Until Forever Ends: A Dark Mafia Romance by Adelaide Forrest (black books to read .txt) 📗

with him watching over me. By the time he forced me to get out of bed, it was already past noon. After a quick lunch with Regina, he took my hand and guided me to his office.

Nothing good ever happened in his office.

He sat me down in one of the chairs in front of the very same desk he'd branded me on. The same one he'd tattooed me on. Taking the one next to me, he wordlessly grabbed the folder off the surface and handed it to me.

The weight of his stare felt ominous. He'd been oddly quiet all morning, brooding over something, and yet still attentive to me physically and the fact that I needed his intimacy in the wake of all that he'd done to me the day before. I needed to know he loved me, because his actions weren't those of a man in love.

But of a man obsessed with something he owned.

I glanced down at the folder as I took it from his hands, pulling the cover open and staring down at the gruesome photo in front of me. A man sat in an office chair, his head tilted to the side and a hole in the side of his head where blood trickled out. I closed the folder immediately, looking up at Rafael in confusion.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked, handing it back to him.

"That—" he paused, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he set the folder on the desk "—is the officer who filed your accident report after you nearly drowned."

"You killed him?" I asked, swallowing back bile. "Why?"

"That photo is from a week after your accident," he answered, reaching forward to touch his fingers to the bandage that covered my arm. He didn't touch the spot where the brand itself was, but the area around it stung with the pressure of his hand. "They called it a suicide, but I think we both know it wasn't."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, pushing to stand up. His hands came down on my knees, shoving me back into my chair while he glared at me.

"I've been very patient with you," he said. I snorted. "I've been patient with you about this, but enough is enough, Isa."

"What difference does it fucking make what happened? It was over a decade ago," I said, shaking my head.

"Your sister wronged you in a way that I take very seriously. I am your fucking husband," he growled. "It is my job to keep you safe and to kill the people who would put you in harm's way. Should I just kill Odina instead? Would that be simpler for you?"

"No!" I yelled, glaring at him. "You're being ridiculous."

"And you are stalling," he said, picking up his cellphone. "All it would take is one phone call, Princesa. One call to end her life, and I wouldn't even have to leave your side to pull the trigger. We both know she deserves it after what she did to you."

I glared at the phone in his hand, unable to voice the secret that plagued me. I already knew how Rafael would react. I'd heard it all before. It wasn't your fault.

But it was, and nothing would ever change that.

"This isn't about what Odina did. This is about you wanting everything. You have some fucking nerve. You branded me! You do not get to bring me in here and make more demands. Why can't I just have one thing that's mine?" I growled, slapping the phone out of his hand. He left it where it fell, reaching forward to run his thumb over my bottom lip.

"Because you're mine. Every single part of you is mine. Whatever happened made you who you are, and it made you fucking leave me even though you're so fucking in love with me you can't see straight," he accused, dragging my bottom lip to the side as I gaped up at him. "This has power over you. It has power over us, and I will do whatever it takes to understand fucking why," he warned, standing from his seat to grab his phone off the floor.

“Fuck you,” I snarled as he bent to grab it. Kicking his hand away, I stood and grabbed his chin between my fingers. He tilted his head up to mine, possession swirling in his gaze as he studied me standing in front of him. “Leave it alone, Rafael.”

He moved suddenly, snatching the phone in his grip and entering in his passcode while he kept his eyes on mine. He stood, extending his limbs as I moved for the phone and wrapping me up in his arm to clutch my back against his body and hold me still. I stomped on his foot, wishing I had heels to stab him with.

He grunted as he dialed a number, lifting the phone to his ear behind me as I swallowed back the urge to vomit.

Tears streamed down my face, pulling from the darkest part of me as he spoke. "Why does Odina hate you so badly, Isa?" he asked before speaking into the phone in Spanish as my lungs heaved. Desperation like I'd never known made me want to keep my secret safely tucked away, but I couldn't let her die for me.

I already had once.

"Because I killed her!" I yelled, my lungs heaving with the weight of the confession as it tore free from my soul. "It was my fault," I sobbed, leaning forward against his arm to try to get free. He released me, letting me fall to the floor at his feet as his mouth dropped open and he moved around my body to stare down at me.

I dropped my gaze to the floor, unable to look him in the eye, and I knew when I finally did…

He would never look at me the same.

33

Rafael

I ended the call, watching as Isa huddled in on herself. Whatever I'd expected to come