Chapter 5
Rex
Rahat slept with a small crease between her brows, like she was dreaming about something stressful.
I'd been watching her in the dark for the last hour. I’d do anything to smooth it out and ease whatever bad thought filled her mind.
Though, seeing her like this, so soft and still against the pillow made my cock twitch.
I could still feel her clamped around me, her back arched as she begged for more.
God, she was fucking amazing. Smart. Beautiful, funny.
She made every day amazing, since the moment I met her.
I'd just wished my mama was alive for her to see how happy she made me. Rahat could relate. She’s lost her parents too.
She had a good family, and a good friend in Carina.
I just wished she would share more about what was going on with me.
I'd seen her glancing at her phone from time to time, how she'd jumped when the man stepped around the corner of the street.
This wasn't Rahat, and it all started when she saw Adam fucking Dexter in the club.
I was half tempted to call Carina and ask her about him.
But the two of them were like peas in a pod.
Rahat would know and she'd be pissed. But still, if she wasn't going to tell me what the fuck was going on, someone had to.
Day broke and light started to filter in around the edges of the curtains. Rahat stirred and squinted at me from across the room. "Why are you sitting in the dark?" she asked.
"I'm just admiring the view."
"What view? The curtains are closed," she said, but there was a teasing smile on her face.
"You want coffee?" I asked while standing and crossing the room.
"Is rain wet?" She sat up in the bed and pushed that luxurious black hair over her shoulder.
I made her the coffee while she freshened up in the bathroom. Not that she needed it. I swear she never got a knot or tangle in her hair, and every morning, she looked as perfect and as fresh as when she went to bed. She couldn't be human.
Every morning I had the same idiotic realisation that somehow this woman had decided I was worth her time, and every morning it landed with the same dumb weight, like I'd only just been told.
I stood there gawping at her for a moment, and realised I was smiling.
Ma would have laughed herself to the floor.
I swore to her once that I’d never fall in love.
I’d never risk doing to someone what my dad did to her.
She laughed for five straight minutes and said that the ones who swore they wouldn’t fall were the ones who went down the hardest. I never believed her until now.
"I was thinking of popping to see Gabriel," I said, as soon as she returned. "It'll be boring club stuff. You wanna come or would you prefer to spend the day with Priya. I know you didn't get to spend as much one on one time with her as you wanted to yesterday."
"That sounds like a plan." She grabbed her phone and sent off a quick text. Priya responded within seconds. "I'm starving," Rahat said. "What are we thinking for breakfast?"
We decided to head down for the buffet breakfast, which was a delicious spread of both hot and cold treats, and then headed our separate ways.
~
Gabriel's club was practically deserted during the day with only a few members of cleaning staff present. He was already there when I arrived, having texted him earlier to say I was on my way and why. I was ushered to his office where he sat huddled over his laptop.
He looked up when I entered before rising to shake my hand. "Rahat know you're here?" he asked.
I nodded. "She just doesn't know why."
That earned a slight shift in his expression. He sat in his chair and leaned back. "What do you want to know?" he asked as I took the seat on the opposite side of the table.
"Everything there is to know about Adam Dexter."
Gabriel sighed. The blinds behind him were half open, cutting the morning light into sharp bars across the desk. He slammed his laptop shut.
"And why Rahat's so afraid of him," I added.
I'd never seen Rahat afraid of anything.
Not spiders, not drunk men twice her size.
She even stood her ground against Jameson when he faced off against her, trying to make her understand just how much of a threat Xander was to Carina.
No matter how much she wanted to tell me, Adam was a thing of the past, I knew her better than that.
And if she was afraid of him, which I was certain of, she had a good reason to be.
Gabriel rubbed his jaw as if weighing his words before speaking.
"Dexter's trouble," he said. "The kind that thinks he's the cleverest person in the room when he's not even close.
" He laced his fingers together and leaned forward on his elbows.
"He found Rahat when she was in uni. You might have noticed that she's a brilliant coder.
She likes to act a bit like an airhead at times, but unlike Dexter, she's far from it. "
"And?"
"And you'd be better asking her these questions.
" He sighed again and shook his head. "Dexter had a habit of circling talented young coders and utilising their skills for somewhat illegal activities.
He set his sights on Rahat. One night, about six years ago, she came to Carina pretty shaken up. Carina called me. I dealt with it."
"Dealt with it, how?" The leather of the chair creaked beneath me as I leaned forward.
"Like I said, Dexter isn't as clever as he thinks he is. He was already on the police radar. I just gave them a little information that could speed things up."
"You narced him out." The words tasted strange coming out of my mouth. He was mafia, and not exactly walking on the right side of the law himself. Men like Gabriel didn’t usually involve the police. They solved problems in quieter ways.
