Page 6 of Raphael

RAPHAEL

Iwatched her walk away from me, taking something with her that I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Three heartbeats passed and I went after her.

She strode towards the bathrooms. I powered through the dark hallway when a wounded sound stopped me.

“Get the hell off me!” The voice belonged to my reina. To the girl with the silver blonde hair.

It was then that I saw one of my bouncers, his filthy hands gripping her beautiful hair and her body pinned against the wall. His crotch was grinding against her and his hand was skimming up her leg.

“I’ll fuck both of your holes, fancy bitch,” he leered.

A red haze marred my vision, and fury burned in my throat and my chest.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” I roared, my gun already in my hand with aclickto the gun’s safety.

Instantly, his hands jerked off her body like he got burned.

The look in her eyes tore at my fucking heart.

Terror. Vulnerability. Ghosts.

And it wasthatwhich sent me over the edge.

My hand wrapped around the fucker’s throat and I squeezed. Hard.

I turned my eyes to her. The girl that should be all smiles and safe in my club.

“Did he-” Fuck, I couldn’t say the word. It couldn’t have happened that fast. Right? “What did he do?”

When she didn’t answer, I reined in my rage. I was scaring her. Still gripping the throat of my bouncer, I let out a calming breath.

“Are you okay, Reina?”

She swallowed. “He didn’t rape me,” she whispered. “You came and-”

We were getting an audience now. Diego, my right hand man, showed up and I signaled him over.

“Boss.”

The girl's wide eyes were still on me. She didn’t look at the man I was squeezing the living daylights out of. Literally. Her eyes were locked on me, as if she needed to absorb my strength.

“Walk this lady back to her friends,” I ordered. “Safely. Anyone who touches them will answer directly to me. Then come back so we can take care of this cabrón.”

Her lower lip quivered. Fuck, I had just met the girl and seeing her upset didn’t sit well with me.She doesn’t belong in my world.The thought pierced through my chest in the most unexpected way. Why? I had no fucking idea. Or maybe I did have an idea.

I wanted her. For some reason, I wanted this girl - to protect her from all the evil in the world. Except, if I dragged her into my world, she’d be exposed to it all.

Diego walked up to her. “Let’s go, princess,” he urged, but he didn’t touch her.

Her chest rose and she took a deep breath then exhaled. “Thank you.”

A soft whisper and she was gone.

* * *

The moment she was gone, I bared my teeth into a feral grin. With my free hand, I grabbed his arm and twisted him around, then slapped my hand over his mouth.