Two Sides to Every Story (Love Spectrum Romance) (24 page)

He’d almost lost it when they were at Jose’s. She’d looked so sad that all he’d wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her, comfort her, tell her that he loved her. And he’d nearly gone crazy with fear when he’d heard what her dumb-ass brother had done. He’d thought he was being so smart but he had no idea the kind of danger he’d put his sister in.

Raphael was keenly aware that Angela thought he hadn’t noticed her reaction when Jose had talked of Adrian’s girlfriend Cassie. Raphael was no fool; he’d known immediately that the girlfriend was Angela. Another scheme Adrian had concocted.

He wanted to go back to the prison and strangle the man for putting his sister in harm’s way. The pain in his chest had left only when he learned that she wasn’t in immediate danger. Still, he wanted to hold her, comfort her.

So yes, he was being a jerk, not opening the door for her, afraid of touching her, afraid of the heat between them. He had to let her go and he had to begin by being a jerk, by making her not want him, not tell him what he already knew. She wanted to say that she loved him still. And Raphael needed it to be over.

But God, he didn’t want it to. He loved her.

He waited for Angela to catch up with him before he walked to the door and rang the bell.

“Rafe, how are you, man? It’s been awhile.”

“I’m good.” Raphael answered. “Shaun, this is a friend of mine, Angela. She’s doing a paper on the department. I thought she needed to know what we’re up against.”

“Sure.” Shaun rolled his wheelchair back and motioned for them both to enter his home. “Hi, I’m Shaun Donnelly.” He stuck his hand out to Angela, then patted the arm of his wheelchair. “I got this courtesy of the department.”

Angela didn’t say a word. The charade of being a reporter had gone far enough.

“Don’t you want to know how it happened?” Raphael asked, staring at her before he turned to Shaun. “Angela thinks I’m a dirty cop. She heard that I beat a guy in that gang war a couple of years back. I think she’s still trying to find enough information to make it stick.”

Angela stared in disbelief at Rafe, then at Shaun, who despite Rafe’s words hadn’t stopped smiling at her. Instead, he was looking at Rafe with a curious expression on his face.

“Is this the woman I heard about, the one who wrote you up a dozen times?”

“It’s her.”

Shaun shook his head and looked at her.

“So, Angela, do you want me to tell you how this happened?”

He didn’t have to. She knew how it had happened. The same gang fight. She bit her lips and said softly, “It isn’t necessary.”

Shaun smiled again, looking from her to Rafe and back again. “I got a feeling it is. That night things were crazy. Rafe and I were both trying hard to calm the situation down, to not use violence. I hesitated for,” he blew his breath on his fingers, “not even that long, and I got shot in the back. Rafe pulled me away, fighting as he did so. He never did pull his gun. I asked him why later and he told me he couldn’t shoot and carry me at the same time.” He smiled at Rafe. “I think he just forgot.”

For a minute the men looked at each other. Then Shaun turned to Angela. “We went through the academy together. We both wanted to do a good job for our communities. We knew how dangerous it was going in.” He patted the arm of his chair again. “This unfortunately sometimes comes with the territory.”

She took a good look at the man seated in the chair. He couldn’t be more than thirty-two and he was paralyzed. She trembled and looked at Rafe.

He’d told her he had hesitated, that he was thinking about her and had almost gotten killed. That could be him sitting in the chair. She licked her lips as her eyes filled with tears and a lump entered her throat. Rafe refused to look at her but Shaun did.

“I don’t think you need me to say anything about the kind of man Rafe is, but just in case you don’t already know, he’s a hell of a guy. He’s one of the good guys.”

“That’s not why I brought her here,” Raphael interrupted. “I’m not trying to sell myself. I wanted her to see the other side to being a cop.”

Shaun laughed, “Yeah, right.” Then he looked at the two of them. “I’m glad to see you’re not fighting anymore.” Then he laughed aloud. Neither Raphael or Angela found the situation amusing. They stood as still as statues, not moving, not speaking.

They stayed for a few more minutes as the two men spoke together. Angel caught Shaun’s, “So it happened to you too, huh? I thought you said you would never fall in love.”

“I did, but it was a mistake. It’s over,” she heard Rafe answer and knew that he meant it. He didn’t want anything more to do with her.

