Until Tomorrow Comes: A Dark Mafia Romance (Beauty in Lies Book 1)

by Adelaide Forrest

  "It's nice to think so."

  Looking over at how stunning she looked with the sunlight kissing her face, I wondered what she would look like lounging on my yacht when I finally brought her home. Even if my instincts roared for me to take her to El Infierno then and there, I rejected them in favor of continuing on as planned.

  Isa would love me if she didn't already. I'd find a way.

  18

  Isa

  Spain passed by in the windows as we made our way in the car that had been waiting for Rafael at the marina after docking his speedboat. It begged a very simple question. Something that made me realize just how little I knew of his life.

  Was the McLaren his? If it was and he lived on another island, how did he get it to Ibiza?

  I turned my head away from the window, studying the lines of his profile as he shifted gears and drove along the road. The corner of his mouth tipped up in an arrogant smirk. The same one I'd begun to get used to seeing when he noticed me watching him. It was a look that spoke to the fact that he knew just how handsome he was. That he knew he was irresistible to the female population. Every now and then the smirk took on a dark moment as he turned his eyes to mine, a hunter watching his prey and knowing he had it trapped exactly where he wanted it.

  I hoped that part was unique to me, at least. I knew the arrogant smirk was likely shared with the women in his past. But the heat in his eyes felt unique, like he genuinely wanted me in the same way I wanted him.

  Irreversibly. Uncontrollably.

  Desperately.

  I smiled, shaking my head despite the turbulent emotions running through me. He made me feel like I would combust inside my own body. Like he brought out a part of me that I'd never thought would see the light of day. I wanted to hate it, but I didn't.

  He made me feel more like myself than I could ever remember being, and that scared the shit out of me.

  "Tell me about your family," I said, turning my body in my seat as much as I could with my seatbelt fastened, so that I could get a better view of him.

  "There isn't much to tell," he grunted. "My mother died when I was young. My father passed a few years ago," he said. "Neither had any family that they were particularly close to, with the exception of my father's brother. He lives further north with his sons. He and my father never got along, so much so that they moved to opposite corners of Spain to avoid one another. I spent some time with them when I was a child, but we're all typically too busy to spend any time together now."

  He pulled off the main road and made his way along a smaller street as he slowed down. He nodded to a man we passed who stepped into the middle of the road after we'd gone. "Does anybody live with you on the island?"

  "A great many people live on the island with me. I've made my own sort of family. Sometimes the bonds we form for ourselves are stronger than the ones we're given at birth. I live alone in my house, but we're a very close community."

  "I'm glad you have that. I can't imagine all my family being gone," I sighed, wrinkling my nose when I realized it had probably been an insensitive thing to say. "I'm so sorry."

  "Don't stress, Princesa," he chuckled. "I'm not one to be offended by such things." I breathed my relief, glancing to the ceiling. "You talked about your sister a bit. What about the rest of your family?"

  "My mom and dad work a lot to be able to support us all. They don't have the highest paying jobs, but they're dedicated and they always made sure we had food on the table. They're strict. I think mostly because of Odina's tendency to rebel against every rule ever created. Then there's my grandmother. She's terrifying," I laughed. "She's my favorite person in the world. It terrifies me to think of her age and the fact that she won't live forever, you know?"

  Tears stung my eyes as Rafe pulled the car into a parking spot at the front of the empty lot. I looked across the road, swallowing when my gaze landed on a natural pool with a waterfall near the back as the water curved around the corner of a rock face. They were empty. Not a single person was in sight despite the large parking lot, the only exception being a man who stood guard on the other side of the street with his back to the pond.

  "Nobody can live forever, mi princesa. But she must have had joy in her life. Having you for her granddaughter," he said, reaching over to unbuckle my seatbelt when I didn't move. He chuckled and threw open his door, closing it behind him as he walked around the front of the car. His lips moved as he said something to the man on the other side of the street, but the blood roaring in my head prevented me from hearing a word of it.

