Chapter Eighteen
chapter eighteen
MAY
“Two gin and tonics?” I place the glasses down on the table in front of me and clear the empty ones from where the two women at this table left them aside for me.
This is my third week finally back at Marina’s. It feels like I’ve been away for months, not just a couple of weeks. I finally feel useful again. I don’t think I could ever stand being a housewife. I’d go crazy.
The bell above the door jingles, and my eyes catch on Leo as he walks in.
“ Ciao, bella !” He says across the room to me. I give him a little wave as I weave my way back to the bar.
“Long time no see,” I say.
“Has Rafael had you locked up like Rapunzel?”
“He wishes.”
“I take it that staying at his place isn’t going so well then?”
“To put it mildly.” In all fairness, I’ve stayed in worse places, but I’ve always had better roommates.
Better roommates being Isla.
I’m an only child, so the only other person I’ve lived with is her, and she was much friendlier than the local grump I’m now stuck with. I refrain from mentioning that when he’s not being a grump, he’s watching me get myself off without invitation.
I’ve thought a lot about that night. It’s been over a week since then, but the images won’t stop playing over and over in my mind, like my subconscious is still trying to decipher if it was all just a figment of my imagination.
I wish it was. I imagine Rafael wishes it was too, as he hasn’t said more than two words to me since it happened. Back to avoiding me like he was when I first moved in a month ago.
“You probably remind him of Marisol.”
“His sister, right?”
He nods. “She was like wildfire, like you.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No, she was perfect,” he says wistfully. “But she left after their nonna died, and she hasn’t been back since. It’s something that feels like a punch in the gut for Raf, her leaving when he needed her the most.”
I’ve only heard her name in passing conversation. I’ve certainly never heard Rafael talk about her, but just the way Leo is speaking about it makes me think they’re not on the best of terms.
“Anyway, change of subject. I was thinking maybe we could go for a night out.”
“You, and me?” I ask. I like Leo, he’s charming, but that’s a no from me.
“I’m flattered, but no, I mean everyone. My firm is working security at an event in one of Sorrento’s big clubs tonight. Road trip?”
“I thought you’re not working anymore?”
“I’m not, not really. But I still know everything that my own firm is doing, and when I heard about the event, I thought it’d be a perfect excuse to get out and about for a night.” He raises his brows in question.
When Leo showed up back in Ruby Cove months ago, no one knew why. He owns a high-level security firm in Sorrento, but he hasn’t spoken a word about it since being here. None of us know what happened to bring him back here, but I’m not one to know enough about him to ask.
My body tingles at the idea of a proper night out. “You’re going to have to convince the love birds to come out of their cave.”
He winks at me. “That’s why I asked you first.”
Maisie peters’ voice floats from the speakers in Caio’s Ferrari. All of us girls piled in when he arrived at the bar at the end of my shift. The guys went with Leo, he’s driving in front of Caio leading the way to tonight's spot.
“Thank god Leo suggested this. I feel like we needed a night like this. You especially.” Marina looks over to me.
“Hey!”
Isla turns around from where she’s sitting shotgun, her hand entwined with Caio’s over the console. “She just means you could do with a night of fun.”
“Exactly,” Marina nods.
“After being locked up in Gargamel's lair, you mean?” I say.
“It can’t be that bad,” Caio says.
His eyes fix back on the road when three heads snap in his direction.
“Have you met your best friend?” I ask.
“I have.”
“Ever tried to live with him?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Case in point. You can go back to driving now.”
Isla giggles before pressing a kiss to their joined hands. “We need to find you somewhere more permanent.”
“A hotel isn’t going to be any more permanent,” Marina says. “Plus, was no one else there when Rafael pretty much demanded you stay with him instead of Heath? ”
“Yeah, what was that about?” Isla asks, looking over at Caio, but he doesn’t utter a word. He doesn’t even so much as breathe.
“How much is one of those motorbikes you got, Marina?” I look over at her.
“Not in your price range, blondie.”
“Don’t you start.”
“Why are you asking?” Isla says.
“That way I could move out to Heath’s and have a way into town.”
“You’d be better off affording a car than one of those things Marina’s got,” Caio chimes in.
“I think I’ll stick with a push bike.”
“Oh yeah, that’s perfect!” Marina says. “It’ll only take you two hours to get into town for your shifts.”
