Page 87 of Hidden Raphael
Raphael had put her first over and over again.
No one ever valued her, but she had to know she could trust him. She swallowed and froze in the hallway of the main room.
A light flickered down the hall. Her feet turned toward the candlelight and she took a few steps. If it was Raphael, then she could finish their conversation. Perhaps she'd been too hard.
He had hoped to kiss her. Her nostrils no longer flared, and her lips tingled.
She made absolutely no sense. Perhaps she had spent too many years on a beach and not around people. Maybe she had overreacted.
Unlike her last boyfriend, Raphael had always treated her with kindness. He'd protected her and been her hero. Even now, he isolated himself because the government needed him to.
His sister upstairs would worry about him. And despite what a horrible past he had, he had learned wrong things. She had learned wrong reactions too.
She sighed and wrinkled her nose.
The candle went into a room further down the hall. Didn’t he see her?
The solution wasn't to never forgive Raphael. They were stuck together for who knows how long. They had enemies outside their doors. And most of all, her heart yearned for his touch. He made her feel safe.
If she didn't forgive and forget, she'd lose him.
She sighed and turned the knob of the door to enter, but then she heard mumbles. Her ears sharpened as men spoke and her heart almost fell out of her chest.
Roger and Harry were inside the house.
She let the door handle go and ran back down the hall. At the stairwell to the bedrooms, she glanced upstairs. His sister was sick and needed protection from them. Were they here for the money she found on the beach? To kill them? Why didn’t this end?
She needed to find Raphael. Now. Adrenaline coursed through her. Michaela needed her. She rubbed her arms and raced up the stairs.
Two heads were better than one, and Raphael would find them. He'd not let them down. She'd tell him later that she was sorry she went too far. First, she'd make sure his sister was okay.
