Rafi thought about all the times he’d made love to Carys over the past few months, and the number of times he hadn’t remembered to use protection.Had he done that on purpose?Had he subconsciously understood that Carys would run from him?Had he unconsciously manipulated the situation so that she had to stay in his life forever?
No, he didn’t think so.The passion between them had been too hot, too fast and furious.Still, that was no excuse for not protecting his woman.He should have been smarter, slower, and more careful.But there was just something about Carys that drove him wild.She was…his life!She was everything to him.And he wasn’t ashamed to say it.
Hell, he should have mentioned that to his bodyguards before now.He should have ordered them to organize protection for Carys sooner.He’d known early on in their relationship that she was significant to him.Rafi had known that Carys was it for him.He remembered his mother and father talking about how they’d found each other again after almost a year.
Was history repeating itself?Rafi smiled at the thought of Carys carrying his child, but the smile vanished at the possibility of Carys being pregnant and kidnapped.The kidnappers would hurt her.They might even harm her unborn child, especially if Carys didn’t even realize she was pregnant.
“Damn it!”he muttered, pressing his palms to his temples, trying to alleviate the pain in his head and chest.But the pain didn’t go away.Rafi knew the pain couldn’t go away until he had Carys back, safe and sound.
Rafi wondered what it would be like to have a child.To be a father.He loved his twin brother and all of his younger cousins.Granted, Rafi wasn’t as close to Rylan, Ramzi, Nahla, or Saif as he was to his brother, Angela, and Zayn.There had been a large gap between the older four and the younger four grandkids.Still, he’d been old enough to appreciate how cute his baby cousins had been.
Rafi considered calling his brother.He and Laith always shared every part of their lives, but something held him back.
Instead, he stared out the window, watching as the city of Philadelphia slowly woke up.What would it be like to wake up slowly with Carys in his arms?To see her stretch and smile at him, to feel her stomach round and ripe with their child?
The thought sent a jolt of lust through his body.He wanted that reality.He wanted that future with Carys.Now that she’d explained her past, about the way her father had abandoned her when she was only twelve years old, at the height of her impressionable years, Rafi finally understood.He got why she’d been pulling away from him over the past few weeks.He understood that, any sort of true attention to Carys would result in her pulling back, not being able to trust the joy in her life.
Because her bastard of a father had stomped on her trust, destroyed the safety of her childhood.Those kinds of wounds were difficult to heal.
Chapter 25
Carys woke the following morning and looked out the window.The sun was bright without a cloud in the sky, making the world look happy and vibrant.Meanwhile, Carys felt hungover.She knew that it was caused by dehydration after her night of crying, but that knowledge still didn’t ease the pain throbbing at her temples.
She pushed the blankets away and stood up, surprised to find she was still wearing yesterday’s clothes.
“Water,” she croaked and walked into her kitchen.She glared at the five water glasses, then grabbed one and filled it up.She downed a couple ibuprofen tablets, then headed into her bathroom.After showering and dressing in clean clothes, Carys felt a little more human.
“Walk,” she commanded herself.Carys pulled on her running shoes and a jacket with a baseball cap, then headed out of her apartment.She didn’t want to talk to anyone.So, she put on a pair of sunglasses and walked out the back door of her building.The nosy neighbor who always wanted to chat about marketing ideas was walking into the building with two bags of groceries, so Carys ducked her head and darted to the left around the building’s dumpsters.
“Carys?Is that you?”Marylynn called out.
Because Carys couldn’t deal with human interaction right now, she didn’t respond.Instead, she walked quickly between the landscaped bushes to the sidewalk.This path would take her through a small, wooded area where, hopefully, Carys could disappear.She was nearly to the edge of the apartment building’s parking lot when she spotted a familiar car.Her eyes narrowed as she eyed the minivan parked in the lot behind her apartment building.Why was Beth’s car here?The silver minivan idled, the engine spewing toxic smoke out the back end while Beth filed her nails in the driver’s seat.
Carys remembered the sounds that had woken her up last night, the sensation that someone had been in her home…and the scent the other night when she’d come home…the vanilla scent.Her father’s wife, Beth, wore a vanilla-based perfume!Had Beth been here last night?
Carys snorted at the idea.Beth was the consummate stay-at-home mother these days.She’d given up her career after daughter number three was born.She had four daughters now, all of whom were in either high school or middle school.Carys knew from Andi’s online stalking that all four girls were involved in gymnastics, band, piano, and soccer, not to mention almost-monthly camping trips with their dad.
So, why was Beth parked here in downtown Philly?Why wasn’t she at home whipping up an amazing Sunday brunch?Or more likely, why wasn’t Beth in church?
“Just leave!”Carys muttered under her breath as she hurried on, following the path that would take her away from her apartment building and the woman sitting in her minivan.
It was bad enough that her father was harassing her, but now Beth?This was getting ridiculous.Maybe she should get a restraining order against her father and stepmother.Would a judge grant her one?They weren’t hurting her.They were just…stalking her, she thought as she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, keeping her head down as she headed along the path.
For several minutes, she worked out the potential for a restraining order, wondering if she’d need to hire a lawyer.Carys didn’t really have the money to hire a lawyer.She barely had the money for her coffee shop visits with friends and…!
Her heart ached at the thought of Andi.They met for coffee more often than the entire friend group, but those cozy, face-to-face chats would never happen again.How was Carys going to get through life without Andi?They’d been best friends since college!They shared everything with each other!
“Not everything,” she muttered and turned onto another street.Carys had no idea where she was going, but the fresh air felt good.After two hours of meandering through the city, Carys found a coffee shop and ordered a cappuccino.It was more expensive than her usual black coffee, but she needed the pick-me-up today.
Carys sat on a bench and watched the river float by while she sipped her treat.The weather was warm and she could see boats cruising along.The river was calm so there weren’t any whitecaps, but she watched leaves flow quickly downstream.
And then the tears started again.Carys sipped her coffee, watched the boats float by while she ignored her phone and tried to tamp down on the pain in her chest.
What was Rafi doing right now?Was he with Andi?Were they having coffee and laughing together?Or was he at the office, working on something that she might not understand?Rafi understood contract negotiations better than anyone she had ever known.It was fascinating talking to him about the various language he would add to a contract to better protect the interests of the company.
“Well, that’s over,” she whispered to herself and gulped down the last of her coffee.Standing, she tossed the empty coffee cup into a garbage can, then headed down to the weekend markets.Carys wasn’t in the mood to go home and be alone.She’d reveled in her own misery enough yesterday.It was time to start getting over Rafi.
And the loss of her best friend.
