Chapter 35 Rafael #3
‘It means I give my professional opinion to the court on whether theoretically a crime could be orchestrated in the way the prosecuting solicitors claim it has been.’
Her eyes widen and she shoves my hand from her thigh under the table. ‘You gave evidence against my father?’
‘Not evidence. Just his professional opinion on whether the methods were possible,’ my father chimes in.
It’s one of the first times in my life he’s stood up for me. But right now, I couldn’t want it less.
I couldn’t deserve it less.
‘And what was it? What was your expert opinion?’ Aurora gapes at me, the blood draining from her face as she blinks rapidly, like she’s trying to hold back tears.
‘Aur—’
‘What was it?’ she shrieks.
I tuck my chin and pull in a breath through my nose. ‘Yes. I told them that yes, what they were claiming was entirely feasible and could have been carried out by someone with the access and knowledge that your father had.’
‘Oh my God.’ Aurora trembles in her seat.
I’ve never felt like a bigger goddamn arsehole in my life.
A low whistle echoes around the room. ‘Fuck, bro. You helped bang her dad up?’
‘Shut the hell up, Angelo,’ Dove snaps, looking at Aurora with worry etched into her face.
‘He did his job. He never said the man was guilty. The court decided that,’ my father says, waving a hand in the air like this is just small talk, and not something that has the power to destroy me.
I search Aurora’s crumpling face, tilting my head to try to get her to look at me.
‘Aurora?’ I choke in a strangled whisper. ‘It’s not what you think. I didn’t know what was going to happen between us. I answered the few questions I was obligated to, that’s all.’
‘But you thought he was guilty,’ she says in a voice so quiet I have to strain to hear her. ‘You told me as much. You thought he was guilty up until I moved in with you and . . .’
I curse Dominic internally. He pushed me to return the favour of his help after the Wyndham deal went south.
And I agreed. There was no connection between me and losing Fairfax Guardian’s money, and George Thorne’s case, because I’d given the money directly to Dom to invest for me.
If the court knew that I had a financial stake, then I would have been considered biased and unable to be called as an expert witness.
I could have said no, but back then all I could see was red. And a gaping hole where two hundred and forty million should have been.
I wanted to watch justice be served. Only, they had the wrong bloody person. And Dom set up all the ‘evidence’. Now I’m about to pay the price for my own arrogant pig-headedness.
This is on me.
‘Aurora, please . . .’ I urge.
She finally lifts her eyes to mine and the coldness in them makes my heart freeze.
‘This has all been some twisted revenge scheme, hasn’t it? Because of the money you lost.’
‘What money?’ my father booms.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ I toss in his direction, my gaze fixed on Aurora.
‘Two hundred and forty million. It’d be enough for most people to want revenge,’ she says.
‘How bloody much?’ My father flies to his feet, his chair toppling backwards on to the floor. ‘Was that money from Fairfax Guardian?’
‘Was!’ I snap, looking at him. ‘I repaid it myself. Every damn penny.’
I turn back to Aurora, but she’s already on her feet.
‘Thank you for dinner, Hillary,’ she says. ‘It was delicious. But I’ll be leaving now.’
‘Aurora?’ I stand and grab her hand, but she shakes me off and storms from the room.
I don’t acknowledge anyone else. I race after her, my blood thundering in my ears, and panic clawing at my windpipe.
I’ll suffocate without her.
I cannot lose her.
She’s mine.
‘Aurora?’ I yell, chasing her down the hallway.
She’s at the front door by the time I catch up with her. I reach for her hand, wrapping it in mine and bringing her to a standstill.
‘Please,’ I pant. ‘Don’t walk away from me. We need to talk about this.’
‘Is it true?’ She whirls to face me, rage simmering in her eyes, making the blue spark like electricity’s running through it. The sight of it is like a dagger in the gut.
‘I was going to tell you.’
‘When?’ she shrieks, yanking her hand from mine. ‘After I moved in with you? After I fell in love with you?’
‘Tonight, I swear. Once we got home, I . . .’ I scrub a hand around my jaw. ‘I wanted to get your father acquitted first, and then—’
‘Then what? Hope I’d shrug it off because I’d be too distracted having him back to care?’
‘No, of course not—’
‘You sent him there!’
‘The court sent him there!’ My terror at losing her makes me fire out the words like a missile.
Her eyes widen and she takes a step back. ‘Of course.’ She scoffs. ‘Shift the bloody blame. Maybe the court did convict him, but didn’t you ever question it with all that bloody training and expertise you have?’ she sneers.
My body vibrates with the raw need to pull her to me and hold her in my arms, but she steps back, creating more distance between us.
‘I wasn’t shown all of the evidence. I was asked for my opinion on whether it was feasible. Not whether it was what actually happened. And yes, it was feasible. Please, Aurora. I love you. Let’s go home and talk about this.’
Her face falls. ‘You thought he was guilty. For months you thought he’d stolen all that money. You made all those snide remarks like he disgusted you.’
