Broken Together (16 page)

Shockingly,
Rafael was right. He wouldn’t have opened his security firm, met my colleagues,
my friends, or Konstantin if he hadn’t moved to Virginia to be closer to me. I studied
our friends. Aside from Sammi, Cory, and some of the guys’ dates, nearly every
person in the room had fought to keep me safe. I’d endured so much violence,
faced countless threats, and somehow acquired the kindest and most fiercely
protective friends. I slowly released my breath.

When
my eyes met Rafael’s, I knew. We’d been led to believe we were celebrating New
Year’s Eve, but that wasn’t Rafael’s intent. Rafael was gathering the troops,
pulling everyone together so I’d remain safe while he was working in Portugal;
and the vast majority of our guests didn’t even know we were about to be separated.
Yet.

Rafael
nodded when my eyes lit with understanding. He raised his glass. “I just want
to thank you for agreeing to marry me and for gifting me with so many
remarkable friends.”

Our
friends tapped their glasses before we drank to Rafael’s toast. He handed the
microphone to the lead vocalist. The band slid into the prelude for “Stand by
Me.” Rafael set our glasses aside and led me to the center of the dance floor.
He twirled me under his arm and pulled me close as he began to dance. Cenia,
Roger, Shae, and Konstantin joined us midway through the song.

Warm
dinner rolls and crisp green salads were waiting for us when we returned to our
table. Rafael waited until Brianna went to the lady’s room to draw Kadyn into
the loop. He lowered his voice. “I’ve accepted a temporary assignment in
Portugal. The police chief has pulled me back onto a case I was working before
I met Kristine. They’re trying to nail some elitists involved in an
international pedophile ring that’s been sexually abusing children from
Lisbon’s largest orphanage.”

Kadyn’s
jaw clenched. “Preying on orphans? Why would anyone…” He stopped abruptly and looked
at me. “Are you going?”

I
shook my head.

“She’s
going to stay here and finish her degree. The assignment is temporary. I should
be back within six months,” Rafael explained.

Kadyn
set his Sprite aside. “Look, I admire your determination to nail these guys,
but you can’t just leave Kri unprotected. The threat posed by the SVR is reason
enough, but when Maxim gets wind of this…” His eyes slid toward Konstantin.

“So
you understand my predicament,” Rafael surmised.

Kadyn
leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. He knew Rafael was about to request
something of him.

Rafael
reached for his glass. “I’ve asked Brady and Jase to move into Kristine’s
townhouse until I return. They’ll be sleeping in the guestrooms and
accompanying her to work.”

Kadyn
rose from his chair when Brianna returned. He dropped back into his seat once
she was settled. “What do you want me to do?”

Rafael
glanced at Brianna. He seemed uncertain as to how much he should divulge in
front of her. “I know this is awkward, Kadyn, but there isn’t a man on this
planet I trust more than you. I know you have your own career, your own life,
and responsibilities but would you mind serving as their back up?”

Kadyn
folded his elbows against the table. “Define ‘back up.’”

Brianna
studied the three of us over the top of her wine glass. The waiters removed our
salad plates.

Rafael
set his wine glass aside. “I’d like you to strategize with them, serve as a
sounding board, check on Kristine regularly, and establish a presence at her
place when Maxim is in town. You can stay at my place if you’d like.”

Kadyn
stilled. He locked eyes with Rafael.

Kadyn
had once confessed that he wished Rafael didn’t trust him so much because it
made him feel obligated to maintain that trust when he preferred to act less
honorably. I fidgeted nervously. Less than two months had passed since Kadyn
kissed me. I wondered whether either man was considering that misstep.

“Who
knows about this?” Kadyn finally asked.

Rafael
waited until the waiters set the dinner plates in front of us, topped off our
drinks, and walked away. “Ethan, Brady, Chance, and Jase.”

“I’d
like to tell Cenia, Roger, Phil, and Marie. Not here. Elsewhere. So we aren’t
overheard.” Kadyn looked at me. “How long do you think you can keep this from
Shae?”

