CHAPTER 3 #2
So… intimate.
"Who are you?" Amara whispered, shifting slightly and leaning against the bed rest.
"Rafael told you who I am, didn’t he." Kaelith saw unfamiliarity in her eyes, something that shouldn’t trouble him, but it did. To the point, he felt his feelings resurfacing.
"...Kaelith..." she tested his name on her tongue while nodding.
Kaelith stiffened hearing his name coming from her tongue.
Something he dreamed of every day for the past two years.
There was a strange sensation in the way she muttered his name.
Something he hadn't gotten before. He cleared his throat averting his gaze from her face and spoke.
Before the oceans of her eyes could drown him, he averted his eyes.
"I'll send someone to change your bandages. Your clothes are in the wardrobe; all the necessities will be in the cabinet below the sink." He continued. "Dinner will be ready at 8. If you are hungry, I'll send someone with snacks-"
"I'm not hungry." She shook her head. Despite being dizzy-headed and weak, she barely felt like eating anything.
"Then have some rest." He decided to leave her to rest as he closed the door after exiting the door. He took a few deep breaths to calm his heart as he walked to his office where Rafael was waiting for him.
“Nice show you put out there,” Kaelith said, walking to the alcohol stack and pouring himself a whiskey. “Almost made her believe you left her.”
"Is everything prepared?" Rafael asked without entertaining his brother, but frowned noticing the disheveled look in his brother's eyes. Before he could say anything, Kaelith gulped the whiskey down.
"Why my house? You know what this means right?" Kaelith trailed swirling the glass of whiskey in his fingers, eyeing the liquid. Rafael sighed. Not this shit again.
"Cause I know you’ll never hurt her,” Rafael said with a softer voice. The glass shattered in Kaelith's hand, the glass shreds piercing his skin yet he remained silent.
Rafael took it as his chance to continue. “Whatever happened in past, let it be. I am not saying it was right, but Amara is far more important than anything right now. I need to find the bastard who did this…to her.”
Kaelith scoffed.
"Do I look like a fucking caretaker to you?" A muscle in his jaw twitched as his cold eyes pinned Rafael. “You snatched her away from me, and now when you are not capable of keeping her safe, you are pushing her onto me.”
"Kaelith-" Rafael sensed the tension in the air as he sighed and tried to talk but Kaelith was already circling the table. Rafael cursed himself for bringing the past.
Before Rafael even realized what was happening, he was airborne.
Crack.
His back slammed violently against the heavy oak table, the force rattling everything on top of it. Rafael barely had time to inhale before a fist curled around the collar of his shirt and yanked him forward.
Face to face.
Breath to breath.
And suddenly he was staring straight into the dark, merciless eyes of Kaelith.
Gone was the lazy amusement.
Gone was the mocking grin.
What remained was something far more dangerous.
“This doesn’t work that way, brother.” His grip tightened.
Rafael felt the fabric digging painfully into his throat.
“If I take her…” Kaelith leaned closer. Close enough for Rafael to see the fury simmering beneath his calm exterior.
“Then I keep her.” His jaw clenched. “Forever. Not for a few fucking months.”
Rafael’s heartbeat kicked violently against his ribs. For the first time since making this call, he felt genuinely unsettled. “Kaelith—”
But the other man wasn’t done. “If you’ve decided you’re incapable of being the man she deserves and her damned husband…” His eyes darkened. “Then I’ll gladly take your place.”
Rafael swallowed hard. His throat suddenly felt dry.
“…What the hell are you saying?”
Kaelith’s expression didn’t change. Not even slightly. “I said…” He released each word with chilling precision. “…I’m keeping your wife.”
Rafael stared. Waiting for a smirk. A sign this was another one of Kaelith’s twisted games.
But there was nothing.
Only certainty.
Only intent. “Father will—”
“Fuck father.” Kaelith’s voice exploded through the room. He finally let Rafael go, only to pace away like a predator caged too long. “I don’t give two flying fucks what he thinks.” He turned sharply. Eyes burning. “If you want me to keep her safe, you divorce her.”
The words hit harder than the table ever did.
Rafael went still.
His mind spiraled.
A thousand thoughts.
A thousand consequences.
A thousand reasons to say no.
And yet, only one face kept appearing in his mind.
Amara.
Smiling at him even when he never deserved it.
His jaw tightened. “Fine.”
Kaelith stopped moving. One brow lifted. Rafael wasn’t one of those to let his pride go that easily. There was a time when Kaelith had to give up on his toy car because Rafael wanted that. And when Rafael agreed to give Amara to Kaelith, he knew his brother was up to something.
“But I have one condition.”
Kaelith smiled. “Oh?”
Rafael already hated himself for what he was about to say.
Hated the arrogance.
Hated the gamble.
Hated the fact that some part of him still believed she would choose him.
Every time. “I’ll divorce her…” His voice came colder now. “But only if she falls for you.”
Even Kaelith seemed caught off guard. Rafael pushed himself off the table, adjusting his ruined collar. His gaze sharpened. “Five months.” He looked his brother straight in the eye. “If Amara falls in love with you within five months…” His throat tightened slightly. “…she’s yours.”
“But if she doesn’t…” Rafael stepped closer. His voice dropped. “You forget this fantasy.”
A grin spread across Kaelith’s face. He looked terrifyingly amused.
“Now…” He murmured. “That sounds tempting.”
Rafael dusted off the front of his shirt, though his pulse still thundered.
“And one more thing.” Kaelith tilted his head. Rafael’s eyes turned lethal. “If you so much as lay a finger on her, the deal’s off.”
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