Page 47 of The Dark Obsession

“Stay still!” He pulls the blankets off me and onto the floor at the foot of the bed.

I sit upright, gasping for air, as my heart bangs so violently I’m sure it will explode. The muffled crunch of glass and sudden breeze sends me into hysterics as I realise something has smashed the balcony door. I lean forward, watching Rafael push the door open, his breathing as quiet as the now empty night.

His bulky back moves into the blackness of the balcony.

Fear rips through me like a knife. “Raf,” I whisper. I shake as I move onto my knees and lean over the edge of the bed.

Rafael turns, and his face is pale, completely devoid of colour. He scoots around to me. “Come.” He approaches the bedroom door and opens it.

I climb out of bed and rush to his side.

He wraps his arm around my waist and directs me down the never-ending hallway to the beautiful white door.

My head spins disturbingly fast, the alcohol still at work deep inside my body.

Rafael pushes his office door open and pulls me in beside him.

I stand disorientated in the centre of his office. I bend forward, trying to catch my breath. The bright lights sting my watering, weary eyes.

Rafael paces his office several times before standing against the wall, leaning his elbows against it, and bowing his head. “Someone threw a large rock through the balcony door.”

I stumble towards him, my legs jellylike.

His hard arms catch me as I fall.

I wrap myself around his body. My face against his chest cools my burning cheeks.

His arms unexpectedly wrap around me. For the first time, he truly embraces me. His hand trembles as it climbs my back, pulling me into an even tighter embrace. “Rosa …” he mutters, his lips brushing against my hair.

“How?”

“Whoever it was must have been standing on the balcony. It’s too big of a rock to throw that high” His murmur sends a shiver down my spine. Rafael’s hot breath blows against my ear as he breathes deeply. Of course, he must have come to the same conclusion as me. It’s Dale.

A loud ring snaps me from my thoughts, and Rafael lets me go to rush towards his phone. “Hello?” Rafael smiles reassuringly at me before his other hand rises to the phone. He spins on the spot and walks to the corner of the room. “When?” he asks with a sense of urgency. He faces me, and his eyebrows furrow in a way that makes my stomach tie itself into knots. “What about her father?” he snaps.

The knots in my stomach pull dangerously. Bile rises into my throat.

“Stay with them.” He puts down the phone and rushes around his office, pulling open a wardrobe. His hands move fast through the rack of light-green and purple shirts. “Your home has been broken into about thirty minutes ago.” He puts on a shirt and buttons it up.

“By whom?” My heart throbs so ferociously I feel it pulsating in waves in my fingertips.

Chapter 18

Ipull on my black leather skinny jeans and a white vest, barely thinking. By the time I get downstairs, Lucy is already standing there, looking wide-eyed. She hands us two coffees in takeaway cups, and within seconds, we’re in the car. We speed down the winding country roads.

“I’m sorry I can’t say much to comfort you, Rosa,” Rafael says, his eyes on the road.

“You’ve not said a thing since we were in your office, Raf.”

“Because I don’t know either!” Rafael bangs his hands off the steering wheel.

My eyes fill with unnecessary tears at his unprovoked anger.

Rafael glances at me, and the car halts on a small dirt-hard shoulder.

The very early morning is still dark. Dirty grey clouds cover a sky empty of stars. I stare ahead of me at the only space the headlights are illuminating.

“Rosa.” Rafael takes my hand in his own. “I’m sorry.”

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