Page 70 of Monsters Wear Crowns
My heels clicked softly as I followed him down the hall. “It looks different at night,” I murmured, my eyes tracing the cold opulence around me.
Rafe glanced back, his expression unreadable. “You’ll get used to it.”
Would I?
We reached his bedroom, the one across from where his doctor had tended to me days ago, and the memory made my skin prickle. The low light softened the space, but there was no mistaking its power. The room was his, through and through.
I set my bag down near one of the dark leather chairs, arms crossed tight over my chest. “What am I supposed to do about work, Rafe? I can’t just disappear into your…fortress.”
He shut the door behind us. “You’ll go to work,” he said simply. “But you’ll be taken there and brought back in my car with my driver and my security.”
I sighed. “You’re serious.”
He didn’t blink. “What I did tonight could have been anyone else, Adela. You know that.”
I swallowed hard, the reminder still too fresh. The mask. The cold steel of the knife. The fear that had twisted through me before I realized it was him.
“You’re making the right decision by being here,” he said softly. “And I will dowhateverI must to keep you safe.”
His words soothed me. I knew he could protect me. He was powerful in every way imaginable. I turned toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the moonlight spill across the sprawling grounds. “I’m not used to being…kept.”
Rafe moved behind me, his presence a heat against my back. “You’re not beingkept. You’re being protected.”
I let out a soft, bitter laugh. “And what’s the difference?”
His hands found my waist, his grip firm but careful. “The difference,” he murmured, his lips brushing my ear. “Is that you chose this.”
I stood there, his hands warm and possessive on my waist, his breath teasing my skin, and I realized something.
I was already his.
It wouldn’t matter if I chose this or not. He likely would have taken me regardless. Maybe I hadn’t said the words out loud,but it didn’t matter. I’d let him into my life. Into my bed. And now into my home, because this house,hishouse, was going to be mine too, wasn’t it?
I’d fought so hard to keep control. To stay untouchable. But with Rafe, I never stood a chance.
And maybe…I didn’t want one. I was missing a vital piece of what I needed in my life before he showed up.
I turned in his arms, looking up into those icy blue eyes that had haunted me from the start. “You want me here?” I asked, my voice low.
His fingers tightened, just slightly. “I do.”
“You want me safe?”
“Always.”
“Then you’d better be sure, Rafe.” I tilted my chin up, meeting his gaze without flinching. “Because I don’t do halfway. I don’t do,maybe.”
He smiled, that slow, dangerous curve I felt all the way to my knees. “Neither do I.”
I wasn’t entirely sure if I believed him.
***
The morning light spilled across the bed, but it did nothing to chase away the cold tension in my stomach. I blinked against the soft brightness, my body aching in the best way. Rafe’s arm was draped heavily over my waist, his warmth pressed against my back, his breath steady against my neck.
But the moment my phone buzzed on the nightstand, I knew peace was over. I reached for it, careful not to disturb him, but his grip tightened the second I moved.
“Stay,” he murmured, his voice rough with sleep. The sound of it made me want to melt. But the screen was already lit up, and the message waiting there iced my veins.
