Rafael

by Faith Gibson

  Rafael asked the men to join him on the patio where they discussed the second murders and the fact that the detective was missing. “Now that Julian has all properties set up and being monitored, hopefully, there will be no more bodies showing up. The missing detective bothers me. Tonight when you are scouting, be on the lookout for his vehicle.”

  Rafael told them all about his conversation with Xavier. All Goyles knew of the Elder, but few had ever met him. “I will not stop searching until we know what we need to about bonding with humans. Also, I think that X knows more about Jonas Montague than he is letting on. I have a feeling life is gearing up to be even more interesting.”

  Everyone left for home with the exception of Jasper and Lorenzo. They were both ready to find a place of their own. Rafe couldn’t blame them. When you were as old as they were, living under someone else’s roof, no matter how expansive, was nice for only so long. Lorenzo called it a night and that left Rafael and Jasper.

  “What’s on your mind, Jas?” He could tell his cousin was nervous.

  “I wanted to ask you about the mate bond. If it’s true, that we can bond with humans, do you think the fates will put us with the right person?”

  Rafael could feel the trepidation coming off Jasper. “Yes, I do. I have never seen a Goyle mated to someone they didn’t like, and I do not think you will be an exception. You will be put with the perfect man.”

  Jasper gasped. “I’m not…” Rafael stopped him. “It’s okay. I’ve watched you, and I see who catches your attention. I have no problem with your sexual orientation, Jas, and neither will any of the other brothers. Well, unless you are hitting on them.” Rafe laughed. Jasper ducked his head, and Rafael could have sworn he saw tears threatening to fall. “Now, I have business to attend to if you are okay.”

  Jasper nodded. “Yes, my King. Thank you.”

  Rafael clapped him on the shoulder and headed inside to his office. Being King, there was always something going on that warranted his attention. Tonight he was fielding emails from two leaders in the southwestern states, something about boundary issues. Once he responded with what he felt were reasonable settlements, he shut his computer off. He would go to the office in the morning and bid on the Cromwell job. If the bid was accepted, he would be one step closer to figuring out who the mystery man was.

  Rafael knew he would get little sleep. He was too anxious about dinner with Kaya. He decided a late night flight was in order. Julian had called earlier and said there had been a problem with the video surveillance at the warehouse on Industrial Boulevard, so Rafael decided to check it out. He phased in the woods then walked toward the building. What he found made his blood boil. Kyle Jorgenson’s car was inside the building with the detective at the wheel. Fuck! So this is where his body had disappeared to. It shouldn’t come as a surprise but still, finding bodies that implicated you in their murder was a shock. Rafael did not need this, especially before his date tomorrow. He had to tell Kaya, just not tonight.

  He pulled out his cell phone and called Julian. “Jules, you’re not going to believe this.” Together they worked through a scenario that Rafael prayed would not blow up in his face.

  He needed to be fresh for his evening with Kaya, not worn out. He had not called her all day on purpose, even though he picked his phone up several times to do just that. He flew home and prepared for bed as he normally did; he turned the news on while he was brushing his teeth and changing clothes. Tonight he opted for no sleep pants. They would only get in the way when he was stroking his cock and thinking of all the things he planned on doing to one pretty blonde police chief. Once his dick was satisfied, maybe his brain would shut down for the night.

  Kaya spent all day Sunday combing over the scarce information she had on Gordon Flanagan. She called in two more detectives since Jorgenson and Abbott were both M.I.A. She sent them to the archives, pulling information on Elizabeth Flanagan as well as anything else they might find on Gordon.

  When the documents she read gave her no clues, she headed to the library. Not only did she scour for information on Flanagan but also on Rafael. She was going to have dinner with a man she didn’t know anything about other than he drove her body crazy and his kisses made her toes curl. She always thought that was a stupid saying until she encountered the reaction herself.

  Nothing she found on Flanagan helped her case. All the data on Rafael certainly helped his case. There was not one negative thing printed about the man. She went home empty-handed, but she felt better about her date.

