me the things you want to know more about.”
“The apartment building. How much of it do you own?”
“I just have the one floor, with four apartments on it. To reach the other two apartments, you have to take the building’s other elevators. It’s harder to function as an unmated demon when there are people around constantly, so I needed the space. Zander has a floor too, a few above mine. Bash owns the rest of it. He has renters in most of the building.”
That made me feel a little better. I wasn’t as clueless as I thought.
“Bash doesn’t live in the complex,” Rafael added. “He has a house in the mountains that he prefers, and another on the outskirts of the city for when he needs to be close. He likes to stay far enough away that he doesn’t have to deal with people. Zander usually doesn’t live there either; he has a house in the busiest part of the downtown. The bastard likes to be in the middle of the commotion, even though he doesn’t usually get involved.”
My shoulders relaxed a little more. “How many houses do you own?” He had told me he didn’t have any in the city—or had at least offered to buy me one, when we first got mated. I hadn’t brought it up again, but I still wanted to know.
“Around the world? A dozen. I don’t have one in this city. I’ve never cared much about business, so I’ve never focused on stockpiling wealth and collecting houses.”
That made me feel even better.
“You are rich, though?”
“We’ve established that, Tater-tot. It’s easy enough to invest in safe, long-term shit and turn a profit when you have the funds and the time.”
I supposed that made sense. “I want you to take me to the bank today, to prove it. I don’t want to be worried that you’re lying to me or keeping things from me anymore.”
“Turn here.” He gestured to a street, and I turned a little faster than I probably should’ve. He laughed when the tires squealed, and I grinned sheepishly.
