Page 84 of Broken Promise
The fact that I hadn’t known about it until recently wouldn’t matter in the end because it would still have the same result. Rafe would lose out on the normalcy he’d craved for so long. He said he was retired from the FBI, but what would happen if his old colleagues found out he was harboring a criminal? If he got in trouble for helping me, it would ruin his chances for having a new life and career outside his former line of work.
It was a choice I didn’t want him to have to make.
Moving carefully so as not to wake him, I slid to the end of the bed. It was a struggle to get the covers untangled from around my legs so I could stand without bringing the entire sheet with me. Then there was the ache in my throat that had somehow transferred to the rest of my body.Ow. I slowed my movements, trying not to anger the muscles that already felt like they’d been run over by an eighteen-wheeler. When I was finally untangled, I stood up and turned around. Rafe watched me silently from the bed.Shit.
“I was trying not to wake you,” I admitted.
He only smiled. “I know. You didn’t do too badly. It probably would have worked on anyone else. Well, anyone who hadn’t been waiting for you to try sneaking out since four a.m.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was nearly impossible to sneak anything past Rafe. He was too well trained for the usual tactics to be effective. Now that he was on alert, I figured my nut jab was the last time I’d take him off guard.
“No more running,” Rafe said as he sat up. The sheets slid down slightly as he moved, showing off his ripped chest.
I sighed as I took in the full view of a morning-after Rafe. The sight was quickly becoming one of my favorite looks on him. With his hair wild and his dark eyes sleepy and shuttered, he was my every erotic dream personified. He was the embodiment of everything I’d wished for as a young girl when I imagined the kind of man I’d marry when I grew up. I smiled.
Okay not exactly.
I definitely hadn’t thought I’d marry some black-ops type, but I’d imagined someone intense and protective. Someone who’d do anything for me and considered my love as a gift. Rafe was my dream lover in all the ways that mattered.
Except for the part where I could potentially ruin his career and put him and his family in danger.
I shook my head, emotion clogging my throat. The worst part of all this was Rafe thought he was doing the right thing. He wanted to show me that I could trust him and that he would be there for me no matter what. What he didn’t understand was that those traits were exactly why I needed to leave.
He would be there for me. In fact, I had no doubt that he would endanger everything he held dear on my behalf, and I couldn’t allow him to do that. I loved him too much to watch him implode his life for a girl who wasn’t even who he thought she was. He wanted me to tell him everything, and I knew if I did, he’d keep my secrets. But doing so would put him in an impossible position, forcing him to lie to everyone and to the authorities. After years of being under the government’s thumb, I wouldn’t be the reason he lost his chance to break free.
I loved him too much for that too.
“You can’t keep me here against my will.” My declaration probably would have been more effective if my voice hadn’t wobbled halfway through. But damn if the thought of walking away from Rafe didn’t make me want to bawl like a baby.
“Can’t I? You must have forgotten who you’re talking to.” Rafe chuckled and threw the sheet off, revealing that he was completely nude.
I gulped. “You don’t fight fair.”
“No, I don’t. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, sweetheart. No matter what I have to do, no matter how hard it is, I’m willing to do whatever it takes because I believe in us.”
I backed up slowly, Rafe stalking me until we ended up pressed against the bedroom door. My eyes roamed over the ultra-ripped chest that always made me drool a little. My breathing sped up as he lifted me and held me against the door. I cried out. In this position, I could feel everything, the hard bulge pressing against my core and the sheer strength it took for him to hold me up like that.
Can you say,sexy as hell?
“Don’t go, Diana. Let me fight for you.”
“There’s nothing you can do,” I whispered, wishing with all my heart that it wasn’t true. But nothing short of a time machine that could go back and undue all the damage my father and brothers had done would change anything.
“If you’re in trouble, my contacts in the FBI can keep you safe. Whatever is going on, you’re not alone with it anymore. We can figure it out together. I’ve trusted you, more than I probably should have”—he looked down at his crotch with a raised eyebrow—“and now I’m asking you to trust me.”
For a long moment I stared into his eyes. I wasn’t even sure exactly what I was looking for, but suddenly I knew this was the moment to stop running. To trust that someone else would actually stick when times were tough.
I ran my hands through his thick hair. “Okay. I’ll trust you.”
Rafe nuzzled my nose gently with his, the uncharacteristically tender gesture taking me off guard.
“Good. Until then, I guess I’d better deliver on my promise to keep you happy.”
My mouth fell open when he nipped my ear. His finger trailed gently over my neck. Then he snatched his hand back like he was afraid he’d hurt me.
“It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me.” I didn’t mention that my throat was sore as hell on the inside. It was like having strep throat on maximum power.
“Let’s get you some more meds, and then we can return to the regularly scheduled program.”
