Raphael's Captive

Chapter 18

TAMI SEEMED nervous as they both descended the grand stairs that led to the huge living room she recognized from the day they left for Puerto Rico. 

She hadn’t been around the house since her arrival, so this was both odd and exciting for her. Tami also appreciated how the floors sparkled and shone to the point where she could see herself in it, and the grand chandelier hung marvelously from the very high ceiling. 

Even though this was the second time seeing the magnificent living room, she was still stuck in awe. She suddenly got excited to get a full tour of the house. It was huge, but that oddly made her want to do it even more. 

"Did you design this yourself?" Tami asked as Raphael slowly led her towards the kitchen area. 

He chuckled once but shook his head. "This house has been around since I was a child. I came and saw it like this." 

The thought suddenly came back to Tami that Raphael didn’t grow up here, but had only recently made his home here in The Bahamas. 

"Right." She chuckled a little in embarrassment  “It's beautiful." 

"I'm glad you like it. You can get more familiar with the rest of it soon. And the pool..." he trailed teasingly as her eyes lit up. Raphael knew that this would've done it. He remembered smiling all those times when he saw an Instagram post with her at the beach or at a pool. In fact, that consisted of most of her profile. He knew she loved swimming. 

Hell, just yesterday she was willing to swim across the ocean. 

"You have a pool? Well duh Tami. Of course he has a pool." She scolded herself for pointing out the obvious. 

"I have two," he corrected. "One indoor and one outside." 

She stared blankly at him for a while. "I'm going to have to get used to your wealth now. Don’t I?" 

Raphael wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him for a while. He smiled down at her before gently placing a kiss to the tip of her nose. "I suggest you do, yes." 

Tami beamed brightly at him before nodding. "It will take a while."

"We have forever for you to get used to it." The words left his mouth  before he could stop them and he tensed. He remembered that this could well be temporary, since Tami could decide later that she doesn’t see a future with him. 

Nonetheless, the new but familiar feeling of her lips pressed against his lips, and just like that, his tension was gone. 

"We do," she whispered once she pulled away, and it took everything out of him not to tell her that he loved her right there and then. Because he was sure he did.

Tami laced her fingers in his and pulled him blindly down the hall, but he eventually had to redirect them, since she had no clue where she was going. 

The magnificent scent of coffee and breakfast became more evident as they moved closer.

Mrs. Garcia's back was turned when they entered the large kitchen hand in hand. It was the most beautiful. It looked like the ones you only see in cooking TV shows. The natural light was most calming, and the big open windows gave the perfect view of the open seas. 

"Wait till you see the view from the dining room," Raphael mumbled in her ear when he beheld her expression. She suddenly grew eager to leave breakfast and have an immediate tour of the grand, beautiful house, but the sound of Raphael’s voice caught Mrs. Garcia's attention, making her spin to face the young couple.