THE EYES OF A KING

CHAPTER FOUR

★ Rafael's POV ★

The girl was unconscious in my arms, her body limp and cold from the rain. I slid into the back seat of the SUV, keeping her carefully positioned against me.

"Drive," I ordered Nicolas. "Safe house. Now."

He didn't question me, just pulled away from the curb with practiced efficiency.

I looked down at her face, pale in the dim interior light. Even unconscious, there was tension in her features fear that had burrowed so deep it lived in her bones.

The Klein family crest on the keys she'd been clutching told me everything I needed to know.

This was Cassie Roglas.

The girl everyone was hunting. The girl I'd been searching for. The girl who'd just run straight into my arms like fate had decided to play a twisted game.

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out with my free hand.

Nicolas's intelligence team had already run facial recognition. The results appeared on screen: *Cassandra Roglas. Age 19. Last known residence: Klein estate. Orphaned at age 8. Guardianship transferred to Javin Klein.*

I scrolled through the attached files. There were only a handful of photos school records that abruptly ended at age fifteen, a single hospital admission for "anxiety and trauma-related symptoms," and nothing else. Someone had scrubbed her digital existence almost completely.

But there was one photo that made my blood run cold.

A news clipping from eleven years ago: "Tragic Accident Claims Lives of Prominent Family."

And there, in the corner of the image, barely visible. a little girl with wide, terrified eyes and a silver necklace, being led away from a burning estate by police.

Cassie Roglas.

The girl I'd seen that night.

The only witness to what really happened.

My jaw clenched so tight it hurt. After all these years, after all the searching, all the dead ends, she'd literally fallen into my hands.

"Rafael?" Nicolas's voice pulled me back. "Who is she?"

"Cassandra Roglas," I said quietly. "Daughter of Marcus and Elena Roglas."

Nicolas's eyes widened in the rearview mirror. "The Roglas family? The ones who..."

"Yes." My voice was cold steel. "The ones who stole everything from us. The ones responsible for my father's death."

The SUV fell silent except for the sound of rain hammering the roof.

Nicolas knew the story. Everyone in my inner circle did. How my father, Antonio Montez, had been business partners with Marcus Roglas. How they'd built an empire together, legitimate on the surface, but with roots deep in the underworld. How they'd acquired a collection of priceless artifacts, ancient pieces worth millions, but more importantly, pieces that held the key to old family power and influence.

And how, one night eleven years ago, Marcus Roglas betrayed that partnership. Stole the entire collection. And when my father confronted him, Marcus set fire to his own estate with my father still inside making it look like a tragic accident.

My father died in those flames.

Marcus and his wife died too, supposedly. But the collection vanished. No trace of it was ever found.

And this girl, this terrified, broken girl in my arms, had been there that night. She'd seen everything.

She was the only one who knew the truth.

"What are you going to do with her?" Nicolas asked carefully.

I looked down at Cassie's face, studying the faint scar near her hairline. A scar I remembered from that night, when I'd watched from the shadows as police pulled her from the burning building.

I'd been seventeen then. Too young to act. Too powerless to do anything but watch as my father's murderer escaped justice and this little girl became the sole survivor of a massacre.

"I'm going to keep her safe," I said finally.

Nicolas frowned. "But Rafael, if the Morettis want her. if Javin is willing to trade her...."

"I don't care what they want." My voice was ice. "She's the key to everything. To the truth about what happened that night. To finding the collection. To proving my father was murdered."

And maybe, I thought but didn't say, to finally putting the ghosts to rest.

The SUV pulled into the underground garage of my private safe house. a luxury penthouse I kept for situations exactly like this. Untraceable, secure, with enough security measures to withstand a small army.

I carried Cassie inside, her head resting against my shoulder. She stirred slightly as we entered the elevator, murmuring something I couldn't quite hear.

"It's alright," I said quietly. "You're safe."

Whether I was lying or not, I wasn't sure yet.

