Every instinct I had screamed that nothing about this was simple.
“See you at 4 tomorrow,” he said abruptly.
The line went dead before I could respond.
For a second, I just stood there, staring at the phone like it might start speaking again on its own.
My thoughts spun fast—too fast—trying to dissect every word, every implication, every gap in what he had said.
Then—
“Who was that?”
The voice behind me was sharp enough to slice through my focus.
I startled hard, nearly dropping the phone.
Rafael stood only a few feet away.
Arms folded across his chest. Still as ever. Watching me like he had been there longer than I realized—and just waiting to see if I would lie.
I hadn’t even heard him approach.
My mouth opened, then closed again.
A delay he noticed immediately.
“It’s too early in whatever this is to start hiding things from me,” he said coolly.
His tone wasn’t raised, but it carried that quiet authority that made rooms feel smaller. “Has your brother finally reached out?”
My throat tightened.
“No,” I said quickly. Then steadied myself. “It was one of his soldiers.”
Rafael’s expression didn’t change, but something in his gaze sharpened.
“He told me to meet him atMar de Cenizasrestaurant tomorrow at 4 PM,” I continued. “To collect a package.”
A beat.
“I don’t trust him.”
Silence stretched between us.
Rafael studied me for a long moment, his eyes moving across my face like he was reading what I wasn’t saying out loud.
Then he finally spoke.
“We have shares in that restaurant,” he said evenly. “We can arrange extra layers of security. I’ll go with you to get the package.”
My stomach tightened immediately.
“That’s exactly what I don’t want,” I shot back. “What if it’s a trap?”
His gaze didn’t waver.
“It is a possibility,” he admitted calmly.