For some strange reason Angela didn’t want to leave Shaun Donnelly’s home. She knew Rafe was taking her home and that after that he never planned to see her again. She knew what he needed from her. Her trust.

She hugged Shaun and wished him well as she followed Rafe back out to the car. Adrian was guilty and he’d used her entire family. She dared a brief glance in Rafe’s direction. She couldn’t let him go. He was everything to her. Her heart ached with the knowledge that she really did know right from wrong.

Chapter 25

Raphael drove slower than normal, his determination firmly in place. He would take Angela home and that would be that. He would never see her again. He was a man, as he’d told her, not a boy. He’d get over not having her in his life. Still, he drove slowly to prolong the time.

When he couldn’t prolong it any longer he turned into her street and drove to her door. “Get out,” he ordered without looking at her. “You have what you need, now go.”

“No, I can’t,” she answered.

“Get out,” he repeated, reaching across her to open the door.

“No.” she said again.

Why the hell is she making it so damn hard?
he thought as he got out and angrily opened the passenger door. “Get out, Angel.”

“I can’t.”

“You can.”

“We need to talk,” she whispered through her tears.

“We have nothing to talk about.”

Raphael was getting angry with himself for wanting to hear her tell him that she loved him, and angry with her for not just getting out of the damn car and letting him go.

“Angel, don’t make this any harder,” he pleaded.

“I’m not trying to do that. You have to listen to me. It can’t end like this, Rafe. It can’t.”

Her look was killing him more assuredly than any gun or knife. Hell, he’d rather be shot a million times than look into her eyes and see tears, than know he’d live the rest of his life without her. He saw her body tremble and reached for her before halting and cursing himself for allowing her to have that kind of effect on him.

“Get out, Angel,” he barked hoarsely. “Get out now before it’s too late.”

“It is too late, Rafe. You said so yourself. It’s too late for us.”

He glared at her, saw her eyes glistening with tears and gave it one more shot. “Fine,” he muttered. “Stay in the car, I don’t give a damn. I’ll leave,” he said and walked away.

“Rafe, don’t leave.”

His back was to her. He took a couple of deep breaths, each costing him, each taking him away from her and out of her life. Damn, if she’d only listen to him, just let it be over, let him leave.

It had been hard enough riding in the car with her, smelling her scent, not reaching out to touch her. They both needed it to be over. They didn’t need to draw it out.

“You’ve got what you need, Angel. Angela,” he amended.

“No, I don’t have what I need. What I need has his back to me and is about to walk out of my life. Don’t leave, Raphael, please.”

“Give me a reason to stay,” he moaned, knowing he was about to cave. God, how he wanted her.

“I love you.”

The world went quiet and Raphael stilled. Even his breathing ceased and he knew what was coming. His heart seemed to stop beating.

“Raphael, I love you. Raphael,
te amo
.”

Her love will stop your heart but it will restart it again. And she will love you with the same fire as the ice with which she hates you.

“Don’t leave me, Raphael. I would be lost without you. I love you.”

His heart slowly regained a normal rhythm. He turned to face her.

“I can’t live in shadows anymore. I don’t want to be just your bed partner. I’m not ashamed of being a police officer and I’m not going to quit the force.”

“I didn’t ask you to quit.”

“Are you going to continue looking at me with disgust every time I put the uniform on?” He saw her eyes widen. “What, you didn’t think I noticed that? What kind of a cop do you think I am? I noticed,
mi amor
.”

Angela walked toward him, holding his gaze with her own. “Being with you has changed me also.”

“How?” Raphael asked, holding his breath.

“I find it hard to hate the people who may have to save your life…or mine. I’ve tried but it’s not working for me any more.” She was now standing in front of him. “I respect what you do and I respect the other officers who put their own lives in danger. You can’t blame me for wanting to help my brother. I couldn’t see any other position. I didn’t want to,” she admitted. “But I know there are two sides to every story. I’ve always known that. I just chose to forget it for the past two years.”

He sighed as he looked at her, not taking her in his arms as he wanted to do. He wanted so much from her, not just her love, but her respect. Above all, he wanted her trust. There were still things she didn’t trust him with. He could see it in her eyes.

“I want you to trust me, Angel,” he said, walking up the stairs to her apartment. The conversation they were having was not one to have in the open.

“I do trust you,” she replied, following him up the stairs, handing over the keys to her apartment.