  When he pulled my door open, I didn't move to swing my legs out. Frozen to the seat as I glanced over at the hand he extended to guide me out of the car. "You can't be serious," I hissed, turning my head to glare at him.

  "Come on, Princesa," he reached in, taking my hand in his grip and tugging me from the car so firmly that I stumbled.

  "No!" I growled at him, tugging my hand back from his grip. "I'm not getting in that water, Rafael," I warned. I glared up at him, furious that he'd driven me all this way for something he had to know I wouldn't tolerate. "I can't believe you brought me here."

  Shaking my head, I grabbed the handle on the car, determined to wait in there until he had his fun or gave up on his stupid idea. A lifetime of fear wouldn't just be overcome because he felt like going for a swim.

  A pool was one thing. They had edges and people to help if something went wrong.

  They weren't questionable in depth, but a defined depth for safety. Never again would I step foot in a natural body of water.

  Rafe sighed, closing the small distance between us quicker than should have been possible and taking my wrist in his grip. His thumb stroked over the joint gently despite the suddenness with which he'd grabbed me. "I'll be with you the entire time."

  "That doesn't mean I can just jump into a fucking lake with you! Are you kidding me right now?" I pulled back, feeling like the day had served as a convenient reminder of everything I needed to remember.

  He didn't know me, and I didn't know him.

  "Take me back to Ibiza, please."

  He quirked a brow, that intense gaze of his turning unsettling as he stared down at me. "No," he said, his lip twisting with the words. My pulse quickened, sensing that small hint of something that lurked beneath the surface. With a glance at the man standing next to the walkway to go up and around the falls, I looked back to Rafe with a flare of my nostrils and purse of my lips.

  I huffed in disbelief as I shook my head and fought back the surge of emotions within me. I'd been so fucking stupid to think he understood that my fear came from a place of trauma. From something not so easily overcome. Leaning into his space, I laid down the challenge I knew probably wasn't my smartest move.

  But something in the cruel set of his eyes made me want to defy him.

  Something in the excited parting of his lips told me he wanted that too.

  "Fuck this," I snarled, turning on my heel and yanking my wrist out of his grip. Hiking my purse up on my shoulder, I strode down the road we'd entered in on and made for the main street. Once I had enough distance and found a safe place to settle, I'd call Hugo to come and get me.

  But I'd be damned if I would get in that water with him.

  "You don't want to walk away from me, Princesa," Rafe murmured at my back. The words crawled up my spine, insidious and menacing enough to halt me in my tracks and turned back to glare at him.

  I swallowed my nerves, pushing down the budding fear that he brought with his carefully crafted words. Rafe could be terrifying when he wanted to be.

  I just wasn't sure if the frightening face was the mask, or if it was what really waited beneath the charming demeanor he gave me in all the other moments.

  "And why is that?" I asked, pressing my lips together and turning back around to hide the slight tremble in them. He was the kind of man my grandmother warned me about with her stories. The temptation and lure of evil spirits. as they resided in people who looked just like us.
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  But evil couldn't look like beauty carved in stone, could it? Even if it did explain why I burned when he touched me.

  He stepped closer, until I felt the heat of his body at my back. His hand reached around me to grab my face and tilt it, so that I stared him in the eye with one of mine. "Because I'll chase you," he murmured, leaning down to touch his lips to my cheek in a slow brush of heat against my skin. His mouth slid up until his nose touched my hair, breathing me in deeply. He hummed just above my ear. "I think the real question is, what will I do when I catch you?"

  I swallowed down the saliva in my mouth, clenching my eyes shut as I tried to think of an appropriate response to words like that.

  What did one say, when the man she was falling head over heels in love with showed signs of being a monster?

  "That isn't funny, Rafe," I whispered, stumbling over my own feet as he turned my body to face him. His hand gripped my hair harshly, tipping my head back until I met his unyielding gaze.

