“He’s gone now.”
“But you’re still here.”Michael’s eyes met mine in the dim light.“And I meant what I said earlier.You don’t have to handle everything alone.That’s what family is for.”
Family.
The word landed strange in my chest.I’d never had siblings.My mother died when I was four.My father had been distant even before his stroke, affectionate in abstract ways but never truly present.Always a wall between us, always secrets I wasn’t allowed to know.
Michael had been more of a brother to me than anyone else in my life.
“Thank you.”I meant it.“For everything today.I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“You would have handled it.”His smile was warm, genuine.“That’s who you are.But you don’t have to prove you can do everything yourself.Sometimes it’s okay to let someone help.”
I nodded and got in my car.Watched him in the rearview mirror as I pulled away, standing alone in the empty garage, one hand raised in a small wave.He stayed there until I turned the corner and he disappeared from view.
The drive back to the manor felt longer than it should have.Every car that passed seemed to be following me.Every shadow on the road seemed to shift and move.I caught myself checking the rearview mirror obsessively, looking for headlights that stayed too close, too long.
By the time I reached the gates, my hands were shaking on the steering wheel.
I parked and sat for a moment, trying to gather the pieces of myself into something that didn’t feel so fragile.
Someone was watching me.Someone wanted me scared.
And despite everything, despite every defense I’d constructed and the distance I’d sworn to maintain, I kept thinking about Raphael’s arms around me.The way he’d held me after the cruelty, like I was something he couldn’t bear to release.
I needed to feel safe.Just for a moment.Just long enough to breathe.
I walked through the front door and caught his scent immediately.Warmth and wealth and something predatory.He was home, somewhere in this maze of a house, and my traitorous heart lifted despite everything.
I didn’t go looking for him.
I didn’t have to.
“You didn’t call me.”
His voice came from the shadows of the hallway, low and cold.He stepped into the light, and the sight of him hit me like a physical blow.Dark suit, no tie, top button undone.His jaw was tight, a muscle ticking beneath the skin.His eyes were flat and hard in a way I hadn’t seen since the night I’d signed the contract.
“I handled it.”My voice came out steadier than I felt.
“You handled nothing.”He moved closer, each step deliberate, predatory.“You called hotel security.You called a locksmith.You called your precious Michael.”The name dripped with contempt.“Everyone except the one person whose job it is to protect you.”
“I didn’t think?—”
“No.You didn’t.”He was close now, close enough that his scent wrapped around me, dark and masculine and furious.“Someone broke into your home.Stood over an old woman while she slept.Left photographs proving they’ve been watching you for weeks.”His hand came up, gripping my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.“And your first instinct was to run to your hotel staff instead of me.”
“Maybe because I don’t trust you.”
Something surfaced in his gaze.Pain, maybe.Or satisfaction that I’d finally said it out loud.
“Trust is irrelevant.”His thumb traced along my jaw, the touch almost gentle despite the iron in his voice.“You are mine, Lena.Your safety is mine to ensure.When someone threatens what belongs to me, I handle it.Not your security guards.Not your lawyers.Not Michael, who looked at you tonight like a man who wants to be more than your general manager.”
My breath caught.“He’s just a friend.”
“He held you for thirty seconds in your office.Brushed your shoulder two times in the parking garage.Stood close enough that I can smell his cologne on you.”Raphael’s eyes were burning now, something feral lurking behind the gray.“I know because my people were watching.Because I am always watching.Because you are never, ever out of my sight.”
The words should have terrified me.They did terrify me.
But underneath the fear, something else stirred.That dark, shameful heat I couldn’t seem to control around him.