Self-loathing rears its ugly head as I see my behaviour through her eyes. I’m a bastard. A rude, judgemental prick. First thing in the morning I’m calling the judge and telling him my statement was biased. That I had a financial stake in the case. I’ll take whatever backlash there is from it.
My voice comes out hoarse. ‘I should never have spoken about him like that. I was wrong. I know he’s innocent now. And I’m so bloody sorry I didn’t see it sooner. You know that.’
Aurora shakes her head, my words doing nothing to quell the onslaught of pain and disappointment in her voice.
‘You don’t get it, do you? I was willing to move on and leave it behind us because I believed you when you said you were sorry.
That you knew my father was innocent and that you cared about the truth.
But you wouldn’t even recognise the truth if it punched you in the face.
You’re a liar. Everything we had was built on lies. Nothing was real.’
‘No! Everything is real. I love you.’
She lifts her eyes to mine, and the brokenness in hers floors me.
‘This is how you treat someone you love? This is how you make them feel?’ Her voice wavers as tears fill her eyes. ‘I knew we were a mistake that first time you kissed me. I should have listened to my gut.’
My lungs seize and I struggle to breathe. ‘Please, Beauty, don’t say that. You and I are the one thing that makes sense to me in this world. I adore you. I will do anything for you. You know that deep down. Tell me you know that.’
She looks away, her arms wrapping tightly around herself as she trembles. ‘Never call me that again.’
I screw my face up, heat burning behind my eyelids. ‘Aurora?’ I croak, reaching for her.
She flinches, and I freeze.
‘My father’s a good man who was let down by a system that should have protected him.
But you? You’re a man who thinks that because it’s a person’s heart you manipulated and no money was lost you’re somehow better than everyone else who’s ever made a mistake.
But your choices were premeditated. You’ve spent all these months acting like you’re better than my father when, in reality, you’re the crook. You’ve lied to me. Manipulated me.’
I swallow the growing lump in my throat.
What can I say to that? She’s right. I have lied to her.
And in the beginning, I did manipulate her.
I didn’t consider her feelings for a moment.
I only cared about myself. But now? Now she’s all I care about.
She’s the one thing I’ve got right. Aurora Thorne isn’t the sleeping beauty I call her.
I was the one who was blind to all of it.
Until she awoke something inside me that makes me want to be a better man. Makes me want to be who she deserves.
‘I can make this right, I swear.’
The silence between us stretches for three heartbeats. Each pains me more than the last, until she parts her lips, and delivers four words that obliterate me.
‘Let me go, Rafe,’ she whispers.
I shake my head, a throbbing overtaking my skull. ‘Let you go? I can’t . . . Aurora! I love you! What the hell does “let you go” mean?’
She can’t even meet my eyes.
A chill runs up my spine as my blood turns to ice.
‘No. Don’t do this,’ I beg. ‘I can make you happy. I know I can. I love you,’ I say again, punctuating the words. ‘I bloody love you! And you love me. You have no idea how much that means! You love me too!’
She keeps her arms coiled around herself like a shield, keeping me out. Her face crumples, but she still won’t look at me.
‘What’s going on?’
I scowl at my sister’s voice, my gaze remaining fixed on Aurora’s pinched face.
‘This is between us!’ I snap.
‘When you make my best friend cry, then it’s no longer just between you!’ Dove says, marching past me and stopping in front of Aurora, who’s quietly wiping at her cheeks like she doesn’t want me to see her tears.
My stomach plummets to my feet.
‘I knew this was a bad idea. You couldn’t have screwed with someone else, could you? You had to choose my best friend,’ Dove says, shooting me a filthy look over her shoulder as she bundles Aurora under one arm.
‘You’re coming back to my place,’ she says to her. ‘Whilst you think about what you want.’
‘What she wants?’ I choke out. ‘We love each other, Dove. We need to be together to figure this out. Tell her, Aurora.’
Aurora’s response is so quiet I have to strain to hear it. But for one brief second, heartbroken aquamarine blue meets my gaze, stealing my last thread of composure.
‘I was an idiot for ever falling in love with you.’
‘W-what? No . . . don’t say that.’
I claw at my chest, everything tightening and making breathing damn near impossible.
And my heart breaks again.
I swear it cracks right back down where doctors once stitched it up. Only this time surgery won’t save me. My life’s walking away from me, right in front of my eyes.
‘Aurora! Please!’ I call, staggering after her, one hand clutching my chest.
But it’s too late.
Dove’s already guiding her through the front door.
It closes behind them with an ominous thud.
‘Brother?’ Steady hands take hold of my biceps and concerned eyes scan my face.
‘She’s gone,’ I gasp, my mouth working like a fish out of water, unable to fill my lungs as pain lances through my chest.
Gabriel’s expression remains calm as he supports me.
I sag into him, my knees threatening to buckle beneath me.
‘I’ve lost her,’ I say in a haunted croak. ‘I’ve. Lost. Her.’