Chapter 17: The Dragon's Lair

Raphael:



The walk from Genevieve’s room to the main floor of the house took every ounce of willpower that Raphael had left. How could he have done that? How could he have walked away?
Even now, he could still smell the sweet aroma of her arousal as he had buried his face in her core. He tasted her juices, his lips still tingling as he licked them, and another wave of heated need washed over him, right down to his cock. It strained against his jeans, and he grunted with pain as he shifted to head down the stairs.
When Raphael moved to scratch at his scalp, hell, tear at it until it was raw, he caught a whiff of his fingers, and he had to reach out to hold the banister, his body going limp. He swayed on the steps and forced himself to not even think about going back upstairs and fucking Genevieve until she screamed his name. Until every single damned person in the house, down the street, across town heard her cries of pleasure. Until she knew she was his. Everyone would know.
But that wasn’t an option. Not with the stalker getting closer to Genevieve. He had to take that asshole down before he harmed her for even a second.
When he took that last step, Raphael focused on the task at hand. It so happened that having Karoline there to plan out Genevieve’s next appearances were helpful, even if Raphael was still of the mindset that she shouldn’t be going out into the public. Like, at all.
No, she should be in his bed, ready for him at all times, safe, sound, protected. Cared for. Lo–nope. Not that. Raphael knew that nothing good would come of saying, or even thinking of that word. He wiped his hand on his jeans and turned to greet Karoline.
“How was the drive?”
She shrugged as she juggled all of the folders in her hands. “It was fine. Shorter than I expected. I don’t think I was followed, but I’m not a professional.”
Raphael nodded, he didn’t expect her to be. Hence, why he had the boys checking the cameras just to be sure.
“How is she?”
Raphael’s protective nature rose up into his chest as he muttered, “She’s safe.”
Karoline nodded but there was a furrow to her brow. “Did you call the cops?”
He shrugged. “No need.”
This caught her attention and caused Karoline to pause as they had begun to walk toward the living room. “Why?”
He sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. “Nothing they can do anyway. Jackson is on top of getting us the name of anyone that had access to the room. The security tapes are being transferred to us so that we can go over them, and then we’ll catch this son of a bitch.”
Karoline smiled and continued on. “Good, because she can’t hide for the rest of her life like this.”
Raphael knew that. Of course, he did. But he liked the idea of hiding Genevieve for the rest of their lives. With having her there, with him, always. “I know.”
Gunner popped up out of nowhere as they entered the living room, and Vin was right behind him. “You mentioned something about another signing?”
“Oh, yeah. Genevieve’s been booked at that large mall in the city. What was it called, the Dragon’s Lair?”
Raphael’s entire body froze, his mind reeling. “What?”
Vin shook his head and muttered, “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Karoline looked between the three men, her eyes blinking, but the words didn’t compute. “What do you mean?”
Raphael growled out, “She’s not going anywhere near that place.” He’d die before letting her anywhere near that mall. Not with the men who run it there.
“Why?”
Gunner’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward on the couch. “Don’t you know who runs that mall? The largest mob boss in the entire area. Park Kinam.”
Karoline opened her mouth to respond, but Raphael folded his arms and shook his head to stop her. “It’s too dangerous, even if there wasn’t a stalker trying to hunt her down.”
He wasn’t going to let Genevieve anywhere near those bastards. The organization that ran Grim Security was bad enough, but nothing compared to the Orange Grove syndicates and the head of them all. Even Raphael refused to cross them.
Karoline released a huff of breath and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, they asked for her specifically, I can’t very well refuse them.”
He cocked his brow at her. “Oh, the hell you can’t.”
Gunner scratched at the back of his neck and cringed when he met Raphael’s dark gaze. “She’s right. We can’t say no to Kinam, Raph. It’ll backfire on the agency.”
Vin nodded, and stepped up to his lover’s side. “You’re right, but she is in even more danger walking into that place.”
“What are we supposed to do? We can’t force them not to go.”
Raphael growled, “The hell I can’t.” He pivoted and headed toward the doorway, his mind a jumbled mess of heated rage.
He wasn’t going to risk her safety, or anyone else’s. The stalker might follow them to the mall, and if anything happened on his watch there, he wouldn’t forgive himself. They didn’t need the local syndicate to be breathing down their neck, especially when it was no secret who ran the security operations. They just tended not to mind what Jackson or the others did, as long as it didn’t interfere with their business. Which they made sure it didn’t. Until now.
Karoline moved to stop him. “Wait, stop. She’s in the shower, isn’t she?”
Gunner grabbed her arm and shook his head as Raphael stormed from the room.
Raphael had no idea what he was doing. His eyes were a blur as he moved up the stairs. All he knew was the pounding need to force Genevieve to understand. To comply with the fact that he wasn’t going to let her go. Not there.
He threw back, “Fuck if I care.”