Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
ANDIE
I had never been in a helicopter before. Car, plane, boat, train—because those were everywhere in Europe—but never a helicopter. My stomach whooshed as we hover-dropped to land on the roof of a skyscraper. Even through the protective headgear, the loud whine of the engine revving down was worse than fingernails screeching across a blackboard. The haze of low clouds surrounds us in a thin veil, and I’m reluctant to ask how high up we are. Over thirty stories, at least.
Declan’s home is the Falcon Tower in the heart of the city. As in, the entire building. He owns it and uses the top five floors as his personal residence.
It’s a clever move on his part and provides him an added layer of protection. With the building located in the center of the city, no one in their right mind would attack him here. The city is a bustle of activity day and night, and the main hub of the police force is only a few blocks away.
My hair whips all around, slapping me in the face, as a man helps me out of the helicopter’s cabin. Declan and Liam follow. With a hand on my lower back, Declan guides me toward what looks like a set of elevator doors. I count seven armed men on the rooftop, not including the four that surround us as we walk.
“Let’s get you settled in first,” Declan says, just as the elevator doors open.
The ride down takes seconds, and when the doors slide open again, I get my first glimpse of my new home. I was expecting opulence and grandeur. I really should stop comparing everyone to how my not-father lived.
The floor we arrive on is open-concept and modern. Light fills the room from a wall of windows that overlook the city. The view is breathtaking. I can’t wait to see it at night when everything is lit up. The floors are all dark hardwood, the walls painted a light slate color. There is an open, modern chef’s kitchen with an expansive granite counter island that bleeds into a very large living area. Across from the leather sectional is one of those water-vapor electric fireplace inserts built into the wall. A freestanding bookcase partition about twenty feet long separates the living area from the dining area.
“The other rooms, including your bedroom, are just down the hall,” Declan informs me, going into the kitchen and coming back holding two glass bottles of sparkling water. He hands me one, already opened.
“Pearson will get you set up in the system. Everything is accessed through retinal scans and a ten-digit security code that changes every day.”
“Who’s Pearson?” I ask, turning a slow circle.
“Let’s just call him my assistant and leave it at that. I trust him implicitly.”
Implying that I should too. Got it.
Declan watches me as I take in my new surroundings. I walk over to the wall of windows and my breath catches as I look out. We are definitely very high up. I can see for miles, no other buildings or obstructions getting in the way of my line of sight. If I remember correctly, the Falcon Tower is the third highest building in the city. The closest rooftop is several stories below me. It has a gorgeous greenspace and rooftop garden.
“What are on the other floors?” I inquire as I stare out the window.
Declan joins me, his shoulder brushing mine. “The floor above is my private residence. This one is yours.”
I tear my gaze from the gorgeous view and gape at him in disbelief. “This entire floor is mine ?”
He nods. “Decorate it as you wish. It’s yours to do with as you please. The other floors are for certain employees like Liam and Tessa, recreation, and business. I’ll give you a full tour later.” He turns to face me, all serious. “For your safety, I have assigned Liam to be your personal bodyguard.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I reply.
Being around Liam will be difficult, and not because we slept together. My mind wanders to how he cared for me in the shower. How he touched me and comforted me. He showed me a kindness I wasn’t expecting from a man who had recently held a gun to my head. Liam is the kind of man who is more dangerous than any cold-blooded killer could ever be.
“Unfortunately, it’s not negotiable.” Declan’s tone reaffirms that he isn’t going to budge on the matter.
I peer over my shoulder when I hear the elevator doors opening. Liam, Rafe, and Tessa come into view.
“Excuse me,” I tell Declan and walk over to them.
On the helicopter ride over, I had asked Declan about his plans for Rafe. My ex has answers to questions I need to ask.
“Alex!” Tessa greets me with a smile, taking a step forward, but I hold up a finger that tells her to wait, right before I punch Rafe in his gorgeous, deceitful face.
“That’s for stabbing me with a needle.”
He stumbles back, grabbing his jaw that is quickly turning a lovely shade of red. “Damn it, Andie.”
Liam’s hand goes to his gun as he watches Rafe’s reaction to my attack. I know, without a doubt, he’ll shoot Rafe if he tries to retaliate against me.
Tessa holds her hands up in front of her. “Is there any way I can get a hug instead? I don’t think my face could handle being hit. You know how whiny I get with even a small paper cut.”
I narrow my eyes at my friend. “You and I are overdue for a very long talk,” I tell her as I grab her and hug her tightly. Her arms wrap around me just as fiercely.
I believed Tessa when she told me she did what she did to protect me. I’ve also missed the hell out of her.
“I’ll come find you later, but right now, I need to speak to Rafe,” I say when our hug stops.
No one questions me or badgers me about why. Declan doesn’t insist that he or Liam stay. I’m being trusted to handle my own shit the way I see fit. It’s a breath of fresh fucking air to be treated like a competent adult and not shoved in a corner, ignored, and told to keep my mouth shut.
Declan kisses the top of my head as he passes. That’s the third time he’s done that. The guy really has taken to the role of father figure. I wonder how different my life would have been if my mother had told him the truth. Perhaps most things wouldn’t have changed. Declan would still be a man who controlled an empire and murdered or hurt people for a living. A life surrounded by organized crime and shady individuals. Or would I have turned out like Rita? Spoiled, pampered, coddled. An entitled mafia princess given every luxury and decadence I desired.