  She checked her phone every five minutes to see if he called or at least sent a text. Nothing. She decided to stop acting like a teenage girl and clean her house, anything to keep her occupied and her mind off Rafael. She cranked some hard rock on her stereo and got busy.

  With a clean house and a black screen on her phone, she called it a night.

  Chapter 30

  Kaya got to work early as she did most days. Still not having heard from Dane and Jorgenson was forefront in her mind. A close second thought was her date tonight. She called a meeting of all her employees, asking if anyone had heard from either of the detectives. Nobody had. She set up a couple of task forces; both whose responsibilities were to canvas neighborhoods and areas looking for Dane and Kyle. Since the GPS on Jorgenson’s car had been disabled, and Dane’s car was still in his parking lot, they had their work cut out for them.

  A knock on her door alerted Kaya to the young dispatcher entering her office carrying a huge vase full of wildflowers. “These just came for you.” She sat them on the edge of Kaya’s desk.

  “Thank you.” Kaya knew who the flowers were from without looking at the card. Kim didn’t move toward the door. “Did you need something?” Kaya knew the girl was just being nosy.

  “No, Ma’am.” She reluctantly turned and left for her own desk, or the desks of everyone along the way so they could speculate who the bouquet was from. In all the years Kaya had worked at the precinct, not once had she received flowers. Kaya pulled the envelope off the plastic holder. Thank goodness it was sealed. She picked up her letter opener and carefully slid it under the flap. Once open, she pulled out the card and read it.

  There is much beauty to behold in hearts that are wild.

  There was no name, no initials, just that beautiful line. Did Rafael find her heart wild? She would have to ask him tonight. Shit, tonight. She knew she should stay at work but now she just couldn’t. She was going to take her flowers home and start getting ready.

  She put her laptop in its case and grabbed the vase. Kaya knew leaving this early was completely irresponsible, but she couldn’t help herself. She had to pass by the bullpen and the dispatcher’s desk, but she didn’t stop. As she walked by, she told Kim, “I’ll be working from home the rest of the day.”

  Rafael submitted the bid to Cromwell. It was so ridiculously high he almost hated to hit the send button. Now, he could not sit still. There were a couple of hours left until he picked up Kaya. He rehearsed what he was going to say in his head, but it sounded stilted, fake. This was their first official date, and he was nervous as hell. Never had he brought a woman back to the manor. That honor he had saved for his mate. In his heart, he knew that was Kaya and bringing her home tonight was huge.

  Unsure of how well the night would go, he asked Frey if Lorenzo and Jasper could stay with him. He confided to his cousin his plan to skirt the truth in finding the body at the warehouse. A conference call with the others had them in agreement that it was the best course of action. After Priscilla had served dinner, she and Jonathan were to remain in their private wing for the rest of the evening. Priscilla’s eyes filled with tears when Rafe requested the special meal.

  Everything was in place. He just needed to expend some energy, waste some time, and stop thinking so hard. Rafe hated running. Why run when you could fly? Julian was the runner in the family. One day he took off and didn’t return for almost twelve hours. He said he just got lost in his head. Rafe enjoyed swimming, but that wa
s too relaxing. What his body required now was to hit something. He found himself in the gym decimating a punching bag.

  His thoughts turned from the object of his desire to the current bane of his existence: Flanagan. Why now? What had set the tyrant off this time causing him to commit mass murder? Was it his twin being out in public that had pushed him over the edge? Rafael was certain he was behind the killings, especially with Magnus being one of the victims. Why was he targeting Rafe? Was it coincidence that the bodies were piling up in his warehouses? Never having met the man, Rafe couldn’t answer that. If there was bad blood between them, he could understand being set up. As it were, he couldn’t figure out the motive.

