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Rafe offers his hand. “Peter, I presume?”
Peter hesitates before taking Rafe’s hand. “And you must be Rafe.”
“You can’t know for sure that I won’t double-cross you, though you can ask around. It’s never happened, nor has anyone successfully pulled off double-crossingme. Alessandro is an example of that. All you can do is hope.”
“My sister seems to think we can trust you.”
Rafe’s gaze rests on me. “It’s good to have a healthy dose of mistrust, but if you don’t give me reason to worry about you, you won’t need to worry about me.”
“That sounds good to me.” Peter turns to me. “I’m going back to Gigi’s room. I want to be there when she wakes.”
After he leaves, Rafe takes his place at the table. “I have to go back to California. I’ll find you guys a place here in San Jose. And I can have my jet come back to take you home when you’re ready.”
“Are you being nice or is this a bargaining chip?”
“The latter. But I may or may not collect on it.”
“Either way, I appreciate the offer, but Peter and I can manage on our own.”
He slides over two Visa cards. “There’s twenty-five hundred dollars on each. That should cover you guys till you get back to California. Chung can stay with you till you’re settled here. As for the rest of the Morelli payment, you’ll be getting it as monthly payments from a business entity. That way, it doesn’t look as suspicious if you ever get investigated.”
He gets up.
“You’re leaving now?” I ask. Even though I was recently angry at him, I’m sad to see him go.
“Something unexpected came up,” he says. “My help is needed.”
I get up, too. “So I guess this is goodbye.”
He stares at me in silence for several beats. I can’t make out what he’s thinking. He doesn’t look sad, but he doesn’t look happy either.
“Well, thank you for the cards and for getting me here so that I could see my brother and Gigi,” I say. “Even if it’s just a quid pro quo, I think it was nice.”
I expect him to walk away at that. There’s no reason for him to stay and nothing he needs to say to me. But he abruptly wraps an arm around my waist and crushes me to him. His other hand goes to the back of my head, and his lips descend on mine.
It’s a farewell kiss, and I want it to go on as long as possible. I’m never going to get kissed like this again. Because I’m never going to meet anyone like Rafe again.
Which is a good thing,says a small voice in my head. But I brush it aside to savor how it feels to be devoured by him.
He continues to kiss me despite the approach of nurses talking. I’m not a fan of public displays of affection in front of strangers, but I couldn’t break away even if I tried. Suddenly, I’m full of energy, and it’s not due to the coffee.
I hear the bell of a text.
“Your jet is ready, Boss,” Baldy informs him.
Rafe and I reluctantly separate.
“Will we ever see each other again?” I ask when he turns to leave. I want to add, “Not that I want to or need to. I’m just curious.” But I’m too anxious for his answer.
He turns back around and pins me with those incredibly intense eyes. “Perhaps. I might accept your offers.All of them.”
Oh crap.
I stand frozen while he walks away with Baldy and Vladimir following. Maybe I’ll get lucky and Rafe won’t ever come around to collect on what I offered him. I’m honest enough with myself to know that I wouldn’t mind seeing him again, but it would be best if I didn’t. Not on those terms, especially.
I could go into hiding to avoid him. Maybe live with my mom in Reno. But Rafe would probably find me.
All you can do is hope,Rafe had said.
So that’s what I’ll do. Meanwhile, I’m going to work on closing the chapter with Rafe...and quieting the part of me that wouldn’t mind being taken again.
~ * ~
