Page 77

Alexandra
Thanking Raphael’s team, which I immediately trusted far more than my own, I leapt up and stalked to the house, needing to release some of the energy that built up inside me. Thoughts of the palace, and the knowledge that I really had been targeted, had me ragey.
Raphael followed, catching my hand as I stormed up the steps and into…
We both stopped and stared.
The interior of the house was wall-to-wall junk. Piles of boxes, bags, and loose items, with a narrow path carved through.
Daisy stepped down the path with a bulging black bin liner. “Coming through.”
We hustled out to let her pass.
She jerked her head at the hall. “Fun, isn’t it? That’s why I was asking for help. It took a week to get this far inside.”
Raphael regarded the sheer magnitude of mess. “This is the afterboob job, right?”
I choked on a laugh. It felt good to think of anything but my situation. “What?”
Daisy tossed the bin liner into the skip and dusted her gloved hands. “The owner of this property is an elderly ladywho is in a hospice and very poorly. A hoarder, obviously. She’s given permission to her only relative to clear the house, but on the condition that he doesn’t throw away a treasure that is somewhere inside.”
I hiked up my eyebrows. “What kind of treasure?”
“That’s the mystery. She wouldn’t tell him. He employed us to tackle the project.”
Raphael’s hand ghosted over my lower back. “The afterboob reference was a typo in Daisy’s email.”
Daisy rolled her eyes. “I am never going to get over that. Anyway, I better get back to it. At this rate, it’s going to take us weeks.”
“Can I help?”
She blinked at me. “I’m sorry, I just hallucinated. Say again?”
“Seriously. I am furious at what I left behind in London. I have energy to burn, and attacking a stack of junk feels like the healthiest way to do it. Put me to work.” I swung to Raphael. “Is that okay? Can we stay here for the day?”
I wanted him. I wanted to climb his big body and take out my energy on him in energetic and emotional sex, but I didn’t think he’d allow it. Last night, he’d stopped me. He’d lavished attention on me but hadn’t let me do the same.
He gifted me a soft smile. “Whatever ye need.”
Neither of us were ready for that.
I turned back to Daisy and saw the arguments form in her eyes, but then she registered the certainty in mine and nodded.
“I’d love that. Protective gear is in the back of my car. Masks on inside the house, mandatory. Don’t take off your gloves. We have permission to throw everything away but are making efforts to recycle what’s salvageable. But the main objective?”
I answered for her. “Find the treasure.”
“You’ve got it.”
Raphael ushered me back to the car and helped me find the protective equipment Daisy mandated. When I was kitted out, he glanced around us as if to make sure we had privacy, then bundled me in a hard hug. A fresh burst of emotion sank through me, and I clung on to him. It took a moment to clear, and Raphael just held me.
“I’ve got half a mind to go back there and track down that arsehole myself.”
I inched back to witness the wildness in his eyes. “Please don’t leave me.”
He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “Okay. I’m all yours.”
His gaze locked on mine as if he needed to communicate more than his words. He broke it with a huff of breath. “But there is something I need to go and do. I’ll be about an hour. Come with me, or stay here with my team guarding ye while Daisy puts ye to work.”