“Then tell me, was your brother involved in my getting shot?”

“Rafe, don’t do this to me, please. Isn’t it enough that I love you and I respect the job that you do? And believe me, I trust you. I trust you with my life. There are just certain things that I have no control over telling you. Please tell me it’s enough.”

It wasn’t enough, not for them to make a life together. He desperately needed her to trust him with everything.

“Are you going to make me beg?” she asked.

Raphael thought about it. She’d made him beg and still it hadn’t mattered. He smiled. No, he wouldn’t make her beg, not for his love, never for his love. “Angel, I love you.” He turned back to face her as he whispered the words. He took the few steps necessary to return to her and wrapped her in his arms for a long moment before bringing her back to face him. “
Te amo
, Angel,” he said as his lips claimed hers.

He loved her, she knew it with every breath she took. She thought of Adrian and his threats against Rafe and his family. She shouldn’t be in his arms if she wanted to keep them safe but she couldn’t send him away again. She had to find a way to protect him and keep him in her arms at the same time.

“Rafe, you were right all along,” she began. “My brother was responsible for your getting shot and he’s not innocent. He wouldn’t tell me what happened but I figured it out from some things I heard. I had already figured out that he was dating this Teresa woman and that she ran off with the money she was holding.”

Rafe held Angela tighter. “I know, baby. Manuel and your brother went in on this deal together; your brother got greedy and stole all the money and he gave it to Teresa to hide. Jose doesn’t have all the facts.

“Adrian thought Manuel wouldn’t suspect his sister, but with your coming here asking questions about her, the word got back to Manuel and he now knows that she was involved. Jose doesn’t know that.”

“About that, you didn’t tell Jose my name. Why? Don’t you trust him?”

“I trust him with my life.” Raphael kissed her gently on the forehead, then her nose and finally he stared at her lips and touched them lightly. “But not with yours.” For a long moment they gazed into each other eyes.

“How long have you known this?” Angela asked.

“For awhile.”

“And you didn’t do anything about it. Why, Rafe?”

“Because I needed you to tell me, Angel. I needed you to trust me. I would never do anything that would bring you pain. And giving this information to the authorities would bring you pain.”

“Rafe, he threatened your family. He said if I didn’t break up with you something might happen to them.”

The words were out and she didn’t want to recall them. She wanted him to know. She felt his muscles bunch.

“Is that why you were pushing me away? You were trying to protect me and my family?”

Angela closed her eyes, biting on her lips to keep back the tears. “
Te amo
, Raphael. I couldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“And I can’t let anything happen to you. You’re moving away from here tonight. I don’t want either your brother’s goons or Manuel coming after you.”

“No, Rafe, if I leave, Adrian will know. He has his friends watching me. They’re going to tell him that we’re back together,” she whispered and shivered in his arms.

“I can take care of myself and my family, Angel.”

“I’m not leaving you. I’m staying right here where you are. If there’s going to be trouble, I’m sticking around.”

“You’re too stubborn, you know that?”

“I’m not being stubborn. I just can’t leave you here with this mess.”

“None of this is your fault, Angel. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I’m not blaming myself.”

He smiled at her and she smiled back. “Okay, just a little,” she admitted, “but I don’t want to be away from you. I want to be near you. I’ll think of something to do. I promise.”

“We’ll think of something.” He kissed her. “Together, baby, we’ll keep my family safe and I won’t betray your trust.”

“Your family’s going to hate this as much as Adrian, aren’t they? What are we going to do about that?”

“We’ll manage. Now will you shut up and kiss me? I want to make love to you. I need to make love to you and I need to do it now.”

Angela’s body quivered in his embrace. Her head fell back as he kissed the column of her neck. She heard his moan deep in his chest; the primitive sound was filled with need and she moaned in response.

Together they sank to the floor. She barely noticed Rafe’s hand moving to grab the pillows from the sofa; she just felt the softness as he laid her down. She shivered in anticipation as he pulled the top from her shoulder and began kissing her skin, caressing her with his lips.

She pulled his head down to her breast and moaned again as he suckled her. Her fingers moved frantically over his body. His hard, corded muscles seemed to beg to be touched.

“You are mine, Angel, and I am yours,” Raphael whispered into her ear.

“Yes, I am yours and you are mine,” she answered and lost herself in his love.