Chapter 17
Sofia
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Miles avoided me for a few days after we danced at the club. Despite telling myself that I didn’t care, his rejection still stung.
I hated that he hated me, especially when I wanted him so damn much. Not just physically, either, my attraction went far deeper than that. He’d been nothing but a cold asshole to me, yet I couldn’t help how I felt.
He was an enigma, a puzzle that I had pieces of but was missing parts, so that I couldn’t see the final picture.
I thought it was because I’d seen firsthand how devoted he was to his family, the lengths he’d gone through to help Kai and Riley, and his unwavering loyalty to Theo, even at the jeopardy of his own happiness.
Aside from Rafe, I’d never had someone show me that kind of loyalty.
The kind where someone was by your side no matter what.
The kind where they were prepared to lay down their life to protect you.
I wanted that, and I wanted it with Miles, but he was determined to keep his walls up, and no matter how hard I tried to smash my way through them, they wouldn’t crumble.
While Miles was playing his disappearing game, I spent more time with Riley. A little while ago, she and a friend, Kimmy, had opened a rape crisis center, and Riley had invited me to help out.
It was thanks to Kimmy that I hadn’t been sexually assaulted when I was kidnapped. I’d been thrown in a cell, surprised to see a young woman with bruises and dried blood coating her face and body, curled in the corner.
Before I even knew her name, she’d gotten in between me and my kidnapper, squaring up to him to prevent him from attacking me, despite the injuries she’d sustained.
When he went to attack me, she managed to knee him in the balls, stopping him in his tracks. Furious, he smacked her in the face, almost knocking her out, before storming out of the cell.
Shortly after, Miles and Rafe rescued us from the cell.
That was when I found out her name was Kimmy, and she hadn’t been as lucky as I was to avoid being raped.
She was still processing what had happened to her by working at the crisis center, and I had nothing but the utmost respect for her.
She’d suffered something horrendous, yet she was using her experience to help others.
I didn’t have the first clue how to help rape survivors, but Riley insisted I could help, be that by looking after kids while their parents attended therapy sessions with the counselors employed by the center, or even just helping out with admin tasks.
I’d only volunteered there for two days, but I couldn’t wait to go back.
Not only did it get me out of the house, but finally, it felt like I had a purpose.
I wasn’t just the daughter of a mafia boss whose sole purpose in life was to strengthen her father’s organization; I was helping people when they needed it the most. Even if I was only making coffee.
On the third morning after the night at the club, I woke to find the house empty, as usual. But the pang of loneliness didn’t hit me like it had done previously. Instead, excitement rolled through me for the day ahead.
I was meeting Rafe.
We hadn’t seen each other since the morning after the wedding, and although we’d exchanged texts almost daily, he’d seemed distracted. I suspected Papa was keeping him on his toes.
He’d messaged the day before to ask if I was free to meet him for a walk in Hollows Park, and I’d barely managed to hold my squeal of happiness in.
I showered and dressed in record time before meeting Connor and Rob by the car. I’d attempted to get to know my appointed bodyguards since they’d been driving me to the crisis center, but they hardly spoke. If I hoped to develop a friendship like I’d had with Gus, I was sorely mistaken.
We drove through the city with the usual entourage: an SUV in front, and one behind, both containing another four men who were armed.
It was taking some getting used to having the extra security, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me feel just that little bit safer.
Papa had always insisted I only needed Gus to keep me safe, but look how that turned out.
When Connor took a road that led us away from the city and into the hills of Hollows Bay, I gaped out the window from the backseat, the scenery looking vaguely familiar.
As we turned a corner, the reason the area looked familiar became clear. Standing alone on the other side of the road was a huge, single-storey building with large darkened windows, two muscular men standing by the closed front doors, and a sign above the entrance reading, ‘Exotique.’
My stomach dipped as we passed by, and the memory of Miles fucking a woman on the stage flashed in front of my eyes. I turned my head away, heat creeping up my cheeks.
Not for the first time, I wondered if Miles still went to the club and if he participated in the activities that went on inside. My good mood soured. Maybe that was why he was so good at keeping his walls up; he was getting laid elsewhere, he didn’t need to touch me.
I sucked in a deep breath, Connor’s eyes flashing to me in the mirror, and the pity reflected in them didn’t help to stop the voice in my head telling me that every night Miles was away from home, he was at the club, fucking as many women as possible.
Ugh.
Well, fuck Miles.
Fuck him and his impenetrable walls, and fuck him and his cold heart.
Shaking the image of Exotique out of my head, I returned my gaze to stare out of the window, refusing to let thoughts of Miles ruin my day with Rafe.
When the car came to a stop, Rafe was already waiting, his own security hovering a short distance away. Unlike me, Papa insisted he always had four guards with him, but they were far more discreet than the guards I’d been appointed.
I leaped out of the car, ignoring Rob telling me to wait so they could check the area was safe, and jumped into Rafe’s arms.
“Rafe! I’ve missed you!” Happy tears pricked my eyes when his arms wrapped around me and he spun us.
“Missed you too.” He pulled back so he could look down at me, a huge, affectionate grin stretching across his face.
A small gasp left me when I took in his features. “What happened?” I brushed my thumb lightly over the fading bruise under his eye before noticing the cut on his lip, my brows furrowing in concern.
He waved a hand over his face. “What, this? This is nothing, you should see the other guy.” He tried to laugh, but I knew my brother too well; he was playing it down.
“Don’t do that,” I scolded. “Tell me what happened.”
His eyes closed briefly, and when they opened again, all traces of attempted humor had vanished. Taking my hand, he pulled me away from where Rob and Connor lingered nearby. “Walk with me.”
