CHAPTER 84: IN THE DEEP END

When I met his gaze, I felt my stomach take an uncomfortable turn. I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly I had walked into and what kind of business he was busy dealing with his friends.

“So, what kind of business were you...” I asked but couldn’t bring myself to finish my question when Raphael narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. It felt like I had wandered into uncharted waters and it seemed extremely likely that I was about to drown.

“Do you seriously want to know?” he asked after a moment of thought. Raphael’s lips curved into a beautiful smile that seemed so innocent yet filled with mystery and dark secrets.

There was a part of me that wanted desperately to know, but there was also a part of me that felt scared of the truth. What if what Raphael was about to tell me was something that I dreaded to hear?

“You said that I am now fully a part of the family. What does that mean?” I asked in a shaky voice as I tried to remind myself to remain calm.

“Be careful, Gail. If you wade in too deep, you won’t be able to get out no matter how hard you try,” he warned me before his lips curved into a teasing smirk.

“Why do I feel like I’m already in over my head?” I asked as I found myself growing a backbone that I never knew existed. His words seemed to be messing with my head, and I didn’t want to admit that I was scared of learning the truth. It was also true that my mother was married to Bennett and that we were supposed to be a family now. In that light, I guess it wasn’t so unrealistic for me to say that I was truly in over my head.

“The man you had the misfortune to run into just now is Fabian. If you ever run into him again, stay as far away from him as you can,” Raphael gave me another warning.

“Is he your friend?” I asked.

“Yes, and no. I’ve known him for a very long time, and although he is very difficult to deal with, he is one of my important clients,” Raphael replied.

“I see, so you were meeting up with him to discuss business,” I said as I started to get even more curious.

“Everything went well enough. Fabian is just overly concerned with confidentiality, and that is probably why he reacted the way he did. There’s nothing for you to worry about,” Raphael told me reassuringly, but I could tell that he was trying to withhold the truth from me.

“What kind of business were you dealing with him?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“Why are you so suddenly curious?” He replied to my question with one of his own. I knew that he was trying to sidestep my question, and I didn’t like it one bit.

“I’ve heard some...rumors,” I replied.

“What kind of rumors?” Raphael asked as he brought his face closer to mine. His captivating eyes bored into mine, and I wanted nothing more than to turn and run away from him, but I also knew that I had to stand my ground. I was forced to realize that I could not live my life in complete ignorance. If there was something dangerous going on in the shadows, then I needed to know about it.

“You know, those rumors that your family is actually running an illegal business,” I replied while conveniently avoiding the exact use of the word mafia.

“I didn’t take you for someone who would believe in rumors,” Raphael said, but I could sense the air around him shifting. Fear took over me, and I didn’t like the direction that our conversation seemed to be headed, but that wasn’t enough of an excuse for me to back down from pursuing the truth.

“Please tell me what is really going on,” I requested without backing down.

The dangerous, intense vibe that I experienced as a large group of men seemed to be facing off against each other came back to me, and I realized that perhaps what Rosabella had told me might be true after all. Raphael took another step towards me, but when I tried to maintain the distance between us, he wrapped his arm around the small of my back and drew me close. His face loomed in front of me as he pressed my body up against his.

“What are you—” I began protesting, but he only wrapped his arm around me tighter than before.

“What if I told you that the rumors are true?” he whispered directly into my ear, and I felt a shiver run through my body.

What if the rumors are true?

“Are you sure you really want to hear the truth?” Raphael asked teasingly.

His voice sounded like a sweet temptation that I found hard to resist. However, just when I was about to tell him that I wanted to hear the truth from him and from no one else, there was a shifting sound from the other side of the door that caught both of our attention. We knew immediately that we were no longer alone and that we could no longer have our conversation in private. Raphael had a very annoyed look on his face as we both watched the door to the suite open.

“Rosabella,” I murmured when I saw Rosabella standing at the entrance of the suite.

“Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you went,” Rosabella said to both of us before she smiled enchantingly.

“I was just...talking to Raphael,” I said as if providing an excuse for myself to be with him.

“Of course,” Rosabella said before flashing me another meaningful smile.

Seeing her face reminded me that I had not gotten around to asking Raphael to come to the party. It seemed like I had achieved nothing. Rosabella’s bad timing meant that I couldn’t get the truth out of Raphael about his family business even though he seemed so willing to share the truth with me just a moment ago. On top of that, I had failed to even start convincing him to come to the party later that evening.

–To be continued...