Flipping me over to my back and shoving the gun in my mouth as I lay exposed and vulnerable, he lifts my left hand, thumbing Rafe’s bracelet I’m still wearing around my wrist, while his forefinger taps the rings Keane gave me.
Looking up into those black, empty eyes, I make a grunting noise and he pulls the gun out so I can talk.
“Why did your man shoot Rafe? Why not shoot me?” It’s a question I’ve been asking myself.
The stench of Alejandro’s breath fans across my face as he leans closer. He runs his nose up the side of my cheek, and the revulsion of him touching me in any form has me struggling to get out from underneath him. But it’s useless. He has me pinned in a way that I can’t move at all.
Alejandro inhales sharply through his nose like he’s smelling me, and I almost vomit when his slimy tongue licks across my right eye.
I don’t have any time to prepare when he whispers in my ear, “Such a pity,” then grips my ring finger and twists, snapping and breaking the bones. I cry out at the unexpected slice of pain, but it comes out as a whimper.
His knee bears down harder on my chest to keep me in place until my lungs can no longer expand behind my ribcage. He violently jerks Keane’s rings from my broken finger and palms them.
“No!” I scream, trying to get them back. Those were his mother’s rings. “You fucking—”
“You’re mine now,” he tells me, creating a fist around the rings and punching me in the face with it.
I slide into oblivion of unconsciousness with one thought. I’m going to enjoy killing him.
Chapter 30
“Rafe, I’m close.”
I look down at the gorgeous sight pinned underneath me, her pale, perky breasts bouncing with every thrust into her tight pussy, her eyes a glaze of winter violets, and those kiss-swollen lips parted slightly as she pants out puffs of air against my chest.
We’re lying on a blanket under the maple tree at our favorite park, the night sky starlit and perfect above us. The summer air is warm and humid, carrying the sweet scent of honeysuckle vines. Our clandestine times together are becoming fewer and further between. Max has me and the guys under a tight leash making runs, collecting money, taking a baseball bat to someone who has fallen behind on their payments. It’d been a week since Alexandria and I were able to meet, and we didn’t waste a second. I had her naked and my cock shoved deep inside her as soon as we laid eyes on one another.
I always love kissing her when she comes, drinking in her moans of pleasure. When I feel her walls begin to flutter, I seal our lips together, my tongue dancing with hers. She crests into her orgasm, her melodic moans and the way her hands come around to grip my ass and pull me even deeper inside her, set me off and I’m coming with her. We stopped using condoms months ago, but I don’t ever think I’ll get used to taking her bare. The heat and slickness of her pussy are too damn good.
Like every time we make love, she wraps her arms around me and holds me tight, not allowing me to roll off her. She says she likes to feel my weight on her. That it makes her feel safe.
I slide my hands out from under her shoulders and cradle her face. My beautiful girl. Kissing her softly on the lips, I nibble a trail down her sweat-soaked skin to her temple and behind her ear. Her giggle of contentment makes me smile.
“I love you, Rafe.”
“I love you more, mi dulce rosa.”
She giggles again. “Not possible.”
I reach for my phone and find one of the songs she likes, one we often dance to under the moonlight. As “From This Moment” quietly plays, we kiss for long minutes, enjoying holding one another as the warm ambient air gently cools our overheated skin. How I’m the lucky guy she chose, I’ll never understand. Both Jax and Keane want her. They always have. But neither one of them would make a move because Kellan basically threatened to kick our asses if we tried. Too bad I’m not a good listener. He may be my best friend, my brother, but Alexandria has always been my sweet rose. She’s always been mine. I’ve loved her since I was eleven years old and didn’t even know what the meaning of love was.
“Rafael.” Her voice trembles. She never calls me by my full name unless she’s mad or upset.
I raise up onto my elbows, my brows furrowing when I see the color leach from her face, turning it a ghastly gray-white.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Am I hurting you?”
“Wake up.” Her voice is but a shadow on the breeze, almost too faint to hear. Horror strikes me when blood starts pouring from her eye sockets, out of her nose, and from her lips. “Rafael, WAKE UP!”
“Jesus Christ!” Keane startles when I bolt upright. “Holy fuck! You’re awake.”
He gets up from the chair he was sitting in and rushes over to the bed. I’m in a bed. How the hell did I get here? Music is playing from a phone set up next to me on a nightstand. It’s playing the song I was just dreaming about. The last thing I remember is—
“Andie!” I practically yell, shoving Keane’s hands away from me when he tries to grip my shoulders.
Something pulls on my arm, and I curse at the sting. Why am I hooked up to an IV? Trying to get out of the bed, I’m hit with a punch of intense pain, and my chest seizes. It’s excruciating to the point where my body locks tight, and I fall back onto the bed like a felled tree made of lead.
“Shit, Rafe, stop trying to move, you asshole. You were shot in the chest.” While holding me down as I struggle to move, Keane one-hands his phone and holds it up to his ear. “Jax, get your ass in here now!”
