Chapter Five

Rafael:

I couldn’t get her out of my head. Every damn thought was consumed by her, the way her lips parted when she laughed, the way her body arched against mine last night. It was madness. I couldn’t focus. Couldn’t breathe.

"Marcus!" I barked into the intercom, my voice rough with impatience. "Get in here. Now."

I’d sent him to dig up everything about her the moment she slipped out of my car this morning. And still, nothing. The silence was torture.

The door flew open before I could snap again. Marcus stumbled in, breathless, with his tie crooked.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I growled.

"Boss, you sounded urgent—"

"I said get in here, not break the damn door down."

He straightened, dragging in a breath, but his smirk was already in place. The bastard knew exactly why I was wound up.

"Tell me you found her," I demanded.

His grin widened. "Since when do you chase women after one night?" He asked, and I don't blame him, he knew I only taste them once, I don't repeat my women.

"Marcus." My voice dropped low, dangerous.

He held up his hands, but the amusement didn’t fade. "Fine, fine. But you’re not gonna like it."

"Try me."

"She’s married."

“What?” His words hit me like a punch to the gut.

"Bullshit."

"Boss, she's not just married," Marcus continued, watching me like I was a bomb about to detonate, and clearly enjoying the sight before him. "She’s married to one of our partners, Dustin Mason. The one who just landed the half-billion-dollar grant."

Every muscle in my body locked. Married?. That's my off-limits. A line I never crossed.

But last night, her nails digging into my back, her breath hot against my ear, she hadn’t acted like a woman who belonged to someone else.

"You’re sure?" My voice was ice.

"I'm positive, Boss."

I swore, slamming my fist on the desk. The thought of another man’s hands on her, another man’s name on her lips made me see red.

And yet… I could still taste her. Still feel her.

Damn it. This changed everything. And nothing at all

“Boss! Just forget about her, I know she's hot, but I can help you arrange a better looking hot chick, you know they all want to be with Rafael Velmera!” I heard Marcus spilling the nonsense he knows how to spill.

“Get out!” I snapped back at him, he doesn't know how this girl makes me feel, and I'm not ready to engage in his stupid talks.

“Boss—”

“Marcus, don't allow me to repeat myself.” I said before he could utter any other thing, and thank God he responded this time.

As he left, I didn't know what to feel. My heart couldn't stop beating as I thought of her, and at the same time I couldn't help but feel like I had betrayed myself by sleeping with a married woman. I had vowed never to do that since my dad cheated on my mom twenty years ago before the foolish man eventually died, and I've been successful, but now… one night with her, I was ready to break every damn rule over and over.

"Goddamn it." I dragged a hand through my hair, frustration boiling under my skin. I closed my eyes, thwarted, but the memory hit me again—her body moving beneath mine, her breath hot against my throat. The way she moaned crazily beneath me, making me feel crazy.

“Oh no!” I immediately opened my eyes to drown the thoughts.

“What's even her name?” The thought crossed my mind, I didn't ask her, and even my idiot assistant never deemed to let me know, save the bad news he brought to me.

I was halfway to my computer, ready to fish her out from all our partners, when Marcus barged in again.

God, I’m tired of this menace of a boy! If not for the fact that I love him and he does his job well…

“What now?" I asked, my voice was sharp enough to cut glass. Every nerve in my body was still raw from the revelation about her, and Marcus’s smug grin wasn’t helping.  

He leaned against the doorframe, that infuriating smirk still in place. "Chairman’s on the line. Your new obsession must’ve made you deaf, he’s been blowing up your personal phone."

I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached. "One more word, Marcus, and I swear to God, I’ll throw you out that window."

He chuckled, unfazed, but wisely shut up as I snatched the receiver.  

“Dad." The moment I said it, my tone shifted. No matter how old I got, no matter how much power I wielded in this city, that man could still make me feel like a boy who needed his approval.  

"Rafael." His voice was heavy, the way it got when he was about to deliver news I wouldn’t like. “The half-billion-dollar grant with the Masons—cancel it. We’re withdrawing."

"What?" The word ripped out of me, too loud, too sharp. I never raised my voice at him. Never. But this—this was insanity. "The Velmera group don’t withdraw. Ever. You taught me that. Our word is our reputation. What the hell happened Dad?" I asked, confused, because the Masons had been in our pocket just days ago. A done deal, backed by power and politics. For it to unravel this fast? Someone powerful wanted it dead. Someone close enough to my father to whisper in his ear. But who?

He didn’t say anything at first. Then, quieter, the way he spoke when he was choosing his words carefully, the same measured tone he’d used years ago when I had just moved into his house and furious at the world. Back then, he’d sat me down and made me listen. "Come home tonight, you'll know why.”

Something in his voice made my chest tighten. “Dad—"

"Your mother misses you." He said with a soft exhale, almost weary. “And… your sister is coming back."

The air left my lungs like I’d been punched.  

“My sister.”

 The one who vanished ten years ago — before my mother and I ever set foot in this family. She’d left the moment she found out her father was remarrying. Changed her name. Cut ties, yet somehow never completely disappeared. Not to him, at least.

I didn’t even know what name she used now. But I knew one thing — she wanted nothing to do with the Velmeras. And now, she is coming back?  

"What?" It was all I could manage.  

“She’s returning," he said simply. Then, before I could demand answers, the line went dead.  

I sat there, gripping the phone like it was the only thing holding me upright. My pulse roared in my ears.  

Ten years. Ten years of nothing. No calls, no letters, no whispers of where she’d gone. Just my mother’s quiet sadness of how she hated her, our father’s stiff silence, and the unspoken rule that we didn’t talk about her.  

And now she was just… coming back?  

A bitter laugh clawed its way up my throat. Of course she was. The same week I’d broken my own rules for a woman I couldn’t have. The same week the foundation of my family’s business was suddenly crumbling.  

Because the universe had a sick sense of humor.  

I dragged a hand down my face, my skin hot under my palm. I should’ve been thinking about the grant. About the fallout. About my sister—Christ, my god damn step-sister—and what her return would do to our parents.  

But all I could see was her.

The curve of her smile. The way she’d gasped my cock like it was a sin. The way she’d fit against me like she was made to be there.  

A married woman. A line I’d sworn never to cross. And yet, even now, with my world tilting on its axis, the hunger for her burned hotter than my shame.  

“Goddamn it. I'm in trouble."