Wed or Dead

XLIX

Third person POV

"Never" Rafael started speaking but paused.

"What?" Eliana asked, confused with his reaction.

"Never I want to kill a person more than I do now, Eliana. I want to murder you with my bare hands" he said in a dangerously calm but cold voice. Eliana took a step back shaking which seemed to only agitate him more. He approached her and she was backing away until she had hit the wall. His gaze was capable of freezing a person on the spot and Eliana happened to be this unfortunate person. She watched him breathlessly waiting for what he's going to do now.

She was reminded of who he was. Not "just" a CEO of a multimillion-dollar company. He was a mastermind behind the criminal empire. He was a dangerous boss of the Italian mafia who has done cruel things and had been used to living in the darkness. And she pissed him off just now.

Is he blaming her for his child's death? Was that it? Because if yes, Eliana deserved it. She realized that quickly and she cast her gaze down, she relaxed her muscles, her breath evened out. She was no longer afraid because whatever he does, she deserves it.

He grabbed her harshly by the chin and forced her to look in his dark, cold eyes.

"Eliana, I swear to God. You wanted to know how I feel so listen to me carefully now. I feel like shit. I've never cared about anyone's opinion about me until I met you. I never felt the need to protect anyone other than my siblings until you showed up. Finally, I never loved a woman in a romantic way until you showed up. And yet you do not see my affection, you don't acknowledge it. You've been manipulated into escaping the country? Escaping me? Am I a monster to you? Do you not see that I care?"

"No. It's not your fault that I don't feel like I deserve to be loved" Eliana whispered. "To me, you're perfect, Rafael. Too perfect to love me"

"Perfect? And yet I cannot make you feel loved. Me, the perfect man" Rafael said bitterly, and let her chin out of his grip but this time Eliana didn't escape his gaze, she met it on her own and she looked at him as if she saw him for the first time. They were getting somewhere. Perhaps.

"You're not mad at me about the baby. You're angry because I suggested that now you can dump me without consequences" Eliana realized.

"I need you to trust me when I say that I love you. Even if you wanted to leave I wouldn't let you go. How do I get that into your thick skull?" he asked, frustrated. 

"Remind me. Remind me often that you feel this way" Eliana whispered and he kissed her on the lips, it was not just a kiss. It was a promise.

Two weeks later

For the past two weeks, both Eliana and Casey were trying to heal from what they've been through, both on individual and family therapy. Other than trauma from kidnapping, Casey had a lot of anger issues to deal with. Eliana on the other hand was still in the mourning process after the miscarriage. Taking over the company was a source of a lot of stress and Harvey's death was another difficult topic.

But Eliana's life was not in danger anymore since Harvey was gone.

Rafael and Eliana were a normal wedded couple now, there was no deal binding them together. They were together because they wanted to.

Rafael has become more affectionate, it wasn't easy for him but he was trying. On the other hand, Eliana has become more confident and open about her own feelings. They were communicating well.

Casey has been through a lot but she is recovering. Her bond with Remi and Milo grew a lot, they were still fighting but it was not hostile, more sibling-like behavior. She was doing way better in school because the tutors and therapy have been helping her first and foremost with managing anger that was caused by the mourning process. After Casey's parents' death, she has been stuck at an anger stage, and with therapy, she was slowly moving towards acceptance.

Eliana couldn't stop thinking about how things have changed. Yesterday she was at the court hearing today she was an owner of a profitable company and she had millions in her bank account. After such a long period of time when she had nothing. It was bizarre and surreal.

With all that in mind, she was only temporarily the sole owner of her company. To keep her end of the deal she had to give her husband 50% of the shares.

She already had all the papers prepared. She took a deep breath to mentally get ready for the conversation with her husband. Rafael was a dangerous person to negotiate with. She just hoped she won't get eaten as she opened the door of his office. 

Author's note: 

I am writing this because many of you said that the story is incomplete. I am trying to finish it but I am bad at finishing my stories, eh.