---

I laid her on the guest bedroom bed, carefully removing my soaked coat from around her shoulders. She looked small against the dark sheets, vulnerable in a way that made something uncomfortable twist in my chest.

This was Marcus Roglas's daughter. The child of my enemy.

But she was also a victim. A pawn in games she didn't even know she was playing.

I left her to rest and returned to the main room, where Nicolas was already setting up security monitors.

"Perimeter is secure," he reported. "I've stationed men at every entrance. If Javin's people come looking, we'll know."

"Good." I poured myself a whiskey, staring out at the rain-soaked city below. "Contact the intelligence team. I want every detail of Cassie's life for the past eleven years. Medical records, psychological evaluations, everything. And find out what Javin has been giving her."

"Giving her?"

I remembered what I'd heard in my investigation, rumors of memory suppression, of keeping Cassie docile and compliant. "He's been drugging her. Keeping her from remembering that night."

Nicolas's expression darkened. "Bastard."

"He knows she's a witness. He's been keeping her buried, hoping no one would ever find her. But now the Morettis want her, and he's desperate enough to trade her away." I took a long drink. "The question is, what do the Morettis know? Why do they want her?"

"Maybe they know about the collection," Nicolas suggested. "If the Roglas family had ties to them...."

"Then they think Cassie knows where it is." I set down my glass. "Or they think she has access to something. Information. Accounts. Something her father left behind."

My phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen.

Unknown number.

I answered, already knowing who it would be.

"Montez." Sophia's voice was smooth as silk and just as dangerous. "I heard you had an interesting encounter tonight."

"Word travels fast."

"When you're in my business, it does." I could hear the smile in her voice. "So. You have the girl."

"What's it to you?"

"The Morettis are not pleased. They had a deal with Javin Klein. You've complicated things by taking her."

"Good." I kept my voice neutral. "Tell them the deal is off. Cassie Roglas is under my protection now."

There was a pause. "Rafael, this isn't about your vendetta against Javin. The Morettis have invested resources...."

"I don't care about the Morettis' investments." My voice turned cold. "Cassie is mine. If they want her, they'll have to go through me. And we both know how that ends."

Another pause, longer this time. "You're making enemies, Rafael."

"I've had enemies my entire life. One more family won't make a difference."

"This isn't just about the girl, is it?" Sophia's voice softened, became almost thoughtful. "This is about your father."

I said nothing.

"Marcus Roglas has been dead for eleven years, Rafael. Whatever he took from you....."

"Isn't lost forever. Not anymore." I glanced toward the guest bedroom. "I have his daughter. And she's going to tell me everything."

"What if she doesn't remember?"

"Then I'll help her remember." I ended the call before she could respond.

Nicolas was watching me carefully. "You sure about this? Protecting her puts us at odds with both the Morettis and Javin Klein."

"I know."

"And if she can't give you what you need? If her memories are too damaged, or if she genuinely doesn't know anything?"

I turned back to the window, watching lightning split the sky. "Then I'll figure out another way. But I'm not letting her go. Not until I have answers."

Not until I have justice, I thought. For my father. For the life that was stolen from me.

And maybe, though I'd never admit it out loud for the little girl with terrified eyes who'd watched her whole world burn.

---

★ Cassie's POV ★

I woke to the sound of rain against glass and the unfamiliar softness of expensive sheets.

For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was. Then it all came rushing back. Sam's threats, the desperate escape through the storm, the collision with a stranger, strong arms catching me before I fell.

Rafael.

I sat up slowly, my body aching from the night's ordeal. I was in a large bedroom with minimalist decor, dark woods, clean lines, floor-to-ceiling windows showing a view of the city I didn't recognize.

Someone had left clothes on the chair beside the bed. A soft oversized shirt and comfortable pants, both too large for me but clean and dry.

I changed quickly, grateful to be out of my soaked nightgown, then cautiously opened the bedroom door.