  If Goyles sweated at a normal rate, Rafe would be drenched. Being a shifter had his skin barely glistening. A quick look at the clock told him he had been punching and jabbing for a couple of hours. Perfect. He made his way to the shower where his thoughts returned to his mate. He soaped and rinsed his face then shampooed his hair and ran conditioner through it. Rafe washed the rest of his body taking great care with his cock. He couldn’t get in the shower now without getting a hard-on. Thoughts of Kaya’s lips wrapped around the head and her pink tongue licking down the length, fueled his soaped hand to stroke longer and faster. Blue eyes looking up at him while she swallowed what he offered spurred his orgasm up through his balls and onto the tile wall.

  Hopefully by the end of the night, his fantasy would become reality. He finished bathing, rinsed the conditioner out of his hair, and cleaned his spunk off the tiles.

  Rafe stepped out of the shower wrapping a towel around his waist. The overhead fan kept the steam from fogging up the mirror. He pulled his razor and shaving cream out of the drawer. The face staring back at him was one he had seen hundreds of thousands of times. It was so familiar that he rarely looked at his reflection. Didn’t really see himself. What did Kaya see when she looked at him, a plain man with too rough features? Or did she find a handsome man that she would be happy looking at every day for the rest of her life?

  Rafael knew that his initial feelings for her were based on the mate bond, but for him it also went deeper. The connection was there when they touched, when she spoke, when they kissed. He had to trust she felt it too.

  He ran some gel through his longish black hair that would keep it out of his eyes. Did she think his hair too long? Did she like it or wish it were shorter? When she had her hands in it, grabbing and pulling his face to hers, that made him think she did indeed like it. After shaving, he slapped some lotion on. Not that it was necessary, he just liked the way it smelled. He never thought about what scent a woman might like, but since he met Kaya, everything he did, every decision he made tonight caused him to wonder. He brushed his teeth and put on deodorant. Now for his clothes.

  Fuck. Rafael was second guessing his decision to dress up. He would be more comfortable in jeans, but he truly wanted to see Kaya in something sexy. Of course, that was just going to make keeping his hands to himself impossible, but what the hell. Tonight would tell the tale. Did she want him? He pulled out a charcoal grey suit and silver button up shirt. Black dress loafers completed the ensemble. Standing before the floor length mirror, he adjusted the lapels of the jacket. Hopefully, Kaya would appreciate what she saw.

  Chapter 31

  5:50. “Shit, this is such a mistake.” Kaya checked her hair in the mirror. She made sure she had her keys and cell phone in her clutch.

  5:52. “Oh, God. I’m gonna throw up.” She didn’t know why she was so nervous. It wasn’t like she’d never spent time with the man, just not much and not on a date.

  5:57. The doorbell rang. “I can do this. It’s just dinner, and he’s just Rafael.” She looked one last time in the mirror before answering the door. The man standing in front of her took her breath away. He had been wearing slacks both times they met, but the suit he wore was molded to his body perfectly. He was now clean-shaven. His beard had been sexy but this Rafael was heart stopping. The man was exquisite. “Would you like to come in?” She stepped back so he could enter her living room.

  Rafael wasn’t moving. His eyes traveled the length of her body and stopped at her feet. Slowly they made their way back up her legs, lingered on her hips, then continued up to her face. He held out a small package without saying a word.

  Kaya took the box from him. “Thank you, but you shouldn’t have. Oh, and thank you for the beautiful flowers. They were from you, weren’t they?” He nodded, still looking at her legs.

  “Make yourself at home. Would you like a drink? I’m just going to open this. Is it okay if I open this?” She realized she was rambling, but the man’s silence was unnerving. Did he not like her dress? Was it too juvenile, too trashy? He was probably used to more sophisticated women who knew what to wear to please a man. Her hair was down but maybe he didn’t like it that way after all.

  She pulled a steak knife out of a drawer, and she slid it between the folds of the paper, being careful not to rip it. The box inside was long and skinny, like a jewelry box. Kaya opened it to find a bracelet with one silver charm: a heart. She pulled the bracelet out of the box and held it up to the light. There was an inscription on one side of the charm: Bella Mia. When she turned around he was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest. She wished she could read the look in his eyes. “Rafael?”