As we started along a path that disappeared into thick trees, I felt my bodyguards follow. I spun to face them. “I’d like to be alone with my brother. You can wait here.”
“No can do,” Rob replied, a smirk appearing, no doubt at my failed attempt to sound authoritative. “We’ve got our orders to stay with you.”
“I’m quite capable of looking after my sister,” Rafe snapped.
Rob shrugged. “Take it up with Mr. Wolfe.”
He glared back at my brother, who tensed beside me. I rolled my eyes. Fucking Miles was really determined to ruin my day. I released Rafe’s hand and looped it through his arm, hoping to prevent him from squaring up to Rob.
“Fine. Follow if you must, but the least you can do is give me some privacy with my brother.”
Rob’s eyes darted from me to Rafe before he nodded his head once. Taking the surprise win, I twisted us back to the path, this time heading off with a gap between us and my guards.
“What happened?” I asked as soon as there was enough space for us not to be overheard.
Rafe sighed. “Can we talk about you first? How are you doing? I’ve been worried about you.”
I squeezed his arm. “Nice try. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”
“I’ll always worry, Sofe. It’s what big brothers do.”
I smirked. He always played the big brother card, even though there were only four minutes between us. “And little sisters worry too. Now, stop avoiding the question. Who did that to your face?”
His lips pursed, and my heart plummeted. Did Papa do that? I’d never known him to be violent to Rafe, but I also knew Rafe kept a lot from me.
“Promise me, when I tell you, you’ll keep calm,” he said, doing nothing to quell my worry.
“Rafe, you’re not helping my anxiety here.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise,” I snapped, pulling him to a stop between two tall trees. In my periphery, Connor and Rob stopped too, still respecting our privacy. “What’s going on?”
Rafe’s eyes shuttered closed, and when they reopened again, they were full of resignation. “Pa’s finally entered me into an arranged marriage.”
My brows shot high as relief coursed through me. “Oh. That’s…well, I know it’s not what you wanted, but-”
“It’s to Vanessa King.”
My heart stilled in my chest as my jaw hit the ground. “Va…Vanessa King, as in the Vanessa King, whose uncle killed our mom?”
Rafe’s grimace confirmed that I had hit the jackpot.
“What?!” I shrieked. “What the hell is Papa thinking?” My heart had restarted, only now it was beating faster than a racehorse.
“He said it’s to improve relations between our families.”
“Improve relations? Rowan King killed Mama!”
Rafe’s gaze lifted to where Connor and Rob hovered, the two guards now staring intently at me, wearing matching expressions of concern. He took my arm and gently pulled me to carry on walking, lowering his voice.
“And Dad killed Rowan. The families have been feuding since, but like us and the Wolfes, Dad wants to strengthen our ties,” Rafe explained, his voice almost a whisper as he leaned into me.
My nose wrinkled in confusion. What the hell was Papa playing at? Why, after all these years, was he trying to strengthen our ties by marrying us off to our enemies?
“I don’t understand.”
“Me neither, Sofe,” Rafe shrugged. “But the deal’s done. In a few months, I’ll be in the same position as you. At least Miles is tolerable. I met Vanessa a few days before your wedding; she's vile. She was there, you know, at your wedding.”
“She was at my wedding? How did I not know that?”
“Probably because you were too busy mourning your future,” Rafe chuckled humorlessly. “Her brother was there too. Lucas King. Arrogant fucker. Unsurprisingly, he got on well with Kai. They’ve been staying at the house since then.”
“Did Lucas do that to your face?”
Rafe swallowed, and something indecipherable flashed in his eyes. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
He sighed. “Let’s just say he and I have some unresolved issues to figure out.”
I didn’t push him any further. If Rafe wanted to tell me what the unresolved issues were, he would.
Besides, I was at a loss for words. How could a father dictate who his children married?
It was unfair. We had no choice but to accept the life we were born into, and suck up whatever our father decided was best for us.
Sometimes, I really hated Papa.
“I don’t know what to say, Rafe.”
He lifted a shoulder. “There isn’t anything you can say.”
“Is there any way you can get out of it?” I asked, knowing what the answer would be.
Rafe had little more power over Papa’s decisions than I did, but not enough to convince him to change his mind.
His entire body slumped in defeat. “No.”
We walked in silence for a while, tension gathering between us, which only thickened when Rafe said, “I’ve got to go away for a few days. I won’t be able to call or message you.”
“Where are you going?”
“New York.”
“Why?”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”
A pang of sympathy hit me. I hated that Rafe couldn’t share his burdens with me. In the months since he’d taken on the role, he’d lost his shine. He was always the positive one, the one who kept me smiling. Now, his lips were set in a permanent frown.
Damn Papa. Damn him to hell for taking my happy brother and destroying him, like everything else he touched.
So much for enjoying my day with Rafe. After his revelations, a heavy weight hung around our necks as we walked for several miles through the park, stopping at a little cafe for coffee and cake while I filled Rafe in on what I’d been doing at the center.
All too soon, the afternoon sun began to sink in the sky. We said our goodbyes with Rafe promising to call me as soon as he was back from New York, both our eyes filling with tears as we hugged.
The familiar twinge of loneliness sank into the marrow of my bones as I was driven home. I wouldn’t be able to speak to Rafe for a while, and I doubted Miles would be at home to keep me company any time soon.
A tear rolled down my cheek as despair for both me and my brother consumed me. I quickly brushed it away so my guards didn’t witness my moment of heartache, and as I turned my head to stare out the window, I realized we were about to pass Exotique again.
Only this time, a queue had formed outside, and one of the men from earlier was checking IDs, while the second was talking to a third man. One I recognized instantly.
My husband.
As the car passed the club, Miles patted the security guard on the shoulder before strolling into the club, seemingly without a care in the world.