Page 108 of Raphael

My gut feeling warned Santiago Tijuana was behind the explosions. And if he was, that put my parents in it too.

I entered the ballroom where the reception was held only a few days earlier. It was spotless, like it had never happened. I continued on into the adjoining room. A dining room, just as grand as any other room in this mansion.

Opening the large French door, I met two guards. They acknowledged me and I continued on down the path, each step leading me further and further away from the house. Before long, I found myself on the beach. I lowered myself onto the fine, white sand and let my eyes roam over the vast horizon.

Living here felt like being stuck in a permanent paradise. A permanent vacation, but I was bound to wake up to the real world soon. Raphael couldn’t keep me stuck here forever. The place was heavily guarded, with men stationed on each corner of the island. This wasn’t the way people were meant to live.

Maybe people like Raphael, but not me. Not Gabriel.

I wanted to talk to my husband about a plan. We had to figure out a way to have a normal life. For Gabriel. For our future children.

My heart stilled.Our children.

Never in my life had I thought about having children. But now, with Raphael, I wanted it. I wanted everything with him and Gabriel. Our family.A happy family.

A ruffle of leaves turned my attention off the horizon and away from my thoughts.

Beatrice.

What the hell was she doing here? I found her standing there in a pretty white dress, shifting in the breeze. Her beautiful, flawless dark skin was in contrast to the white dress she wore and my eyes reluctantly lowered to my own outfit. A hot pink dress with white and green stripes, while my own pale skin looked barely tanned.

I hate to admit it but Beatrice and Raphael would make a striking and exotic looking couple. Not that it mattered. He was mine now. And I was his.

I rose to my feet and smoothed the dress down then headed towards her.

She shouldn’t be here, not unless Raphael changed his mind and he didn’t strike me as a man that easily changed his mind. The devil was stubborn as a mule.

I neared her, ignoring the heavy knot in my stomach that screamed she shouldn’t be here. I blamed my jealousy.

“Beatrice,” I greeted her, stopping five feet away from her. “What are you doing here?”

A sinister expression on her face should have been my first warning. Maybe I was blinded by her beauty. Or maybe I was trying to convince myself that I felt no envy towards her. She’d been with him all those years, even if she was only his cook.

“I came for you,” she announced. Yeah, that didn’t sound freaky at all and certainly not the kind of greeting I had expected.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I told her. “Raphael won’t be happy if he finds out you’re trespassing.” She didn’t move. “You need to leave now.”

Her eyes traveled the length of my body. “He could have so much better than you,” she spat out bitterly.

My shoulders stiffened and my chin tilted up. “But he has me,” I pointed out coldly. “So why don’t you run along and mind your own business!”

“Raphael knows about the Belles and Mobsters agreement, you know?”

“What?” I asked cautiously. I had never heard about any Belles and Mobsters agreement before.

“The one Raphael’s dear old papa bought from Benito King,” she answered smugly. Her words didn’t make sense. My mind searched through the names I ran across during my research. Benito King sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him. I was always so focused on the South American cartel.

She snickered. “Benito King was a New York crime boss. Your father needed a favor only a criminal could deliver. And boom. There you go.”

A warning shot through me and my lungs squeezed. Suddenly all the fresh air of the Caribbean sea wasn’t enough oxygen to feed my lungs.

“There you go what?” I questioned her. “You’re not making any sense.”

I eyed her suspiciously. Maybe the woman was on drugs.

She cackled, the crazy kind of laugh. The sinister kind. I’ve heard it plenty growing up around my father.

“I can see that you don’t know crap.” I swallowed the thick lump in my throat. “Do you want to know what the agreement was?” she questioned.