  “Hmm?” He was again staring at her feet. Kaya glanced down to make sure she hadn’t chipped the polish on her toes.

  “It’s beautiful.” Her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn’t know for certain, but she was pretty sure the inscription was Italian for my beauty. Oh God, don’t cry. Don’t you fucking cry, Kaya Kane. She attempted to put the bracelet on her wrist, but her hands were shaking too badly. Rafael took the bracelet from her and snapped it in place. She felt herself being wrapped up in strong arms. Rafael was holding her against his body, one arm around her waist, one around her shoulder with his hand under her hair.

  She took a chance and looked up. This look she recognized. It was the one she saw the first time they kissed. His eyes were hooded, and he was staring at her lips. “I have never seen a more beautiful woman in all my years.” So maybe he did like the dress.

  He softly touched his lips to hers. “We need to go now or we won’t be leaving at all.” Unwrapping her from his arms, he placed his hand on one of her cheeks and brushed his thumb across the bone under her eye. “Stunning,” he whispered.

  Wow. Kaya didn’t know whether to be flattered or scared out of her mind. Either way, she followed him out of her house. He held her hand as they descended the steps, then opened the car door, helping her in. She looked around the interior, knowing the Jag was top of the line. She couldn’t wait for the ride.

  When he was seated on his side of the car, he turned to her. “I promise to try to be on my best behavior tonight. However, I do believe I should have asked that you dress in sweat pants and a hoodie. That dress is going to prove my downfall.”

  He cranked the engine and backed out of her driveway. “Thank you, I think,” she laughed softly. “You look quite handsome yourself, Mr. Stone. Not that you don’t usually, but I really like the color of the suit. It darkens your eyes.”

  “No my dear, that is all you.” Rafael kept one hand on the steering wheel while he reached over with the other and entwined their fingers together. He rested them on his thigh, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand.

  “So where are we going?” She was curious to find out where the rich and famous dined on dates.

  “My home.” He was looking at her when he said it. “I want to show you where I live, who I am. I need for you to see me, Kaya. The real me. Not the one you’ve caught a few glimpses of. And please allow me to apologize. I should have taken the time to show interest in your home as well. I was momentarily mesmerized.”

  “Apology accepted. Did I thank you for the flowers? They were beautiful. Wildflowers happen to be my favorite.”

  “
Mine too. It is getting late in the year, and the blooms are dwindling. That’s another reason I wanted to dine at home tonight. I want to show you my garden before the cold weather sets in.”

  “You have a garden?” Kaya didn’t know why that amazed her. The man was an architect and designed beautiful structures so it would only make sense he loved other beautiful things as well.

  “Don’t sound so surprised. It is my favorite place on earth with the exception of the Isles of Greece. I am a peaceful man, and I look for those places or things that offer me serenity. There is too much chaos around us, so I cherish those moments that the stillness of my garden bestows.”

  Kaya was staring at the profile of this man she knew nothing about except what was written about him. Once again his words surprised her. When was the last time she enjoyed something simply because it was? He was certainly right about the chaos. It consumed her life, ate up her time, devoured her faith in humanity.

  “It’s my turn to apologize. I have a lot to learn about you, and I promise to be less assuming.” She squeezed his hand. His eyes met hers as he lifted her knuckles to his lips.

  “Apology accepted. We both have a lot to learn, so we will use tonight to start our quests for knowledge.”

  Rafael turned into the same driveway as when she had followed him. Instead of punching in a code, he spoke her name into the security panel. The gate slowly opened, and he continued on down his drive. Hi-tech indeed. “Why is my name your passcode?”

  Rafe was grinning. “Each person allowed onto the grounds has their own passcode. They choose what they wish to say, however it is simply voice recognition. I could have said Rumpelstiltskin and it would have allowed us in.”

  “Oh.” For a second, she was flattered. She felt a tug on her hand. “Hey, don’t look so sad. Since I met you, I have only used your name to gain entrance. You have me entranced, Miss Kane.” There was that look again.