Still Waters (Lover's Lake)

“How do you feel, Rafa?”

I pulled the last one taut and cut clean through it. Fio fell into my arms and I held onto her like she was my lifeboat in a storm.

“I love you, Tatum. My heart is yours,” I said into the top of her head.

Chapter 8

TATUM

Agents and cops and what appeared to be the medical examiner were crowding the cabin taking crime scene photos and dusting for fingerprints. Malik ran down the stairs and gave a thumbs up to his brother.

“The house is secured. We took Gabrielli out.”

“Trudy okay?” Rafa asked his brother.

“Close call, but she’s fine.”

“I hope this nightmare is over if you took out their top guy,” Rafa said to Malik.

“We’re going to have to call a professional cleaning company to take care of the mess upstairs.”

“I’ve got a person I can call,” Rafa said.

“Let me call a special team. That way we can keep it confidential. You’re cleaning lady might be used to dirty socks but not human blood and broken furniture. I’m going to make reservations for a place to stay tonight too.”

Rafa and Malik hugged quickly with a clap on the back. Both brothers were fierce and intimidating, but also surprisingly affectionate with one another.

“You okay, Fio?” Malik asked me. “I think Gabrielli thought Trudy was you.”

“That might be my fault. He thought we were a team of hackers and I just went with the flow. He knows Fio as having long dark hair, so I guess he thought I was a new hire.”

“That’s probably why he didn’t kill you so the new haircut looks like it was worth it.”

Rafa rushed me upstairs after we gave the officials a statement. I felt badly about Gabrielli almost taking out Trudy and Malik. All of these people were new in my life and they’d been putting it all on the line without even really knowing me. I went to Valor for protection and this whole group of people had risked their lives for me.

“I’m going to check on Trudy and call my brother Gabriel. Lock the door behind you. Take your clothes off and get in the tub,” Rafa told me. His room was at least untouched by the carnage that was visible in the rest of the house.

“Aye, captain,” I said with a salute. “I feel overwhelmed that all of you put yourselves in danger for me. Especially Trudy.”

“We’ve wanted to take out Gabrielli for a while. You just expedited the process, don’t feel badly about any of it. We’re a team and nobody came against their will. Trudy knows the risks associated with the syndicate. You’re not a burden, Tate, you’re family.”

That made my eyes tear. All I’d ever really had for my family was my mom, and once I’d gotten into more high profile hacks, I left home for her protection. I lived on the run, never staying in the same place for too long. My life was exciting and rewarding, but it was also incredibly lonely.

“Thanks for saying that,” I said as he closed the door. Rafa was bossy and needy and possessive, but vulnerable. He was almost like a sweet boy trapped in a man’s body with some kind of animal possessiveness. It sounded like a disastrous concoction, but on him it was a perfect fit. I liked everything about Rafael Connor, I’d even liked him before I met him, when I knew him as Ragnar.

“Get in the bath just to make sure you’re not hurt,” Rafa said from the other side of the door.

“I’m not. They didn’t touch me. Rafa, I promise. I’m just dirty and tired, but nothing else, I promise.”

Rafa didn’t move from the other side of the door.

“I’m sorry you had to watch me—us kill people. I didn’t want you to see that, really. For Malik, it’s an occupational hazard, but I’m usually more lowkey, just working at the computer.”

“Better them than us,” I replied. I put my hand on the door as if I could feel him through it. Rafa didn’t want to scare me off, allow me to think the Connor brothers lived in a perpetual state of violence and action.

“I’m going to check the perimeter too and call for more back-up just in case. Don’t go anywhere,” he said.

“I’ll stay right here,” I reassured him.

I sat on the side of the bath as the water flowed into the huge tub. So much had transpired in the last forty-eight hours that my mind was on overload, unable to process anymore. All I knew was that I wanted to fall asleep in Rafa’s arms and wake up in them too. I didn’t mind the desperate emotion I could see at play on his face, because I felt just as strongly about him. I’d always imagined my life as a loner and now I couldn’t imagine a future without him.