Page 30 of In My Blood
“Not much, sweetheart. Did you even grow past the age of nine?” he laughed as he helped me.
Once I was as curled up as I could get in his lap, with my legs crunched against my chest, my arms wrapped tightly around them, and my head hidden against Rafe’s chest, he wrapped his arms right around me, curling his back so he was caging me in his hold. It was what he used to do when I was little and I was scared of things like ghosts, or monsters under my bed. He’d hold me just like that and tell me that nothing could get past him when he held me that way. That he would protect me, and I would often fall asleep in his arms as he held me that way.
Often, when Marcello was on a rampage, or on the two occasions that I remembered there being trouble and violence in our house, that was the only way Rafe could calm me down. Sometimes he’d have me and Gia squeezed in his arms – justtwo terrified kids desperate for some safety in their chaotic lives. Rafe had always been that safety. We’d had Louise, but no one ever made us feel protected the way Rafe could.
“I’m not that small,” I told him as I found myself scooting closer to him, wanting to feel him all around me.
“Are you joking? You’re tiny, Cara. And you don’t weigh a bloody thing. Terza is going to love feeding you up.”
Rafe wrapped his arms around me, one around my waist and the other around my chest and arms, caging me in the way I needed him to. He leaned over me and kissed the crown of my head softly, and I breathed a sigh of relief that felt greater than any I had ever breathed in my life.
“Rest against me now. You’re safe. No one can hurt you when I’ve got you like this,” he whispered to me, just like he used to. Tears poured down my face, and I slumped against him exhaustedly as I realised I actually felt safe, for the first time since he had last held me in his arms, when I was child, before life tore him from me.
***
Rafe was holding onto me almost as tightly as I was clutching him as the plane landed rather rockily at a small airfield somewhere outside of London. Rafe had already reassured me that it wasn’t the airfield I had left Britain from before, so at least I didn’t have to relive those upsetting memories.
I had stayed cuddled up with Rafe for the remainder of the long trip. Eventually I had taken pity on him and climbed off of his lap, feeling sure his legs had to be numb from having me sat on him for so long, despite his arguments to the contrary. Dio hadbrought us all sandwiches and tea, and I’d done my best to force some food down, not even able to recall the last thing I ate, other than the couple of pathetic spoonfuls of soup I’d forced down at the hotel, before I took the sleeping pills earlier. I knew it had been days since I really ate anything, and even though I felt like I didn’t want to eat, my body surely needed the sustenance.
After that I had sat with Rafe again and he had loaded a movie up on his laptop. It hadn’t taken long for me to start falling asleep again, and when I awoke, hours later, it was to find myself curled up against my brother, his arms wrapped around me securely.
Now we had landed and I was apparently home. I was sceptical about that, since it had been a hell of a long time since I had been back in good old blighty, and so much, especially me, had changed in that time.
“Before we get off, I want to make you aware there’s going to be quite a lot of my men outside the plane, okay sweetheart?” Rafe spoke up as the plane was taxying to the drop off point.
“Your men?” I questioned. I sat up from where I had been leaning into him and studied his face. It was obvious he felt unsure about whatever he was going to tell me.
“Yes. It’s like I told you. Most of my business is legitimate now, but I still handle imports and exports at the ports, deal in some laundering, and our family maintains quite a large amount of power in the city. I’m trying to get us out completely, but I have to do it in such a way that it won’t cause a war to break out on the streets, and in a way that will guarantee the safety of the people who work for me, and my family.”
“I don’t really understand, Rafe, but I trust you. I think it’s amazing that you’ve changed things around as much as you have,” I told him honestly. I had no doubt that the De Santis family was neck deep in some horrendous criminal activity when Rafe took it over. To make all of that into legitimate business was impressive.
“Thank you, Cara. That means more than you know after the last couple of days,” he sighed.
“I’m guessing you’re trying to tell me we’re not safe though, right?” I pushed.
“Yes. We deal with a lot of unsavoury types in the illegal dealings, and that does put us all at risk. With what happened to Mum, I’ve increased security until we have more information, so right now there will be a lot of men around us,” he explained.
“You think the men who hurt Mum were trying to get to you?” I asked.
“I believe it’s possible and also likely, especially after you were also almost taken,” he nodded. “Even when this is all cleared up, we will always need security, and that’s what my men provide. They are all loyal to me, so none of them would hurt you. They’re around to keep you safe, but they can look pretty intimidating. That’s why I wanted to prepare you.”
“Will they follow me around all of the time?” I asked with some anxiety.
“Someone will always need to be with you outside of our home, but where possible I am going to try and make sure that’s someone you know. At times it may need to be one of my men though.”
“Those men…atJewels…they said they were there to take me. They were told not to kill me,” I explained shakily, the events replaying in my mind and instantly making me feel nauseous.
“How do you know that?” Dio asked from where he sat on the sofa opposite us.
“I heard them saying those things. They said their boss wanted me alive.”
“Did they mention any names? Have accents? Anything to help us work out who they were?” Dio asked. “I took photos of their faces, but we didn’t get any hits on them.”
“No,” I shook my head. “No names. They were American, but I’m no good with the regional accents or dialects. Nothing strong though, like Texas or anything like that.”
“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out,” Dio assured me.
“What about at the apartment, Cara? Were you there…did you see…?” Rafe struggled to find the end to his questions.