  "Am I laughing, Princesa?" I shook my head slightly, wincing when his grip didn't relent. "I promise you, I am far scarier than whatever you think lurks in the fucking water."

  He released me as suddenly as he'd grabbed me, taking a few steps away before he paused and looked back at where I stood, rooted to my spot and staring at him in horror. I looked to the road, watching as the man who stood guard puffed up his chest and stood a little taller.

  It felt like I'd walked into a trap, and still didn't understand even the basics of what it would mean for me.

  A cage without walls. A pressing force on my chest.

  "Don't do it," Rafael warned me, drawing my attention back to him. He held out a hand, waiting for me to take it. It was a test, I realized, as he forced me to make a decision then and there. "I like it when you tell me no," he murmured, making my breath hitch in my lungs as he tilted his head to the side and studied me. "I think I'll like it when you fight me too, and so will you," he growled.

  I swallowed, wishing I could deny the perverse part of me that craved everything he talked about. I wanted him to chase me.

  I wanted him to catch me, and I wanted him to show me everything that I dreamt of in my most forbidden desires. But it couldn't happen. I could never give voice to that part of me, not if I wanted to have a chance of suppressing it when I went back home. So I stepped forward, watching his eyes soften with disappointment as I placed my hand in his.

  My fear of water was nothing compared to my fear of my own body. If I had to choose to face one of them, it would be the water any day.

  "Don't let anyone make you feel ashamed of the things you want, mi princesa," Rafe murmured as he guided me over to the walkway to go around the back of the falls. The sound of rushing water from the falls nearly made me hyperventilate, so much stronger than the memory of the river sounds that were in my head.

  "Nobody is making me feel ashamed of anything," I said in response, watching as the stairs spread out in front of me behind the rock face as we made our way up to the top. The pools curved around the back and through a narrow passage in the rocks, before opening up into a larger pool with two smaller waterfalls pouring into it. The sound was less deafening, less intense, as Rafe guided me down the steps to stand on the pathway beside the pool.

  Large, flat rocks curved into the water as Rafe guided me toward them. He dropped the towels on one of them, pulling his shirt off over his head while I stood frozen and staring at the water. I couldn't bear to get any closer to it, but needed to know how deep it could get.

  The blooming flowers and trees around the waterfall were stunning as I slid to my butt on the towel, curling my knees to my chest and hugging them as I tried to breathe. Rafe dropped to the rock next to me, grabbing sunscreen out of a nearby basket.

  Everything with Rafe was planned and meticulous. I wondered how someone like me fit into those particular behaviors when I usually did things my own way.

  Stripping my dress off over my head, he squirted sunscreen into his hands and applied it to my shoulders in a gentle, soothing massage that was so at odds with the dominating man he'd shown me only moments before that I let out a breathless chuckle. His hands worked wonders on my skin, even as I tried to deny the way he made me feel.

  His touch was a sin, dangerous to everything I thought I knew about myself.

  Rafe stripped off his shoes and stood, lowering himself into the water as he stayed by the edge and waited for me to follow. I shook my head, furrowing my brow as I watched him.

  "I don't want to," I said.

  "That's exactly why you need to. You can't stay afraid of water forever. You have to face that fear," he said. He held up a hand, waiting for me to take his again.

  I swallowed, sliding my flip flops off my feet and getting up onto my knees so that I could look into the water. I sat back on my butt, scooting myself closer to the edge cautiously as Rafael waited with an extended hand. Then he asked a question that should have been laughable considering the stunt he'd pulled and his vague threats.

  "Do you trust me?"

  I wished I could say the answer was no.

  19

  Rafael

  She shouldn't trust me. Not when it came to her heart and her freedom, but in this I would never let her fall.

  Still, I couldn't blame the hesitation to place her hand in mine as indecision warred on her face. "I won't let anything hurt you," I murmured softly, raising a brow and waiting for her to follow through on the command we both knew I'd issued. She'd be getting into the water with me, even if I had to force her.