“Ugh,” I moan. “Have you heard any more about the progress at the cottage?”
“Not since the first couple of weeks.”
I sigh. “I’m gonna die of dehydration before I move out.”
“What are you talking about?” Isla laughs.
“He won’t let me bring any guys around.”
“ What? ” they both exclaim in unison.
“Yeah.”
“Well why the hell not?” Marina crosses her arms.
“It went something a little like this,” I put on a ridiculously deep voice. “ I don’t want to spend my Friday evening listening to some drunk idiot fuck you through the walls of this house.”
Marina slams a hand over her mouth, but Isla doesn’t bother, leaving her mouth hanging wide open.
“Fucking hell,” Caio mutters from the driver's seat.
“I feel like I’m sixteen and getting a lecture from my dad.”
“Oh, he needs a talking to,” Marina shakes her head.
“It’s fine. Tonight is the perfect opportunity to meet someone, and if I disappear for a while, you’ll know why.”
“How long is a while?” Isla asks.
“Give me half an hour before you come looking. ”
I’ve got my trusty Ruby Woo on tonight, and as much as I’m here to have fun with my friends, I can’t say I’ll say no if I get an appealing offer. I haven’t tried to meet up with any guy since the night Rafael kicked my date out of his place. I feel weird about it all of a sudden, especially after my little unexpected performance the other night.
We pull up at the front of a club where there are cameras clicking around the entrance. What kind of place is this that there are paparazzi?
Caio parks up, handing his keys over to a big guy in a suit as he steps out of the car, and all of our doors get opened for us as well.
As we get out, I see Leo standing beside his car. His eyes are serious like I’ve never seen before. They’re cold as ice as he surveys the area around us. He holds out his hand for me.
“Come on.” His gaze is deadly as ever as the paparazzi snap shots of us—which is the weirdest thing ever, by the way.
The bouncer takes one look at the group of us with Leo and unhooks the barrier, letting us all through.
“Who are you?” I whisper-yell into his ear. His icy exterior cracks ever so slightly as he laughs, looking down at me before he peels off.
A hand slides into mine as I walk into the club. “You get used to that,” Marina nods towards Leo’s retreating form as he disappears into the club.
I frown, thinking about how much I don’t know about him. He’s all charm and flirt, but what’s really behind all of that? Why isn’t he working anymore?
The bass of the music reverberates through my entire body as we reach the dance floor packed with sweaty people. Sweaty, good-looking people. There’s no average joe’s here, everyone is beautiful. It’s like we’ve stepped into a fashion magazine.
It’s dark in here, casting everyone in a sexy glow as the dark pink lights roam over the dance floor.
Marina’s hand raises mine, and she spins me around, laughing as we make our way deeper into the mob of people. A hand suddenly lands on my shoulder.
“We’ll be over at the bar, okay?” Heath’s breath is warm against my neck as he speaks. I nod and follow Marina into the center of the action.
I turn to catch a glance of Isla, but her eyes are glued on the man she’s entwined with. I smile, knowing she’s finally found her person.
“Buttons” by The Pussycat Dolls comes on and I’m in my element. Marina and I laugh as we circle our hips, shedding any insecurities as we lose ourselves to the music. This is where I love to be, on the dance floor, where no worries can reach me.
It reminds me of our first night in Ruby Cove. It feels like so long ago now that Marina, Isla, and I danced until our feet were blistered at Hotel Dolce.
Marina spins me around, pressing her front to my back and we move our hips in unison to the beat, our hands up above us. I know we look like any guy's fantasy right now, and it makes me feel even better in my own skin.
“You’ve got eyes on you,” she says in my ear. I look ahead through a gap in the crowd to see a familiar pair of dark eyes glaring at me.
Rafael keeps his eyes locked on mine as if he physically can’t look away. I don’t know why I do it, but I let one of my hands slowly roam over the front of my body, his eyes follow along as I drag it up my stomach, they stare as I trail it over my tits, squeezing a little.
His eyes come back to mine; his gaze darker than night as he looks at me. I turn back around to face Marina. He’s never looked at me like that before. He doesn’t get to start now. “He can suck it.”
She laughs, shaking her head before we continue dancing as the music changes, our rhythm switching with every song. If Rafael is content to pretend like the other night never happened, then that’s what we’ll do .
It was a lapse of judgment from the both of us, driven by lust, not for each other, just general horniness when there was no one else around but each other.
