Page 49 of Burn for You

“Uh,the ladydoesn’t need protection,” I say, stepping out from behind him and moving closer to Rafael. Jack’s eyes roam over me with no shame.

“You’re disgusting. You always have been,” Rafael says, his words like venom.

Jack rolls his eyes. “What’s your problem, Deo? Mind your business.”

“She is my business, and so is Marisol.”

Marisol? This guy knows Rafael’s sister?

“If I can recall, Marisol hasn’t been your business for a few years now. She’s mine.”

I can see Rafael simmering. He’s about to blow. I don’t know why I do it, impulse maybe, but I thread my fingers through his, letting my small hand settle into his rough palm. He immediately stops, his head snapping to look down at me. All of his attention is focused solely on me, and I nearly blanch beneath it.

I try to ignore the way my hand fits so perfectly in his, how his fingers wrap around mine instinctively. How for a moment I forget where we are because all I can focus on is how something so simple can feel so right.

“Aw, look at that,” Jack coos. “Just need a woman to hold you down, do you, Deo?” I squeeze his hand tighter, willing him not to start a fight right now. I think back to how Rafael punched Isla’s ex-boyfriend Brandon when he showed up in Ruby Cove months ago because he was talking shit about Isla, and this guy is personally taunting him. Where is serious-security-guy Leo when you need him?

“It’s okay. You can have her instead. I don’t mind.” He nods to me, and Rafael snaps, lunging for him.

Within a split second, a crack echoes through the space as Raf’s fist connects with Jack’s jaw. Rafael shakes out his hand before a sharp “Rafael Deo!” splits through the air.

“Mari?” His voice wavers as he snaps his head to where a woman is storming over to us.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She runs over to Jack on the floor, surveying him with loving eyes before they turn angry. She stands up and marches towards Rafael.

“What is wrong with you?” She punches his chest before she starts muttering in Italian so fast, I can’t catch a single word as she looks between them.

“It’s my fault,” I interrupt, and Marisol’s attention snaps to mine.

I remember quickly that she’s a model. Of course she is. She’s absolutely beautiful. She’s got bright blue eyes, completely different to Rafael’s brown that can turn darker than night, as I experienced earlier. Her long silky hair trails down her back. She’s got a perfect figure. No wonder she’s so well known as a model.

“I find that hard to believe,” she says, side eyeing her brother but faces me, giving me the opportunity to talk.

“Your—” I gesture to Jack on the floor. I don’t know what he is to her. “YourJackwas coming onto me.”

She frowns, and I immediately see the family resemblance. “Are you sure you didn’t read into it?”

“He pulled her into the fucking alcove, Marisol. He was seconds away from ripping her clothes off if I didn’t interrupt them,” Rafael says. His voice is exasperated, as if he’s disappointed he even has to say it.

“Is that true?” she whispers to me.

I just nod. I don’t want to speak, not when her eyes water as she looks down at the man on the floor.

“Marisol, it wasn’t like that. It’s nothing serious.”

“Say again that cheating on my sister isn’t serious and you’ll get a matching split on your upper lip,” Rafael hisses.

Out of nowhere, Leo appears at my side. “What’s going on?”

I just nod in front of me. I don’t know how to sum it up quickly.

A sexy British guy hit on me, and I was about to fuck him in the alcove without a second thought before my grumpy roommate interrupted us. Turns out sexy British guy is grumpy roommate's sister’s boyfriend.

“Mari?”

“You’re joking,” she laughs, a tear slipping down her cheek. Leo quickly walks up to her and swipes the tear from her cheek. He looks stunned, but he wraps his arms around her, spinning her around, and the laugh it pulls from her is adorable.

“Where’s the rest of them, then?” she asks as he sets her down.

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