Page 62 of Raphael

“I just fired a cook so we’ll have to go out for a fancy dinner. But a fancy ring will happen. I want you to love it so you’ll have to tell me exactly what kind you like.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“I never joke about serious matters,” I told her. I wanted to grab her nape and bite into her neck, mark her. I ran my tongue across my teeth and pushed the urge down. If she saw a glimpse of it, the delicate reporter would run.

I watched her push a strand of hair behind her ear before she finally met my gaze again. The air was tense, her big ocean blue eyes staring at me, and I waited for a bomb to detonate. Except, this woman kept it all tightly reined in. Like there were so many secrets she harbored, she didn’t even know her way out of them.

The faint tick of the clock and the sound of the ocean waves were like a soothing distraction from everything but the petite, curvy body sitting next to me.

She chewed on her lip, eyeing me suspiciously and a subtle blush ran up her neck. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, clearing her throat.

“It would be a fake marriage,” she stated, framed like a question and a suggestion at the same time. “Right?”

A sardonic feeling pulled in my chest. Was this woman really that oblivious to me? Even now, the attraction brewing inside me was strong. Like a hurricane getting ready to make landfall.

I paused, weighing my options. If I told her I want to bury my cock inside her pussy and fuck her to oblivion until she forgot any and all men before me, she was sure to reject the idea of our marriage.

Even for the sake of keeping her son safe.

“Of course.”My first lie to her.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

SAILOR

I’m screwed.

This was certainly not the way I envisioned a proposal. However, it would be a fake marriage. In name only. Once the threat to Gabriel was eliminated, we could end the farce and both of us could go our own way. Maybe even remain friends.

Or not.Something told me Raphael wasn’t interested in friendship. At least not with me.

Yet, insecurity slithered through my veins - whether from the proposal or what I’d eventually do, I wasn’t sure. But the threats were real. From the Tijuana Cartel and from my own parents.

I couldn’t allow Gabriel and I to become victims. To anyone.

After reading the contract agreement between my parents and Santiago Tijuana, Raphael finding us turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to Gabriel. At least I could be sure that Raphael would keep him safe.

The panic slowly started to squeeze my chest again, but I quickly shifted my thoughts to the better alternative.

The fake marriage.

It was my best option to keep Gabriel safe. I owed my sister that much.

Staring at Raphael, I weighed all my options and kept coming back to the one Raphael just offered me. Something in the depths of those eyes that seemed to fascinate me made me believe I could trust him.

For now.

The man was intimidating. Each time I focused on his facial features, it took my breath away. Those light blue eyes made me want to lose myself in them. The five o’clock shadow that he seemed to sport all the time gave him a scruffy, sexy look. And his dark hair was almost black and long enough to grip its strands.

Yes, this man was exquisite. Gorgeous. Deadly.

It was the latter part that had me worried.

He could easily chew me up and spit me out once he was done with me. Just as his father had done with Anya.

I shook my head, chasing those images out of my mind. There were enough ghosts creeping up this morning. Besides, Raphael wasn’t his father. He despised him.

Pulling my gaze up to meet his stare again, my decision was made. It wasn’t like I had many choices, but I knew instinctively this was the one that would keep my son alive.