Page 135 of Raphael (Belles & Mobsters 5)

After he spent the night, I realized nightmares with him were better than nightmares alone. Yes, my parents were still alive but from what Aurora told me, they both were hiding. She overheard Alexei talking to Nico Morrelli and my husband. They were hunting them down.

“Oh, okay.” I swallowed nervously. “I’m sorry I missed you the other morning,” I said quietly.

“You were tired,” he said. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

I wished he was here. So I could see him. Inhale his scent into my lungs. Talk to him some more.

I shook my head. Lovely, my devil became my therapy.

“Your parents are dead.”

My heart stilled and a deep relief washed over me. “They are?” I rasped, my voice hoarse.

“Yes.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. Caine is bringing you a package,” he declared softly. “It will bring you peace.”

A deep sigh slipped through my lips. My parents. Dead.

I had never felt a stronger relief. For my son. For myself. And justice for Anya.

“Thank you, Raphael.” The words didn’t convey enough. There was so much I wanted to say to him.

That I loved him. That I missed him. And most importantly, that I needed him.

“I’ll be waiting for you, Reina,” he vowed.

* * *

Diablo waited for me.

Just as he promised he would.

I loved his darkness, his sins, his possessiveness. Every. Single. Thing.

He and Gabriel had become my whole life. And with my parents permanently gone, I found myself breathing lighter. Like the pressure on my chest has been lifted and it was time to move on.

It had been twenty-four hours since Caine delivered the evidence of my parents’ death. A shriveled finger with a ring - the McHale family crest. It should have made me sick but all I felt was relief. Then I burned the last piece of my father to ashes.

May his soul never find peace.

Caine picked me up and brought me to the island. I’ve asked him to keep it from Raphael. I left my husband and it was fitting that I should be the one coming back. It was almost quarter past nine at night and as I passed Gabriel’s room, I found him sound asleep.

Entering his room quietly, I pressed a kiss to his forehead. His mouth slightly open, his one foot dangling off the bed, he looked at peace and I whispered a silent prayer. For such a strong son. For amazing friends. And for the devil of a husband who turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Pressing another kiss, I let my son sleep as I went in search of my husband. I found him in our bedroom.

I stood at the slightly ajar door, watching him, and as if he sensed me, he looked up.

A dangerous haze filled the air, his gaze filled with a possessiveness that bordered on obsession. I didn’t understand it, but I wanted to. Because I craved him. Quite possibly, I obsessed over him too.

A silver moon filtered through the open window, illuminating his body. The room smelled like him, the air I breathed consuming me.

My diablo. My savior. My everything.

He killed my parents. For me. For Anya. For Gabriel.

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