I
pinched the bridge of my nose before rubbing my forehead irritably. “I don’t
know. A month… maybe two?” I glanced at Rafael. “I’ll tell her you’re tied up
with an assignment if she comes over. She doesn’t have to know you’re working
out of town. I hate lying to her, though.”

He
reached for my hand. “I know, but if she says anything in front of Konstantin,
it’ll get back to Maxim. If Maxim thinks you’re vulnerable, he’ll take
advantage of the situation.”

“What
am I supposed to do about Oni?” I asked. “Maxim is bringing her on the tenth.
You’ll be in Portugal by then. How do I explain your absence over the ten days
that she’s staying with me? And how do we know she won’t report your absence to
Maxim?”

Kadyn
feigned interest in his food. “Have you heard anything more about this favor
Maxim’s planning to ask?”

Rafael
blew out a long, frustrated breath. “God. I just don’t see how I can do this.”

“You
have to nail the creeps who’ve been sexually abusing those children,” I
insisted. “This case meant everything to you. Rafael, you have got to see this
through.”

“I’ll
do it,” Kadyn interjected. “I’ll help protect Kri, but I have some conditions.”

My
jaw fell slack.

Rafael
stared at him. “Name the conditions.”

“I’ll
stay at your place while you’re gone, check in on Kri, consult with Brady and
Jase, and serve as their back up should either of them become unavailable… under
three conditions.”

Rafael
nodded.

Kadyn’s
face proved completely unreadable. “I stay at Kri’s place during the ten days
that Oni is there and every night that Maxim is in town.” He looked at me. “Brady
and Jase will both be accompanying you to work?”

I
choked down a mouthful of loaded baked potato. “Yes.”

“Then
you’ll do nothing without one or more of us joining you.” Kadyn’s tone brokered
no room for argument.

Slowly,
I nodded. A massive pool of dread had taken over my stomach, making me feel
nauseous.

“And?”
Rafael prompted.

Kadyn’s
shoulders relaxed. “I get to drive the Enzo and the Vyrus while you’re gone.”

Rafael
didn’t even blink. “Agreed, but I’m going to add my own condition.” His eyes
slid toward Brianna. “I’d prefer to discuss that condition in private.”

Kadyn
studied him. “I know what the condition is. You don’t want a repeat of
McAllen.”

Rafael
nodded.

Kadyn
looked at me. “Done.”

Rafael
breathed a sigh of relief before settling in to eat.

All
of their negotiating and strategizing over my security was making it difficult
for me to breathe. I excused myself from the table and walked downstairs to the
restroom. The door swung closed. Thankfully, I was alone.

I
clung to the vanity. Haunted eyes regarded my ashen face as panic bubbled up
inside of me. Rafael was leaving in three days.
Three.
I trembled
violently. Horrific things happened every time we parted. A number of violent
images set out to prove this very thing. The madman who tried to drown me… the
Russian operative who interrogated me while his comrade shoved a stun gun
between my legs… men dressed in camo, khaki, and black hanging out of SUVs with
machine guns while bullets ricocheted all around me.

I
splashed cold water on my face in an attempt to drive the images away. I thought
about the little boy who was raped while Rafael kept his abuser safe. Those children
at the Casa Pia Orphanage wouldn’t be safe until every last criminal in that
pedophile ring had been locked away. I reached for one of the face cloths that
had been stacked in neat little rolls inside a silver tray next to the faucet.
I dabbed at my face. As much as I wanted Rafael to stay, there was no way I
could ask him to abandon this investigation. Rafael needed to see this through
or he’d never forgive himself for allowing that child to be abused on his watch.
I had three extremely capable men planning to stand guard over me while those
children were a million miles from safe. My shoulders and spine straightened as
I turned from the mirror.

Rafael
was pacing along the hallway. “Your hour is up.”

My
eyes widened. I’d totally forgotten about the rain check. “You want to…” I
swallowed nervously. “Here?
Now?
With all of our guests upstairs?”