Gabriel smiled. I'd seen that same smile on Carina, and in her case it usually meant she was remembering something unpleasant and deciding whether the ending was satisfying or not.
"I protected my family." He said the words without a hint of regret.
A decision was made and he stood behind it.
He lifted his head and raised his chin. "At the time, I thought it a little extreme to have him killed.
I just fast tracked what was already on the cards to happen. "
"So what happened, exactly?"
"The conviction was financial crime," he said. "Three counts. He went down for four years, should have been out in two and half. But the idiot couldn't stay out of trouble even inside, and ended up serving more than five."
I nodded and watched him carefully. "He was here in the club," I said, and Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "He was staring at Rahat. Does he know she had a hand in him being sent down."
"Rahat doesn't even know."
I sat back in my chair, trying to think. Six years ago something happened between Rahat and Adam fucking Dexter. And now the bastard was back, and so help me, I swear he thinks to start back up where he left off. "What's your read on the current situation?" I asked.
"Dexter's not a man who likes to lose," Gabriel said. "If he was here. He was looking for Rahat," he added, confirming my suspicions. "I'll see what I can do, but in the meantime, you shouldn't let her out of your sight."
I stood and held my hand out.
Gabriel shook it. "Take care of her," he said.
"I intend to."
~
I called Rahat as soon as I left Gabriel's office. She was on her way back to the hotel in a cab. "Go straight to the room and wait for me," I said.
"Why? What happened at Gabriel's?"
I brushed away her question. "I'm just missing you, that's all," I said, which was only a half truth.
"You know, I have that yellow lace push-up bra and bikini panty set you love so much packed," she said, almost in a whisper. "I could be wearing that and nothing else when you get back if you like."
"I think I would like that very much." I growled at the image. I loved the way the color looked against the warm olive of her skin. Though the push-up bra wasn’t needed with the perfect cup of Rahat’s implants.
"Then it's a date," Rahat said and ended the call.
The smile on my face was fleeting. I found myself studying every alleyway and every street I passed on the way back.
Even more so when a black transit pulled up on the same stretch of curb I spotted one on the night before.
It was two cars back from the entrance. Far enough not to read as deliberate, but close enough to cover both exits in and out of the hotel.
I kept my face steady and my eyes forward.
I memorized the plate. I couldn't swear it was the same one I'd seen in the alley beside Velour the night we arrived.
There were a fucking hundred vans exactly the same all around the city, and I hadn't logged the plate at the time. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Either way, it made my skin itch.
I was about to investigate further when Rahat arrived. She leaped from the cab and slung her arms around my neck.
"You got back too quickly," she said before landing a deep kiss on my lips. "I guess we'll have to skip the sexy underwear part and go straight to naked."
"That sounds like an awesome plan." I kissed her back, wanted nothing more than to feel those perfect lips around my cock before I buried myself deep inside her, but there were other matters that needed to be dealt with first. "Although,” I said. “I'm actually starving."
Rahat bit her bottom lip. "That's good. I'm absolutely ravenous myself." She flicked her eyes up and down my body before leaning in until her lips brushed my ear. "How about I make you my main course?"
I brushed her cheek with the back of my hand and teased her lips with my thumb. "Keep talking like that and we won't make it past the lobby," I said, sliding my hand to her waist. "But let's grab something to eat first. I want you properly fueled before you try to devour me."
"You thinking the hotel restaurant or somewhere else?"
I held her hand and pulled her along the street, while trying not to be obvious while watching the van. No one had got out. "Somewhere else."
"I know a good place not far from here."
I surveyed the street as we walked. A bike courier was on the corner of the side street.
He wasn't moving. We rounded the corner and kept walking.
He appeared again on the next street two minutes after we'd changed routes.
I caught his reflection in a shop window.
It was impossible to know if he was with the transit van or not.
But if he was, that was two tails in under twenty minutes.Things were escalating.
I tightened my grip on Rahat’s hand and pulled her closer.
The sun was shining, and the weather was warm, which was just as well as Rahat led me to a great little coffee shop that felt more like a cheerful street-side nook that popped up to brighten the sidewalk.
It was a simple black kiosk with a tiny outdoor seating area covered in artificial grass.
I ordered a coffee and Rahat opted for a Chai spice bubble, whatever the hell that was.
We grabbed our drinks and took a seat while waiting for our food.
I wanted so much to tell her that I'd spoken to Gabriel. It felt like a betrayal not to. But she seemed in a good mood after her visit with Priya. The slight crease was still in her brow, but she covered it with energy, and I didn't want to puncture her buzz.
She had a bright smile on her face while making easy chatter. She needed this time. We both did.
But the van had passed twice. I'd have to broach the subject soon, especially since I was now a hundred percent certain she was being followed.