Page 37 of Raphael

“Hold on,” I stopped him, then glanced at Gabriel. “Stay right here, okay?”

He nodded and I rushed back to my bedroom where our runaway bags sat open. I quickly shoved a few things into it when I heard the sound of an engine in the distance. Zipping the bag shut and slipping my shoes on, I rushed back to the spot I left my son with his brother.

“I hear cars,” I whispered as Raphael grabbed the bag from me.

His eyes traveled to my bag and shook his head. “I already packed all yours and Gabriel’s clothing from your apartment.” My eyes widened. This guy was unreal. “Whatever you or he needs, we’ll purchase it when we get to my place.” While I tried to decide whether he was alocomobster or just an extremely organized kidnapper, he turned his attention to Gabriel. “Hey buddy, we’re going to go through some rough terrain.” I groaned.That’s not how you explain stuff to a seven-year old.But I didn’t bother saying anything. We didn’t have time to waste. “I’m going to carry you. Okay?”

Gabriel’s eyes lit up. He loved to be carried. In one swift move, Raphael picked him up, his t-shirt tugging up and giving me a glimpse of his hard and tattooed abs. And holy mother of God! They were a masterpiece. And the way his jeans sat low on his hips.

Fuck!

It was so wrong to want to rip his pants off and trace my tongue over every inch of his tattooed skin.

“Ready?” Raphael asked.Fuck, yeah!

Then it dawned on me, he wasn’t talking about taking his pants off. He was talking about running. Gosh, what was happening to me? Have I gone all wild and horny overnight?

“Yeah,” I breathed. Nothing beats being turned on while a threat lurks at your door.

Raphael gave a terse nod at Caine and we were on the move. It was quiet as we moved through the woods. It was a false sense of security and I could see it in Raphael’s tensed shoulders and the glance he’d share with Caine.

Both of them tucked the back of their shirts behind the gun, giving them free access to it and that alone sent sweat rolling down my back. Or it could be the hot temperatures. The humidity was intense.

We followed the dirty path through the woods, and I realized it'd take us to the main road.

“Why didn’t you park in front of the cabin?” I whispered my question, scared that whoever was after us would hear us.

Raphael threw me a curious glance. “So we could sneak up on you.”Duhwas missing in that statement.

“Mom sleeps like she's dead,” Gabriel explained in a low voice, the smile on his face wide. Thankfully, he didn’t sense the danger we were in.

“Good to know, buddy,” Raphael answered him and I rolled my eyes in response.

I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off. It shouldn’t have been so easy for anyone to find us, yet it took less than twenty-four hours. It was instinct, warning me to keep my guard up.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

Raphael’s steps never slowed as he answered.

“We followed you from Gabriel’s school. A friend of mine who has a tech company was able to pin your location and we followed you via satellite. Good thing too, since there was no record of this cabin even in his database.”

I tripped over a log and would have fallen if not for Raphael’s quick reflexes.

“What’s the matter?” he demanded to know.

I met his eyes as thoughts sliced through my mind. Nobody knew I was coming. Not even my girlfriends. Nobody but Royce and I’d stake my life that he wouldn’t have told anyone. The Ashford brothers cared even more than I did about their privacy and location of this cabin.

“Nobody should have been able to find this place,” I rasped. “Are you sure you were not being followed?”

“Positive.”

Except, my parents knew about this place. I hadn’t told my mother where I was, but it’d be easy to guess. Maybe? Or maybe they traced my phone? I was on the phone only a few minutes, but it would be enough to lock on the location.

When I said nothing, we continued on, our footsteps soft against the forest ground. I followed them for the rest of the path without a word. Once at Raphael’s black Mercedes G-Benz, Raphael situated Gabriel in the back seat and glanced at me.

“Put your seatbelts on,” he ordered.

I nodded and immediately reached for the seatbelt and buckled Gabriel, then did the same with mine.