Not that Rafael isn’t attractive, because that's undeniable. He’s gorgeous, he’s just an asshole. He doesn’t get to use those wicked eyes to claim me just because he’s seen me come.
A handsome man comes up behind Marina. “ Ciao, dolcezza ,” he says from beside her. “Will you treat me to a dance?”
She looks at me in question. “She sure will!” I yell, taking her hand and spinning her into his arms.
Marina smiles at me as she disappears into the crowd with him. I sway around by myself for a while, completely content to enjoy the music by myself before big hands grip my waist from behind me. My heart flutters before a chin rests on my shoulder.
“Are you alone, darling?” A British voice whispers in my ear. I shudder as goosebumps tingle down my body. A small part of me is disappointed that the voice didn’t have a grumpy Italian attached to it, but I shake my head, trying to rid myself of those destructive thoughts. I can’t avoid the feeling that’s growing in my gut with every single interaction I have with Rafael, but I need to. I need to stamp out the spark before it turns into a whole fire. The last time I felt anything like that spark, it ended in Isla waking up to the sound of my sobs coming from the bathroom floor.
“For now,” I finally respond. This is a better way than any to extinguish that heat between us.
“Shall we remedy that?” His accent is turning me on to no end, and so is his hand that’s firmly trailing down my waist. I nod and start walking through the crowd to where I see a doorway. Who knows where it leads, but anywhere works for me right about now. My lust is in the driver's seat.
His hand pulls me from my direction into a little alcove set into the wall. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”
“Lily,” I say. I’m not that stupid .
He hums in satisfaction, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “What do those sexy red lips do, Lily?”
He’s looking at me like he wants to eat me, and I think I might let him.
“They speak some absolute shit, that’s what they do.” Rafael’s voice sounds from behind the guy, whose name I didn’t bother to get. For fuck's sake, he’s made it his personal mission for me to not get laid. I’m going to strangle him when there’s not a six-foot male in between us. “But it seems like yours do too, Jack.”
“Rafael?” he asks, his voice all of a sudden less confident. “What are you doing here, lad?” He laughs nervously, clapping a hand on Rafael’s shoulder, but Rafael shakes it off. They know each other?
Rafael turns his attention to me. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“You seem to have trouble understanding this certain set of activities, don’t you?” I say, sick of this happening every damn time.
“Not the time, Lily .” He barely spares me a glance, all of his attention on Jack.
Jack takes a step in front of me and puts out an arm, trying to move me behind him, but I push it away. “Don’t speak to the lady that way.”
Rafael takes another step towards Jack. “The lady can look after herself, I can assure you.” Something warms inside of me that he thinks that, but I don’t dwell on it as he’s now toe-to-toe with Jack.
What is going on with these two?
“Not protecting the lady this time, Raf?” He spits his name.
“Uh, the lady doesn’t need protection,” I say, stepping out from behind him and moving closer to Rafael. Jack’s eyes roam over me with no shame.
“You’re disgusting. You always have been,” Rafael says, his words like venom .
Jack rolls his eyes. “What’s your problem, Deo? Mind your business.”
“She is my business, and so is Marisol.”
Marisol? This guy knows Rafael’s sister?
“If I can recall, Marisol hasn’t been your business for a few years now. She’s mine.”
I can see Rafael simmering. He’s about to blow. I don’t know why I do it, impulse maybe, but I thread my fingers through his, letting my small hand settle into his rough palm. He immediately stops, his head snapping to look down at me. All of his attention is focused solely on me, and I nearly blanch beneath it.
I try to ignore the way my hand fits so perfectly in his, how his fingers wrap around mine instinctively. How for a moment I forget where we are because all I can focus on is how something so simple can feel so right.
“Aw, look at that,” Jack coos. “Just need a woman to hold you down, do you, Deo?” I squeeze his hand tighter, willing him not to start a fight right now. I think back to how Rafael punched Isla’s ex-boyfriend Brandon when he showed up in Ruby Cove months ago because he was talking shit about Isla, and this guy is personally taunting him. Where is serious-security-guy Leo when you need him?
“It’s okay. You can have her instead. I don’t mind.” He nods to me, and Rafael snaps, lunging for him.
Within a split second, a crack echoes through the space as Raf’s fist connects with Jack’s jaw. Rafael shakes out his hand before a sharp “Rafael Deo!” splits through the air.
