3. Raphael
Raphael
3
Iwait for her to scream. Honestly, I half expect it since there’s a gun in her face. Only she simply stares up at me with a heaviness I can’t identify in her eyes. Almost like she’s ready for me to pull the trigger. Almost like she’s hoping I do. But it would be a shame to do so and ruin such a pretty face.
“Who are you?” she asks, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Before I can respond, the blankets shift in front of her, revealing the dark-haired head of a small child. When my eyes snap back up to hers, a protective fire now swirls in those mesmerizing blue depths. The child is clearly important to her because she’s prepared to defend her at all costs, like a lioness protecting her cub. Just like a mother would.
“Mommy?” A tiny voice breaks the silence, proving my assumption right.
As the dark head shifts toward me, I immediately lower my weapon. I’m not in the business of pointing a gun at a child, even those I don’t know. The young child stares up at me with blue eyes similar to the woman holding her and blinks sleep away.
You would think the child would at least scream with a stranger standing in front of her. But just like her mother, she stares at me with a vacant look. Almost like my presence with a gun is a common situation in her life. A sick thought crosses my mind—perhaps a gun in their face is a regular occurrence for them, explaining their lack of surprise. The idea leaves me nauseous.
“Hi,” the little girl says.
Without hesitation, I respond with a casual “Hi,” unable to resist the magnetic pull of the child’s voice and expression.
“Who are you?” the woman repeats her question, a little louder this time.
“My name is Raphael.”
“Did he send you?” Her voice falters like she’s afraid of my answer.
“Who?” I have a feeling I know the answer, but I need to hear it from her.
“Xiao.”
I frown and shake my head. “No.”
Her brow furrows. “Then why are you here?”
“I’m looking for Xiao.” No use in lying because something in her tone tells me she’s not interested in protecting him.
“Why are you looking for my daddy?” the little girl asks.
Her question throws me for a loop.
Holy shit.
Xiao has a kid and a baby momma? Evelyn found nothing of the sort during her research, but I’m not too surprised since finding what she did was hard enough. But if it’s true, the daughter of Xiao and her mother lie in front of me. Of course, I’d rather it be Xiao himself, but having them is a close second. This changes things in a big way.
“Do you know where your dad is right now?”
The girl shakes her head.
I look at her mom. “Do you know where he is?”
She raises a hand and points at the door. “Last I saw him was two doors down.”
Great. I searched that room and all the other ones upstairs and found no one.
“When?”
“I don’t know…maybe a couple of hours ago?”
We confirmed he was on-site moments before we infiltrated. Where the fuck is he now? How did we miss him?
“Guys, you have less than a minute. Where the hell are you two?” Enzo demands in my earpiece.
“Downstairs is clear,” Dominic announces.
I step back with a frown and say into the mic, “Xiao’s not in the house.”
“What?” Enzo says.
“Are you serious?” Dominic asks.
“Yes,” I growl out the answer. “The upstairs is clear. He must have slipped out before we got inside.”
“Or maybe he’s still in here,” Dominic suggests. “We should look around some more.”
“You can’t. You’re out of time,” Enzo declares. “Get out. Now.”
I glance back at the girl and her mother and make a sudden decision. “Buy me a few minutes, then meet me outside with the car.”
If I can’t have Xiao, then his daughter and her mom will have to do. Maybe with them in hand, that’ll be enough to tempt the rat out of hiding once and for all.
“Are you fucking serious?” Enzo snaps.
“It’s important. I’ll explain when I see you.”
“Do you need help, Raphael?” Dominic offers.
“Just keep the escape route clear.”
Kneeling in front of the bed, I look from the girl to her mom. She’s staring at me with the same strange expression from before, but this time, a layer of uncertainty laces it. “Something tells me you’re not here by choice?”
The mom shakes her head. “We’re not.”
I assumed as much, which makes the next part easy to offer, and she’d be a fool to turn it down. “I can get you out of here, but we’d have to go right now.”
She hesitates. A flicker of hope appears in her eyes, like she’s ready to jump at the chance, before doubt snuffs it out. “We can’t.”
“And why’s that?”
“He’ll come after us and…”
She trails off and it doesn’t take a genius to finish her sentence. Xiao will hurt her…or worse. “What if I tell you that you’ll be safe?”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
Her doubt should annoy me, but it doesn’t. Oddly enough, it calls to a strange part of me that stirs free a protective emotion. “No, I can’t.” I admit the fact honestly. “But anything would be better than staying here, yes? Don’t you want the chance to get away? Be free?”
“In exchange for what?”
The woman’s smart. I’ll give her that. Her remark even makes the corner of my lips twitch. “Your help in taking Xiao down.”
“I don’t even know who you are.”
“I can promise you I’m a better man than Xiao is.”
Her eyes shift down to the gun stowed at my hip. Her brow rises in challenge when she looks at me like she doesn’t believe a word I say.
“Look, I came here tonight for Xiao. To put an end to him. But I found you two instead. Let me help you, and in return, you help me.” I shouldn’t have to explain myself, nor do we have the time for it, but I need her to trust me in some way if she’s going to help us take Xiao down.
With a visible gulp, she glances down at her daughter briefly before locking eyes with me again. The fire in her gaze has transformed into a blazing inferno, mesmerizing me by its raw beauty.
She nods. “Deal.”