“So, what—you work for Declan now?” I ask Rafe as soon as we’re alone.
“In a way.” He brushes a thumb over his jaw where I punched him.
The area is slightly swollen, but of course, it doesn’t detract from his looks one bit. Rafe has always been too pretty for his own good. Tessa had a term for men like him. A walking orgasm. If she only knew how right she was. Rafe had a way of getting me off in seconds, as evidenced by what happened between us in the pantry. I pack those images in a box, then shove them inside another box, then padlock it in a place deep down. Rafe and I are over. We can never get back what we once had. Or maybe you can have something new , my traitorous mind suggests.
I plop down on the leather sectional and spread my arms out across the back to either side of me. “This is where you start spilling your guts and tell me everything.”
Rafe gives me a heated blue-eyed look, and I hate how much it still affects me. You can hate someone you still find insanely hot. At least, that’s what I’m going to tell myself.
Resigned, he sighs. “Where do you want me to begin?”
“Start at that night.” I don’t need to explain which one.
Losing some of his composure, he shouts, “Do you think I wanted that? To watch the girl I love being beaten like a dog! He would have killed you right then and there if I made any move to help you. And then after—” His breath stutters and his eyes become unfocused as if he’s lost in a memory. “You’re not the only one Max tortured in the cage. I was down there for days. When Kellan found out and released me, you were already gone.”
Oh, God . I didn’t know. I would have given my life to get him out of there. I understand the text message now. The words he used to break my heart. He was forced to do it. I knew Max was the reason Rafe broke up with me, I just never realized he tortured Rafe to make him do it. I made a mistake by ending Max’s life so quickly. I should have drawn it out, made him suffer. Rafe should have been there with me so we could have done it together.
“Why did you stay? Why didn’t you leave and come find me?” I hate how broken my voice sounds when I ask it.
Rafe hangs his head, a lock of black hair falling across his brow. He raises his eyes and the pain I see in them has my heart clenching.
“I had nowhere else to go, Andie. If I left Max’s protection, my father would have hunted me down and dragged me back home. At least with Max, I had my brothers.”
Kellan, Keane, and Jax. It was all beginning to make sense. Even his engagement to my cousin. By marrying her, Julio Ortiz couldn’t touch him. Rafe would be family, and any move made against family would guarantee swift retaliation.
“When did you approach Declan?” I have a hunch, but I want to hear him say it.
“As soon as I heard about the deal Max made to give you to Alejandro.”
That’s what I thought.
He did it for me. He even said as much at the house right before Declan’s men attacked.
“I would have done it regardless. I had to get you out of there. Then when Declan promised to help me destroy my father and brother, it was an easy decision.”
Rafe surprises me when he lifts me up off the couch, sits down, and settles me in a straddle in his lap. I grab onto his shoulders to keep my balance. His fingertips rake my hair behind my ears, and he cradles my face, not allowing me to look away from him.
“I’m so sorry, mi rosa . I should have been strong enough to protect you. I failed you in every way a man could fail his woman.”
Heat combusts like a wildfire between us. Those old feelings trying to escape from the box I just locked tight and shoved deep.
“You were seventeen, Rafael.”
He had no power. No place to go. He made a choice of what he perceived as the lesser of two evils. At least by staying, he still had Kellan, Keane, and Jax. As much as I want to, I can’t fault him for what he did. I would have done the same.
“You’re engaged to Rita.” Her name is like barbed wire on my tongue.
He cradles my face with one hand. “I never wanted Rita. Besides, that deal is dead in the water now.”
“And I’m not your woman,” I say, grasping at anything to stop this runaway train between us.
His hips grind up into me, pressing against my core, and I can’t stop the gasp of pleasure it elicits. I feel him grow hard beneath me, and my resolve begins to weaken as lust takes over. Damn him.
“Liar,” he whispers, grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me down so our lips hover scant millimeters apart.
His warm puffs of breath fan over my lips. It’s now a test of wills to see who gives in first. My tongue darts out, already tasting him.
Never taking our eyes off one another, I erase the remaining space between us. “I don’t fuck someone I can’t trust,” I say against his sensual mouth, and because I’m a glutton for punishment, I bite his lower lip and gently suck on it before letting it go.
“Then I guess I’m going to have to work on regaining your trust, sweet rosa ,” he replies, and I get a wicked thrill at his declaration.
When I hear someone coming, I ease off his lap and stand up. My clothes are all wrinkled, and I try to quickly straighten them back into place. Liam appears and he must notice the flush of arousal tinging my skin pink because I sure as hell feel it.
“Mr. Levine would like for you to join him for dinner.”
Rafe moves to stand beside me and trails a possessive hand down my back, a gesture Liam watches with barely concealed displeasure.
“Knock it off,” I warn Rafe, and the handsome bastard smirks at me. Replying to Liam, I say, “Let him know I’ll be there shortly. I’d like to get cleaned up first.”
When he doesn’t leave, I glare at him. There were a few more things I wanted to talk to Rafe about, but I’m not going to do it in front of an audience.
Rafe said he wants to gain back my trust. Only time will tell if he truly means it. Too much bad has happened between us for me to take him at his word. Besides, I’ve got shit to do, the first being to have dinner with one of the most ruthless men in the world who happens to be my real dad.