He
planted his hands on either side of my head as he cornered me against the wall.
“Yes. Here. Yes.
Now.
And I don’t care who’s upstairs.”

I
grasped his wrists. My heart beat wildly as he lowered his lips to mine. The
kiss he stole was inexplicably soft given the aggression and the possessiveness
rolling off his unyielding frame.

My
hands fell to his chest, then linked behind his neck. I pulled him toward me so
I could deepen the kiss.

Rafael’s
restraint crumbled. He devoured my lips… my chin… my neck. His hand carved a
trail from my breast to my hip. His fingers slid beneath the slit in the dress.

He
nudged my foot aside, forcing me to widen my stance as he stepped between my
legs. In one fluid motion he had my legs around his waist. The kiss grew frenzied
as he stumbled down the hallway. He slipped inside a bedroom, threw the lock,
and pinned me against the door.

His
tongue thrust deep inside my mouth as he tore my thong. Rafael shifted me in
his arms while freeing himself from the tux. Still, he kissed me. With a groan,
he drove deep inside of me.

“Rafael!”
I stilled, mortified that someone might hear us.

His
hands raked over my breasts. He shifted the bodice so he could play with my
nipples through the thin, sheer fabric. Slowly, he began to thrust.

My
breath caught when Rafael’s eyes pierced mine. Something primal was lurking
just behind his eyes. He thrust even harder. “Mine,” he growled. “You’re mine,
Kristine. Not Maxim’s. Not Kadyn’s. Mine.”

“Yes.”
My breath rushed through my lips in short panting breaths. The amount of force
he was using was frightening, but it felt so amazing I no longer cared who was
listening.
God,
I thought,
how will I live without this… without him…
for the next five months?
I locked my arms around his neck and kissed him frantically.

I
lost myself in that exquisite place between pleasure and pain. Rafael was no
longer capable of gentle. He was every bit as lost as I was. “Kristine,” he cried.
He tilted my hips and slammed inside of me. I shattered deep inside. The room
sheeted white. Pleasure pulsed between his body and mine. Like a rag doll, I
collapsed against his chest.

Rafael
took his time releasing my legs. “I will never get enough of this… of you,” he rasped.
He kissed every square inch of my face before gently pulling away. “God help
me. I don’t know how to live without you.”

I
burrowed into his chest as tears threatened. “I promise, we’ll get through this.”

“Every
chance,” he whispered. “Every chance I get, I’ll come back to see you.”

We
straightened our clothes. I grasped his hand when he unlocked the door. “I love
you, Rafael.” I wasn’t sure I said that often enough.

He
planted a tender kiss on my swollen lips. “I love you too.”

We
stepped inside the bathroom to freshen up before walking arm in arm to the main
floor. Kadyn and Brianna were dancing by the time we returned. We visited with some
of our other guests before joining them on the dance floor.

Before
I knew it, we were filing outside so we could watch the fireworks explode
against the night sky. As we counted the last remaining seconds before the
clock struck midnight, my heart swelled with joy. I’d never felt safer or more
loved than I did in that moment. There was no questioning how blessed I truly
was.

*
* * * *

“I’m
sorry,” Rafael whispered for the hundredth time.

I
memorized every angle and shadow that formed his face before my eyes filled
with tears. “Please don’t apologize. As difficult as this is, we both know
you’re doing the right thing.” The words were hollow, even to my ears.

Rafael
shook his head. “Promise me you’ll be safe, that you’ll listen to Brady and
Jase.”

A
soft sigh escaped my lips. “I’ll be safe. Promise me you’ll do the same. You’re
not allowed to jump in front of any bullets or take any unnecessary risks.”

“I’ll
do my best.” He brushed my tears aside with his thumbs. “Please don’t cry.”

I
forced back my remaining tears. “Call me as soon as you land. I want to know
you arrived safely.”

“I
won’t land in Lisbon until after six o’clock your time. Are you cooking dinner
for Brady and Jase tonight?”