Chapter 24 Raven
TWENTY-FOUR
RAVEN
My best friends—Isla, Reina, Phoenix, and Athena—and I were living in Paris and finally found ourselves in a spot where things felt relatively normal. Reina’s show was a major hit, and earlier this week I even sold a few of my paintings.
No dead bodies to handle. No threats. Although we still had broken hearts. However, I’d learned by now, it was impossible to have it all.
Life was good, and I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.
Far away from New York and the Callahan family.
After the fashion show, the girls and I found ourselves celebrating at the nearby club. Seated around the table, we clinked our crystal glasses and drank alcohol like it was water. In between it all, we’d even found time to dance.
Tonight was all about our achievements.
Athena nudged her shoulder against mine. “Do you think Isla is off getting laid?”
We’d lost her at the last bar. She decided to entertain a man who wore an Italian suit like it was his second skin.
“We should have gotten his information,” I grumbled. “He looked like sin and danger all wrapped in one. That never bodes well.”
“She’s a big girl.” Athena wasn’t wrong, but he’d given off vibes that reminded me of another. My husband. I quickly pushed him into the darkest corner of my mind, determined not to think about him, much like I hadn’t for the past five years.
“Let’s dance,” I suggested, taking Athena’s hand.
We found a spot on the dance floor among the crowd and let our bodies move to the music, rolling our hips and laughing whenever someone tried to approach us.
Athena excused herself to go get a drink, while I continued dancing.
Letting my hands glide through my hair, I soaked in the attention. I never gave the men more than a lingering look, but it made me feel carefree and desirable. There was no harm in a little innocent flirting.
My gaze flicked around to the next male victim. My breath caught and my body froze as my gaze locked with ocean depths that stared back at me darkly.
Aiden Callahan.
I blinked, then blinked again, convinced he was a figment of my imagination. I closed my eyes again, counted to five and opened them, but the image of my husband refused to fade away. He stood there like a dark cloud, threatening to swallow me among the crowd of people.
Before I could process what was happening, the tall, dark-haired figure strode toward me. My brain kicked into gear too late.
I turned on my heel and barely took two steps in the opposite direction when a strong hand wrapped around my wrist.
“I see dead people, wife.”
Panic gripped my chest, but I bit the inside of my cheek and squared my shoulders. There was only one thing left to do: feign ignorance. There’d be time to fall apart later.
I turned to face him ever so slowly while I schooled my face.
To Aiden Callahan, I’d been buried five years ago along with the ashes of my mother.
I’d left those ashes behind, and from death and destruction rose someone else entirely. A new Raven. I had a new passport. New past. The money I’d taken from Aiden helped. So did the distance.
I lived in Paris, mostly keeping out of the spotlight over the years. Of course, some events, like gallery shows with my own work exhibits were impossible to avoid.
Every day had been a delicate balance of staying invisible while pretending to live freely.
I’d built walls out of art, a seemingly easy life, and the women who became my family.
The four girls who’d always have my back, just as I had theirs.
And surrounded by my friends, I was hiding in plain sight.
This fashion show was one such example. It wasn’t a large event, but small and privately funded thanks to an associate of Reina’s father.
“You have some serious explaining to do.” Aiden’s voice crackled with rage, and the storm in his eyes matched the thunder in his tone.
“I’m not sure who you are,” I said coolly, my heart pounding against my rib cage like a hammer, “but I assure you, sir, I’m not your wife.”
His jaw ticced. “Bullshit, Raven.”
“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” I replied, forcing a light, practiced laugh. “It happens when men drink too much. Faces blur.”
He stepped closer, his achingly familiar scent seeping into my lungs and almost making my knees buckle.
“You think you can fool me?” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “After putting me through hell for the past five years of letting me believe you’re dead? A cruel fucking deceit.”
I met his gaze defiantly. “You’re hallucinating.”
He chuckled, the sound devoid of the warmth that I remembered.
“Maybe, but if that’s the case, you’re going to hallucinate with me because I’m keeping you.
