CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
RAFAELLE
The cabin is a maze of gunfire and blood. I move through it like a ghost. Room by room. Body by body.
Searching.
Every empty room feels like another punch to the ribs. She's here. She has to be.
A shout erupts somewhere behind me. Then there’s the sound of a gunshot, Raul’s doing as he watches my back while I search for my daughter.
The cabin shakes beneath the chaos unfolding outside.
I round a corner just in time to catch sight of Ignacio Navarro disappearing through the back door. Our eyes meet and for one brief second.
The coward freezes, offers me a smile I want to cut from his fucking face, right before he escapes through the door. There’s no baby in sight.
Where the hell is she?
My grip tightens around my gun. Every instinct screams at me to follow. To put a bullet in his spine. I take a step toward the door he disappeared through.
And then I hear it. A soft fragile tiny cry.
My feet fall to a stop. The sound comes again from the room beside me. I feel a shiver rack through me as I turn slowly towards the bedroom door that hangs half open. As soon as I crack the door open completely, nothing else in the world matters.
The room is small and plain, devoid of nothing else but a bad, a lamp and cream colored walls. And right in the middle of the room on the mattress is a baby.
My daughter.
For a second I simply stare. Unable to move or breathe. She's sitting on the bed surrounded by blankets. Tiny hands balled into fists. Dark curls and round cheeks.
She has wild dark eyes.
My eyes.
The realization hits like a freight train. It feels like the world tilts to the side before righting itself again. My breaths come out shaky as I approach the bed slowly.
She blinks up at me, curious and unafraid. She has absolutely no idea she's just become the most important person in my universe.
My throat tightens. I've spent so much of my life feeling empty and broken. Like some vital piece of me was missing. After Tara died, I stopped looking for it. Stopped believing it existed.
The wounds never healed. They simply scarred over. I learned how to survive with them. Learned how to carry the weight. Learned how to function despite the hole in my chest.
Yet standing here now, I suddenly feel raw, cut open. Something begins to shift within me as I look at Mila’s face. Whatever raw wound I’ve been carrying, whatever’s broken. I feel it begin to mend.
My daughter yawns, and the sound nearly destroys me. A reluctant laugh escapes my throat.
“Hey there, mi vida,” I say roughly, referring to her as my life because, whether she likes it or not, I live for her now
She studies me. Then reaches both hands toward me. Trusting me instantly.
My chest caves in.
"Yeah," I whisper. "I've got you."
Carefully, I holster my weapon before liftin her into my arms. She's lighter than I expected.
Warmer and so fucking perfect.
Her tiny hand immediately wraps around one of my fingers. And just like that, I know I’m done for. This tiny little girl owns me already, body and soul
I press a kiss against the top of her head. Breathing her in and memorizing everything. The scent of baby powder, the softness of her curls. The weight of her against my chest.
Nine months.
I missed nine months of her life.
The thought twists like a knife.
But she's here now. And nobody is ever taking her away from me again.
Another burst of gunfire erupts outside. Reality crashes back and I glance toward the door.
Mila scrunches her cute little face, “I know, we’re going to get you out of here. You’ve been very brave.”
I brush a thumb across her cheek.
Together we step back outside to the battle that’s still raging. Bullets tear through the trees. Dead bodies continue to pile up, some of them our men but mostly Ignacio’s. I make sure Mila’s face is pressed against my chest, away from all the violence.
Kennedy appears on my left. Raul on my right. Cross a few paces ahead.
The three of them immediately adjust positions. Creating a moving shield around us. Any threat that gets too close dies. They’re fast and efficient, doing whatever it takes to protect my daughter and me.
From across the battlefield, my eyes collide with Liliana’s. The second she sees us, she freezes.
Her eyes drop to the child in my arms and her lips part in a sob. I quickly cross the remaining distance, seeing acutely the relief and pain fighting for space on her face.
I place Mila carefully into her mother's waiting arms. Liliana clutches our daughter so tightly I almost tell her to ease up. Tears immediately begin spill down her cheeks.
"My baby,” her voice breaks.
Mila reaches up. Touches her face, all innocence and sweetness.
As I watch them a part of me finally understands. Why she ran. Why she lied.
Because I also felt that anyone would be a threat to my little girl, I’d burn it all down too.
The hurt I’m feeling now mostly stems from the fact that she didn’t seem to trust me to be right by her side on that mission. I would have battled hell to keep them both safe.
"Liliana."
She looks up, her eyes red rimmed from crying.
“I need you to take her and leave. This isn’t cooling down anytime soon,” I say gesturing behind me.
She bites down on the corner of her lip, her gaze searching my face.
"Aren't you coming?"
I glance toward the cabin. Toward the woods, Navarro disappeared through.
“No, I need to find him and I have to end this.”
I wonder how she feels knowing I will be the one to put a bullet in her father’s heart.
From what I can glean, she doesn’t seem overly attached to Ignacio, especially not after what he did.
Perhaps she never really was. I know now that the reason she made the choice in the warehouse was because of me.
She was terrified of how I would react to the secret she held close to her heart.
And now that it’s all over, I have no clue what I’m going to do.
I told her she was dead to me. But for that to be true, my heart would have to stop beating entirely.
I watch as fear flashes through her expression. Not for herself but for me.
"I'll be fine,” I’m quick to assure her.
Her eyes search mine. As though trying to determine whether or not she believes me.
The truth is simple.
The only two people capable of stopping my heart are standing right in front of me.
"Elio!” I shout.
My brother appears instantly. I nod towards Liliana and Mila.
"Get them out of here and somewhere safe."
Elio's expression softens when he looks at Mila.
"On it."