“Mari?” His voice wavers as he snaps his head to where a woman is storming over to us.
“What the hell are you doing?!” She runs over to Jack on the floor, surveying him with loving eyes before they turn angry. She stands up and marches towards Rafael.
“What is wrong with you?” She punches his chest before she starts muttering in Italian so fast, I can’t catch a single word as she looks between them .
“It’s my fault,” I interrupt, and Marisol’s attention snaps to mine.
I remember quickly that she’s a model. Of course she is. She’s absolutely beautiful. She’s got bright blue eyes, completely different to Rafael’s brown that can turn darker than night, as I experienced earlier. Her long silky hair trails down her back. She’s got a perfect figure. No wonder she’s so well known as a model.
“I find that hard to believe,” she says, side eyeing her brother but faces me, giving me the opportunity to talk.
“Your—” I gesture to Jack on the floor. I don’t know what he is to her. “Your Jack was coming onto me.”
She frowns, and I immediately see the family resemblance. “Are you sure you didn’t read into it?”
“He pulled her into the fucking alcove, Marisol. He was seconds away from ripping her clothes off if I didn’t interrupt them,” Rafael says. His voice is exasperated, as if he’s disappointed he even has to say it.
“Is that true?” she whispers to me.
I just nod. I don’t want to speak, not when her eyes water as she looks down at the man on the floor.
“Marisol, it wasn’t like that. It’s nothing serious.”
“Say again that cheating on my sister isn’t serious and you’ll get a matching split on your upper lip,” Rafael hisses.
Out of nowhere, Leo appears at my side. “What’s going on?”
I just nod in front of me. I don’t know how to sum it up quickly.
A sexy British guy hit on me, and I was about to fuck him in the alcove without a second thought before my grumpy roommate interrupted us. Turns out sexy British guy is grumpy roommate's sister’s boyfriend.
“Mari?”
“You’re joking,” she laughs, a tear slipping down her cheek. Leo quickly walks up to her and swipes the tear from her cheek. He looks stunned, but he wraps his arms around her, spinning her around, and the laugh it pulls from her is adorable .
“Where’s the rest of them, then?” she asks as he sets her down.
“Marisol?” Marina’s voice is behind me. She squeals as she runs past me, colliding with Marisol. They both laugh as they embrace, and I feel a steady presence come up behind me.
“What the fuck happened here?” I lean back into Heath’s hard body, and instantly feel steady. He’s got this calming presence about him, even though some people might look at him and think he’s anything but. “Who’s that?”
“Rafael’s sister.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Leo yanks Jack up off the floor. “Let’s go buddy.”
“Marisol!” He yells out, but she ignores him, talking to Marina as he’s hauled out the back door.
The rest of the club is still pumping, not paying attention to us and what’s going on. Caio and Isla are nowhere to be seen. They probably found their own little alcove. Rafael’s eyes find mine across the space. Concern lining his brown eyes.
I can’t read the look in his gaze, but I nod, and he nods back.
Marisol finally lets go of Marina and swaps her embrace for one of Rafael’s. He leans his head on hers, fully breathing her in. I’ve never seen him hug anyone but Isla, but he hugs Marisol hard, like she might disappear if he lets go. I’ve never seen him so furious as when he saw Jack with me, and it all makes so much sense now. I hate to even say it, but this time, I’m glad Rafael interrupted me.
Marisol pulls away. “I need to go deal with all of this.”
“Do you want backup?” Rafael asks.
She shakes her head. “I’m good guys, grazie. ”
She squeezes Rafael’s hand before letting go. “It was good to see you all, though it could’ve been under better circumstances.” She shrugs.
Marina yanks her into another hug. “Come visit us next time then, huh? Ma would love to see you.”
Marisol nods, kissing Marina on the cheek and does the same to Rafael before she walks over to me. “It was sort of nice to meet you…Lily, was it?”
“It’s May actually,” I say. “Sorry I hit on your guy.”
She laughs. “You did me a favor, I guess. I’ll see you guys.” She waves and follows out the back door after Leo and Jack.
It makes me pause that she didn’t say more than that to Rafael. From what Leo said, they haven’t seen each other in years, and that’s it? No big reunion, no big talk? No talk at all, really. Maybe they really aren’t on good terms.
Rafael floats over to me without even noticing. “You okay?” I ask.
He nods. “Let’s go home.”