And, Raven, be warned”—his hand brushed my arm, sending a jolt straight through me—“I have five years’ worth of rage and abstinence to make up for. ”
I swallowed hard, the air and meaning of his words between us crackling. Did he really mean… I shook my head. No, it couldn’t be.
“Please, you’re… mistaken.”
I gulped while the music thumped around us, oblivious to the war waging between the two of us.
I struggled to maintain the mask of indifference between us, and his nearness wasn’t helping. Then his grip loosened and I yanked my hand away from him, desperately needing space between us.
Jesus Christ, I forgot how beautiful—and terrifying—his face was.
His dark hair fell across his piercing blue eyes, but it wasn’t their unique color that I found fascinating. It was how intensely he watched me, almost as if he were peering into my soul. And I didn’t dare glimpse his full, sensual mouth—one I knew could bring a world of pleasure.
There was something bewitching about his sharp jawline. The curves and edges of his face were ruthless. Between those cutthroat cheekbones and square chin was a mouth that could say so many filthy things.
Nobody was built like this tall, strong man with rock-solid abs, shoulders that could make you feel so small and in need of his protection, and then there were his hands.
Good God, that man could do some wicked things with his hands and his mouth. Aiden Callahan—my husband—was the hottest man I’d ever encountered. And the scariest.
I forced a smile, hiding the fear behind venom. “Let me go or I’ll scream.”
“Don’t fucking play with me, Raven,” he gritted.
I fluttered my eyelashes, determined not to crack. I had to keep it together like I promised my mother.
“I’m not playing with you, sir.” My voice cracked on the last word as memories of our fleeting time together rushed forward. He’d only just opened up to me and shown me his darker, kinkier side before everything imploded.
Don’t think about that, don’t think about that, I chanted in my mind.
I waved a hand noncommittally and said firmly, “I’m not your wife.”
We might have done many things, but we hadn’t consummated our marriage. Also, there was the small fact that I faked my death and had been on the run for half a decade…
A ghost of a smile passed his lips, his dimples threatening to turn my stomach into warm goo, but the darkness that slithered through his expression promptly extinguished it.
“You’re coming with me,” he warned coldly. “And you’ll come willingly.”
“Again, I’m not your wife,” I quipped, looking around in search of my friends. “And I certainly have no intention of going anywhere with you. You know what they say: stranger danger. I have no wish to die.”
He jerked his arm, the sleeve of his blazer sliding up as he checked his expensive-looking vintage watch.
“How could you die if you’re dead already?” he mused with a dangerous glint to his eyes. “Now, you’re coming home with me, or there’ll be hell to pay. Maybe I’ll start with your friends.”
Oh. My. Freaking. God.
I could try to shove my way through the overcrowded club, but my chances of getting away from Aiden were slim to none. And my foolish attempt might get my friends, and other innocents, killed. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Let’s go, wife.” He extended his hand, expecting me to put mine into his.
“Not. Your. Wife.” His gaze bored into me and I squirmed uncomfortably. “Did it ever occur to you that if I’m dead, and that if you’re seeing me, then you’re also dead? It seems quite simple.”
Verbal diarrhea.
I never really understood what it meant until this very moment. Jesus Christ, did those words actually leave my mouth? If there was a wall nearby, I’d be banging my head against it right now.
“Don’t fuck with me, Raven,” he said, his smile colder than a Siberian winter. I attempted to slap his hand out of the way, but he caught it and gripped it in his palm, his warmth instantly seeping into me and spreading all the way down to my toes.
His smile turned predatory as he leaned forward, his lips close to my ear, and whispered, “You owe me five years. I’ll make it good for you, and I remember how eager you were to reciprocate.
” He smirked and I gasped, my panties dampening between my thighs.
“But first, we have a few things to clear up.”
He brushed his thumb along the column of my throat. A simple touch, but it sent my body into overdrive. Shudders rolled through me and my entire body broke out in goose bumps.
Like no time had passed at all.