Liliana doesn't move immediately. Just stands there staring at me. She looks like she’s holding something back. Words she isn't ready to say.
Eventually, she swallows.
"Be safe, Rafaelle."
I give her a short nod. Then watch as she turns away, Mila tucked securely against her chest.
Elio guides them through the woods, toward the waiting vehicles. I don't move until they're out of sight and safely out of the line of fire.
Only then do I turn back toward the battle. Just in time to see one of Navarro's men emerging from the trees behind Matteo.
Gun raised. Aimed directly at my brother's back.
The bastard doesn't even see me coming. He’s dead in a millisecond.
Minutes pass and I’m so enthralled by the battle in front of me that I don’t notice what’s happening until it’s too late
My knife buries itself in someone’s throat. I barely spare him another glance. I keep moving, trying to eliminate all threats.
Smoke curls through the trees. The sharp scent of gunpowder clings to the air.
My pulse pounds steadily as I move forward and scanning and searching.
A scream suddenly tears through the chaos.
"Rafaelle!"
I freeze. The voice doesn't belong here. It should be far away. Safe.
My head snaps up and shock shoots through me. She's supposed to be gone. Miles away from here with our daughter and yet somehow she's running toward me. Alone.
Her dark hair streams behind her. Panic filling her amber eyes. For one stupid second, I think she's lost her mind.
Then I realize she isn't looking at me. She's looking behind me.
My stomach drops as the realization hits hard and fast. But it’s too late.
I turn slightly and a few feet away, partially concealed by the corner of the cabin, Ignacio Navarro stands with a gun raised.
Aimed directly at my back. Or at least my front now.
Time slows and I start to lift my gun but I already know I won’t make it. I see the moment his fingers tighten around the trigger, the triumph in his eyes.
Everything seems to happens at once. Liliana reaches me and two hands slam into my chest.
The force sends me stumbling sideways. The gun fires.
The crack splits the world in half.
For a second, I don't understand what happened. Then Liliana falls.
"No."
The word leaves me immediately. Raw and disbelieving.
Her body hits the ground, one hand clutching her side. Blood pours through her fingers. Bright red and far too much of it.
"No, no, no, no, no,” I yell.
My knees slam into the dirt beside her. The battle seems to grow quiet as the men left standing realize what happened. There’s no missing a loud pop in the air in the face of the silence.
I glance up long enough to see Navarro stagger backward.
A bullet lodged in his shoulder. I have no idea who hit him but it doesn’t matter.
He’s still standing, still breathing. I lift my gun and pull the trigger without a second thought. It punches straight through his chest.
Ignacio Navarro falls.
And this time he doesn't get back up. He deserves so much worse. But I don’t care. Not in the face of my world shattering to pieces.
My attention returns to Liliana. Blood covers her hands now, her clothes. It’s all I can see. It makes me want to throw up.
I feel pure, unfiltered terror.
“Why the fuck would you do that, Liliana?” I ask angrily, feeling so many things at once.
“I’m sorry,” she says softly, her lips pulled into a small smile.
"Shh, just stay with me, little siren. I’m begging you,” I state, putting pressure on her wound.
“I thought you didn’t care about me,” she murmurs, breathing heavily. “You said I was dead to you.”
“I lied.”
My voice cracks. Her eyes fall shut and my heart clenches.
“Liliana!” I shout.
They flicker open again, beautiful twin pools of light.
“Just stay with me, baby. Please."
I look up at the men just standing there watching me. Matteo doesn’t move. He should already know what the fuck to do.
“I need a car!” I yell. “We have to get her to a hospital!”
Someone takes off running. Her eyes find mine. Still conscious and still so fucking beautiful it hurts.
"It's okay," she whispers.
The words nearly make me lose my mind.
"It's fucking not okay."
My hands shake as I try to stop the bleeding. There's so much blood. Too much.
"Why would you do that, Liliana?"
The question rips itself from my throat. Because I genuinely don't understand.
She had Mila. She was safe. She should have left.
A weak smile touches her lips.
Then disappears.
"I-"
"No."
I shake my head violently. Changing my mind. Why she came back doesn’t matter. At least not right now.
"Don't answer. Just concentrate on staying with me. Save your strength.”
My chest feels like it's caving in.
"Don't say anything, baby.”
Every breath she takes sounds wrong, shallow and weak.
"I'm getting you out of here,” I’m saying the words mostly to myself.
Needing something to ground myself. Needing to believe that she won’t leave me.
I tighten my hold around her.
Already preparing to lift her.
"There's a hospital twenty minutes away,” I continue. “I’ll get you there and you’ll be fine.”
She reaches for my wrist.
"I need to say this,” her voice faint.
"Liliana-”
“Promise me you’ll take care of Mila!”
“We’ll take care of our daughter together,” I counter roughly.
She smiles weakly, "I'm so sorry, Rafaelle. This is all my fault."
The words hit harder than any bullet ever could.
“No, just stop talking.”
Tears blur my vision. I don't remember the last time I cried.
Maybe I never have.
"I'm sorry,” she repeats quietly.
I bow my head. Pressing my forehead against hers. Unable to breathe.
Her fingers brush against my jaw. Trembling.
“I love you.”
The words feel like a knife sliding between my ribs. Something breaks inside me.
“No,” the word comes out strangled.
Her eyes fall shut and they don’t open again. And I know that without her, my world will never be the same.
Her absence would suffocate me. She’s the air I need to breathe.
And there’s no way in hell I would ever let her leave me. I’ve been referred to as the king of the underworld. And I would wade through burning rivers and ghosts to get her back.
Death doesn’t get to claim what’s mine.
Death doesn’t get to claim the woman I love.