The apartment beyond was stunning open concept, all black marble and modern furniture, with those massive windows overlooking the rain-drenched city. It looked like something from a magazine. Cold. Expensive. Impersonal.

"You're awake."

I jumped at the voice. Rafael stood by the window, backlit by the city lights. He'd changed too. black shirt, dark pants, looking every bit as imposing as he had in the rain. But there was something different now. Something calculating in the way he watched me.

"Where am I?" My voice came out smaller than I intended.

"Somewhere safe." He gestured to the kitchen area. "There's food if you're hungry. Water. Whatever you need."

I didn't move. "Why are you helping me?"

He was quiet for a long moment, studying me with those dark, unreadable eyes. "Because," he said finally, "I think we can help each other."

"I don't understand."

"You're running from Javin Klein. From people who want to hurt you." He moved closer, each step deliberate. "I can protect you from them. But I need something in return."

My heart began to race. "What?"

"Information." He stopped a few feet away. "About your family. About the night they died."

The room tilted. "I... I don't remember that night. I was only eight."

"But you were there." His voice was gentle but insistent. "You saw something. Even if you don't consciously remember, the memories are there, buried. And I need you to help me find them."

"Why?" I backed away slightly. "What does my family have to do with you?"

His expression darkened. "Everything. Your father, Marcus Roglas, destroyed my family. He stole something precious from us, something that can never be replaced. And then he died before I could get it back."

Horror washed over me. "My father... you think my father was a thief?"

"I don't think. I know." There was steel in his voice now. "That night, when your estate burned. my father died in those flames too. Your father killed him."

"No." I shook my head violently. "No, that's not true. My parents died in an accident..."

"There was no accident, Cassie." Rafael's eyes burned into mine. "It was murder. And you're the only witness left who can prove it."

My legs felt weak. I sank onto the couch, my mind reeling. "I don't... I can't..."

"You don't have to decide right now." His voice softened slightly. "You're safe here. Rest. Recover. But eventually, Cassie, you're going to have to face the truth about what happened that night."

"And if I can't remember?"

"Then we'll find a way to help you remember." He turned back to the window. "Because like it or not, you and I are connected now. Your family's past is tangled with mine. And the only way either of us moves forward is if we uncover what really happened."

I sat there, trembling, as rain continued to hammer against the windows.

Everything I thought I knew was a lie. My parents. My past. Even the nightmares that haunted me. maybe they weren't just dreams. Maybe they were memories trying to surface.

"I'm scared," I whispered.

Rafael looked back at me, something flickering in his expression. Not quite sympathy, but not cruelty either. "I know," he said quietly. "But fear won't protect you. The truth might."

A phone buzzed somewhere in the apartment. Rafael pulled it out, read the message, and his jaw tightened.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Javin knows you're missing." He looked at me. "And he's mobilizing his people to find you."

My blood ran cold. "He'll kill me."

"Not if I kill him first." Rafael's voice was deadly calm. "But we need to move carefully. He has resources, connections, power. We can't just act rashly."

"So what do we do?"

He studied me for a long moment. "We make you disappear. Completely. And while you're gone, you work on remembering. Everything you can about that night, about your family, about anything your father might have told you."

"And then?"

"Then we destroy everyone who's been using you as a pawn." His eyes glinted dangerously. "Starting with Javin Klein."

Despite everything, despite the fear, the confusion, the way my world had just shattered, I felt something else stirring inside me.

Anger.

For years, I'd been kept in the dark. Drugged. Controlled. Told I was crazy for having nightmares, for being afraid. But maybe I'd been right to be scared. Maybe some part of me had always known the truth.

"Okay," I said, my voice stronger now. "I'll try to remember. I'll help you find out what happened."

"And in return?"

I met his gaze. "You help me take back my life."

Something like respect flickered across Rafael's face. "Deal."

Thunder rumbled outside, and lightning briefly illuminated both our faces two people bound by tragedy, standing at the edge of something dangerous.

Neither of us knew yet just how deep the darkness went.

But we were about to find out.