Page 110 of When She Falls (The Fallen)
I get Cleo cleaned up and set her up in one of the bedrooms. She passes out promptly after taking a sleeping pill. I grab a wet washcloth from the bathroom, wipe the smeared makeup off her face, and tuck her in.
God, she looks so young. Sometimes I forget she’s only eighteen. The tip of her nose is pink from crying, and her lips are covered with bite marks. She was gnawing on them the entire ride here, while I clutched her hand and tried to think of something comforting to say.
We’ve always lived surrounded by violence, but what Rafaele did to Ludovico was more brutal than anything I’ve ever seen. And Cleo was right there when it happened.
Poor thing.
Did Rafaele jump to her defense because he wanted to help her? Or because he wanted to show me how serious he is about treating Garzolos like his own family?
Papà must have mentioned to Rafaele that Cleo and Ludovico might be getting engaged. With Rafaele being the successor, it’s unfathomable that something like that wouldn’t come up in their discussions. Ludovico was out of line, but if Papà had been there, he would have gotten Ludovico away from Cleo and reprimanded him. He wouldn’t have taken an eye out like Rafaele did.
I sigh. Whatever drove Rafaele to do what he did, it’s a reminder that danger lurks just beneath his icy surface.
I press a light kiss to Cleo’s forehead and leave.
I stop in the kitchen to get a glass of water. As I fill my glass, my gaze catches on my emerald ring.
I hate the damn thing and what it represents. Now that I’m not around my family or Rafaele, I don’t need to have it on, so I slide it off my finger and leave it on the counter.
When I return to the living room, Ras is planted by the floor-to-ceiling window, his hands clasped behind him. The lights are dim. Moonlight spills across the dark hardwood floor.
There’s a knot inside my chest that eases at the sight of him.
I don’t know if it’s because of the sense of safety I feel whenever he’s around or because he’s beautiful enough to be distracting.
Straight nose, a prominent brow, shoulders that form a hard line. When I first met him, it was his dark, stormy eyes that I first noticed. And that earring. That small flash of silver that taunted me while I went straight into fight-or-flight mode.
And for once, I chose to fight.
But I’m not a fighter. The hits just keep coming, and they’re finding their mark. After what I learned about Vince tonight, I feel utterly defeated.
I walk over and halt by Ras’s side.
“How is she?” he asks.
“Asleep. I hope she’ll feel better tomorrow.”
We’re forty floors above Central Park—an enormous, open expanse framed by rows of densely packed buildings. In the summer, the lush greenery takes my breath away, but in February, the park is covered in a blanket of snow. I can see the snake-like paths winding through the branches of the trees below, and in the distance, the frozen lake reflects the night sky.
I press my fingertips against the glass. “Do you remember when we stopped at your condo in Ibiza? I never told you how much I liked it there.”
“Of course, I remember.” He smiles a little and then quietly adds, “I don’t think I’m capable of forgetting a single thing as far as you’re concerned, Peaches.”
I drag my teeth over my bottom lip, letting his words settle over my skin.
“I think I have the same problem,” I confess, reaching for his hand.
He laces our fingers together, his hold warm and sure even though everything else about us feels uncertain.
Does he hope he’ll forget about me when he returns to Europe?
He’ll be gone so soon.
And I’ll be walking down the aisle toward another man.
I release a breath. “Vince dreamt up the whole thing. It was his idea to make Rafaele the successor. His idea to get Rafaele into our family by having him marry me. Papà and Vince used me. They traded me away so that the two of them can have the lives they want. I guess no one really cares what kind of life I wanted for myself.”
An ambulance moves down 59thStreet, its sirens muffled to a barely there whine by the soundproofed windows.