  Her fear of water might have worked to my advantage in keeping her isolated on the island, but I wouldn't risk her drowning in an escape attempt if it came down to it. Desperation made people do things that they would never have considered normally. If I stripped away Isa's free will, she might have walked into the ocean just to spite me.

  Much like wandering around Southern Spain alone just to get away from me because she was pissed I'd brought her here.

  "You want to hurt me," she whispered, her eyes darkening with a moment of understanding. "Is that what this is? A way to hurt me without having to put in the effort of chasing me down?"

  I sighed, reaching forward and grasping her around the hips. Tugging her into the water with me slowly, I enjoyed the feeling of her body wrapped around mine as she instinctively clung to me to protect her. She might pretend she didn't understand the nuances of the pain I wanted to cause, but her body told me no lies.

  She understood the difference.

  "I want to hurt you in ways you'll enjoy. Not with fears that grip you and torment you over a decade after your accident," I said, keeping one hand on the edge of the rocks so that I could support both our weights for the moment. “Besides, you’re mine to hurt. Aren’t you, mi princesa?” As much as I wanted her to cling to me, it would be a struggle for me to support both our weights as I swam. My feet didn't touch the bottom in the same way they had in the pool.

  I'd known taking Isa here would be more of a challenge than if I'd pushed her in the pool at the hotel. But I knew she wouldn't want to reveal her fear in front of others, and clearing out the pool at a busy luxury hotel wouldn't change the fact that we'd have witnesses. The ocean was no place to learn how to swim, with its endless horizon looming as a threat. Even the calmest waters of Ibiza would be more intimidating.

  These pools were deep, but they still had boundaries.

  Prying one of her hands off my shoulder, I pushed through the urge to forget the purpose of the day when she whimpered. Her fingers scrabbled along the rock, looking for something to hold on to as I turned her in my arms so that she faced it. I pressed into her back, placing my hands next to hers on the rock and feeling her body tremble as she panted for breath.

  "I can't," she whispered, shaking her head.

  "Why, Isa?" Something lurked in those fears, something far deeper than what I imagined had to be normal for a drowning accident in her childhood. I reached a hand down her leg, my fingers g
liding over the raised skin of the scar on her thigh. She jolted in my arms, moving as if to climb out of the water. But my body at her back prevented her from getting the leverage she needed to pull herself out.

  I was a bastard. I was cruel. I was everything she should have avoided.

  I couldn't walk away from what I'd started, even as I felt her unravel in my arms. Her fear was like a tangible poison, clouding the clear waters with darkness as she was lost to whatever trauma gripped her from her memories. "What happened in that river?" I asked, digging my fingers into the flesh of her thigh lightly to use that quick flash of pain to draw her back to the present.

  She shuddered in my arms, shaking her head quickly. "I drowned."

  "Then where did you get this scar?" There was nothing else in her history to indicate she'd had any other accidents. Not one hospital visit. Not a strange injury on a doctor's report.

  Nothing.

  She paused, her voice barely a whisper when she finally spoke part of the truth that tore her up inside. "My mother said it was barbed wire."

  "You got caught up in barbed wire in the river?" I asked, trying to keep my voice light despite the agony tearing me up inside. To be five years old and be caught in the currents must have been terrifying enough as her lungs filled with water and set her insides on fire, but to survive all that while being caught in something that literally tore into her skin?

  I exhaled, wondering why there'd been no record of the injury in the emergency report. I couldn't very well ask her, given that I shouldn't have ever seen the fucking thing. I made a mental note to have Matteo track down the people responsible, so that I could find the full truth of what Isa didn't say.

  Her choice of words was unique. As if she herself didn't believe her mother.

  "You don't think that's what it was," I observed, looking down to watch how still she kept her legs. Even for someone who didn't know how to swim, natural instinct in water was to move. To feel the fluidity of movements that we couldn't achieve on land.