Chapter 6 Rafail
RAFAIL
Hailey takes her time in the shower. I leave a black T-shirt and a white bathrobe next to the door, on top of a pair of slippers I found in the bedroom closet. Then, I retreat to the bedroom, lay on the bed, and scrub my face with both hands.
Too much, too fast.
What started as obedience has become an obsession.
My father ordered me to “keep an eye on her” and make sure Hailey was safe from our rivals. The bratva is a brotherhood in name only. Rival factions vie for territory like feral cats. Only our common enemy, the government, binds us together—until the riches become too great to resist.
That was Dmitri’s mistake. He met a woman. Fell in love. Turned soft. If I hadn’t slipped that security fob to my then-stepsister the night of her sweet sixteen party, we would have lost billions of dollars in accumulated assets. Did he thank me?
No. He dressed me down for putting Hailey in danger.
At first, I was annoyed that he tasked me with tracking her down. Witness protection isn’t worth much. I was therefore frustrated that it took me three years to locate her.
She vanished.
I finally tracked Hailey down when her mother died. The obituary gave Baltimore, Maryland as her last residence. Then I needed to find the right girl. That took time.
Once I knew where my former stepsister and the keeper of that passkey was living, I began stalking her. The promise of beauty when she was a teenager still playing dress-up had blossomed into full flower. My jaw dropped when I finally found her again.
Suddenly, I understood why my father fell so hard and so fast for her mother.
The Bennett women are made for us.
Now, Hailey is the only one left. She is mine. She has been since that day I found her again; she just didn’t know it yet.
What we did together back there proves that she wants me as badly as I do her.
I kept my distance while she grieved her mother, but I watched her every move for months while I was stalking her.
I saw her resilience. I saw the way she held herself apart from others.
I know she yearns for a family of her own.
For permanence. A real home. Not that hovel my boyevik cleaned out while she was at work.
I need to be patient a little longer. I don’t want to scare her. I want her to—
I cut the thought like an enemy’s finger. Slice. Gone. Bratva do not think about silly things like love. Not if they want to survive.
I intend to live. With Hailey as my wife and the mother of my children.
My cock twitches at the thought. Yes. I want that. Badly. She will, too, once I am done with her. I won’t give her a choice.
Hailey slams into the room, looking like an angry queen with her long hair wrapped in a towel and the fluffy bathrobe covering everything from neck to knee.
Only her calves poke out the hem. She glares at me, but I’m not fooled.
Her gaze lingers on my bare chest. Casually, I tuck one arm behind my head.
“You look comfy.” She begins opening drawers and slamming them closed again when she finds nothing inside them.
“You’re welcome to join me,” I say. My printsesa gives me the middle finger.
I should not tolerate her disrespect. If she were to pull a stunt like that outside of these walls, where my boyevik could see, I would be forced to teach her a lesson in obedience.
With no one to see us, I can let this infraction slide.
She has a right to be angry with me. I stole her, and I intend to keep her.
Yet I need her agreement thirty-six hours from now. Hailey could refuse me at the altar. That would be an unbearable humiliation. I have until then to convince her that she wants to spend her life with me.
I watch as she moves around the room, opening drawers and closing them as loudly as she can despite their soft-close hinges. Her futile attempts to display anger are funny, but I don’t laugh. “If you are searching for an escape, I can assure you that you won’t find it inside the closet.”
She steps out, thrusting the door closed with a narrow glare and a loud bang. “What floor are we on?”
“The ninth. A fall would kill you,” I answer. “If the windows opened, which they don’t.
A tiny growl escapes from her. She avoids the bed, walking around it to inspect the windows that don’t open rather than take my word for it.
“Maybe I’ll sprout wings and fly away,” she says with sarcastic sweetness. She folds her hands into a bird shape and pretends to flap.
“I will have to change your nickname to angel if you do.” I don’t bother to soften my accent on the final word.
Ahngul. Her cheeks turn pink. She unwinds the damp towel from her wet hair and goes into the bathroom to hang it up.
So tidy, my printsesa. Her shabby room, when my men cleaned it out, was neat and orderly, too.
Now that I have made my move, my enemies will try to kill her and take the passkey. The only thing that kept her safe all those years was that no one knew where she was.
“Listen, Rafe”—a pet name she used to tease me with knowing how much I hated it— “I’ve had a long day. I’d really like to get some rest while I consider your generous offer of becoming your bride.” Haily makes a shooing motion. “So, like, leave. Off the bed. Now.”
I don’t move. I cock one eyebrow. “Where will I sleep?”
“The living room couch is all yours.”
Sassy little printsesa. Thinks she can order me around. The thing is, she could order me to do almost anything and I would. Only for her. But not this. Certainly not tonight.
“Make me.” I shrug. She is just as easy to rile up as she was at sixteen. Her temper flares. Hailey strides over to me clearly intending to push me off the bed. Unwise of her.
I snag her by the wrist and pull her onto it with me. She yelps in protest, but I pin her to the mattress. “Or, we can both sleep here.”’
Startled green eyes meet mine. “We’ll only sleep,” she states, not phrasing it as a question though it clearly is one. Not if I have my way, no. But I have done enough to frighten her for one day. Even the bratva need their rest.
“No. We will do much more.” I don’t roll away. Her body feels too good beneath mine. The stubborn woman is taking her time to accept her fate.
I am her fate.
Slowly, the tension in her body eases. Her scowl softens. I don’t hesitate. I lower my mouth to hers and take what’s mine with an unyielding kiss.