Dangerous Conceit by Ali Lee

Chapter 37

Alone at the table, Lexi opened the small black box again, gazing at the beautiful ring she was now able to give. She could not understand why Angelo went out of his way for her but was grateful he did. She could not wait to see it on Rafa’s hand.

When Rafa walked through the kitchen door, Lexi closed the box with a snap, grasping it and moving it to her lap. Rafa leaned his head lower and stared, giving her a questioning look that made it difficult for her to hide the ring.

“What did Angelo want?” he asked and sat in the chair next to her. Lexi said nothing. “Not speaking?” he simply said, leaving the private moment between her and Angelo alone. He smiled. Rafa moved his face dangerously close while stroking his fingers against several marks on her neck. “We are going to have to cover those up for the wedding.” His eyes lingered on the territorial traces of his affection.

“What do you mean?” Lexi looked down, her eyes widening at what she saw. “Oh, hell, that's why he…” She tucked the ring between her legs and instinctively lifted the collar on the shirt and clenched it tight.

“Well, there's no need in hiding them now. I’ve already seen them.” Rafa folded the collar back down and moved to get another cup of coffee. “Do you want some more?” He brought over the pot and refilled without an answer.

“But my dress is low cut; I should have pushed you away.”

Rafa mocked the thought with an indignant huff. “Resisting me isn't one of your better qualities.”

“I could resist you if I wanted too. Don’t be so sure of yourself,” she said and strained to get a better look at the marks.

“Am I wrong?” He turned off the coffee maker and walked behind her, sliding his nails down the unbuttoned lining of his shirt that hung over her tank.

“You’re trying to distract me.” Lexi pushed his hands away and started to stand. “How am I supposed to cover these up?” She flung the shirt open, making him smile with the view. He considered her gesture invited more of the distractions she aimed to conceal.

“If you remember, you weren't exactly telling me to stop,” he argued. Lexi silently cursed his words. He had a valid point. If she could return to those early morning hours, she doubted the outcome would be any different. “Don't worry.” He wrapped his arms around her. “You can have them covered when you do your hair and make-up later. There’s an excellent new salon at the hotel that I reserved for you and your friends.”

“You reserved the entire salon in a hotel of that size?” Lexi looked with astonishment. She would never get used to his wealth.

“Why wouldn't I? I have to protect you when you’re not with me. Tell them what you want, and they’ll do it.”

Lexi smiled but then considered they would have to see what he left behind on her body too. “I’m going to be so embarrassed,” she finally sighed and looked at him. “They’re going to think I'm a—”

“Taken,’ he said.

“Slutty,” she corrected.

“No, they’ve been ordered not to think.”

Lexi let out a laugh. “Right, because the Tomassi Group has the power to control peoples’ minds.”

“Kind of.” Rafa's eyes twitched with a hint of conviction. “You'd be surprised at what we control.” He released her body and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her to wonder about what he had said. Lexi thought about it. Considering yesterday's ordeal with Angelo, she believed they probably could control a person's thoughts.

After taking another drink of her coffee, Lexi walked toward the family room to wake up Maura. Rafa and Ray were talking quietly, looking as if they were in the middle of a serious discussion. She barely passed them when Brett opened the front door; Abby barged in behind him too cheerful for the mood in the air. Rafa’s brows creased as soon as he saw them. He gave a low groan in response. He was tired of the constant interruptions in his house.

“Good morning,” Abby’s voice greeted as she walked to Lexi and gave her a hug. “If Maura’s still in bed, I’ll go get her for you. I feel like I lost my morning routine now that we live in separate houses.”

“Sure. You go ahead. I'll get her breakfast ready while you bring her down.”

Brett sat on the recliner without saying a word. At least, he could tell when Rafa wanted to be left alone. Rafa took a breath and gripped the front of his shirt, trying his best to hide his pain around people, but Lexi saw the subtle gesture. She climbed the stairs to their room and came back down again a minute later.

“Here.” She held a closed fist as she walked toward him. Rafa held up a finger to Ray, giving her his undivided attention even though they were talking about something important. Lexi smiled to herself as he popped the pills in his mouth and swallowed them with a gulp of coffee. His eyes stared at her, doting on her. Lexi was perfectly in tune to him. She would always notice how he felt.

As she started to walk away, Abby came down the stairs with Maura in her arms, Maura’s giggles bringing both Rafa and Lexi back to reality. Rafa continued his conversation with Ray as Lexi entered the kitchen.

“You know, Lex”—Abby lowered Maura to the seat and then found her own—”I find it hard to believe that you’re acting so casual when you’re getting married tonight. I mean, I don’t jump around all excited either, but I think I would at least be nervous if I were getting married.”

“Believe me, I’m nothing but nerves.” Lexi set a bowl and spoon on the table. “What if he changes his mind or something happens and we can't get married? What if there's a problem with the group or something? Then we would have to postpone the wedding and might never get married.”

“You sure do hide your fears well.”

“Yeah, that's what I was trained for.”

“But that's all in the past.”

“Let's hope.”

“Anyway, enough about that. You’re getting married! And…Mr. Tomassi let Brett take me, Kayla and Piper to buy dresses. We were going to buy these pretty lavender dresses, but Kayla insisted that the color didn’t match her hair. You know how Kayla can be. And she absolutely refused to dye her hair another color, so we ended up going with a light rouge instead.”

Lexi nodded. She loved Kayla, but the last thing she would have wanted to endure was an outing with her where they all had to agree. “I actually like that better than purple anyway. Purple is so dominating. We have enough of that around us.” Lexi leaned her arms against the table, grinning as she thought about the wedding flowers and white table cloths. “So tell me more since you practically live at the hotel. Is the banquet hall already set up?”

Abby smiled. “Rafa had the hotel staff arrange everything last night so there was no last minute confusion.”

“Ah, so that's what he was doing in his office.” Lexi looked at the sofa where she met his eyes. He was looking at her without her knowing; it almost made her blush.

“Oh, but Piper wanted me to ask you something. Can he dance?”

Lexi gave Abby a quizzical look and questioned dryly, “Why?”

“Oh, no reason. You both will have to dance as a married couple so we wondered.”

Lexi's shoulders lifted. “I believe he can…probably. But he’s still recovering.”

A sly smile came to Abby's lips as she moved Lexi's hair out of the way. “What's he recovering from more—his bullet wounds or hot sex?” Lexi yanked the shirt tight again, damning the hickeys.

“And what are we discussing?” Rafa asked as he walked through the kitchen. Lexi felt her face grow hot as soon as she heard his voice.

“Nothing!” she blurted out.

“Nothing,” he repeated and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, “and let's keep it that way.” He gave Lexi a stern look that suggested he wanted to keep their sex life private. She met his eye and subtly pointed at her skin, asking him how this was private.

As he headed back to the family room, he lowered his mouth to her ear; the heat from his breath caused a light shiver against her skin. “I want people to know I take care of you.” He stroked his tongue behind her lobe, provoking her chills to intensify. “How I do it is my business.” Then he ruffled Maura's hair before leaving the women alone again.

“Well,” Lexi tried to play off the flush on her cheeks, “tell me more about the wedding. Tell me about the flowers.”