A love like ours ✔️

♚39.All along

Rafael

Star throws me a worried look before her chest , constricted in the offending white dress, rises as she inhales deeply. She holds her breath in for second and I can see her entering the trained assassin mode when she exhales. The eyes that I've missed so much sparkle with determination.

"Has everyone heard the conversation?" She asks, pointing to the earpice that I use to communicate with the others.

"They did." I confirm. Reaching in my pocket I grip a small similar device between my fingers, offering it to her.

"You and your spares." She smirks. Her soft hand grazes mine when she takes the device to put it in her ear. "Everybody copy?"

A moment later, familiar voices flood the line that has been very quiet so far.

"If you dare pull anything like this again I'll kill you myself, darling." Apolo sighs in relief.

"Perhaps you shouldn't threaten her when my brother is listening, you know how he gets. I bet he'll be even worse now." Dante warns jokingly, not knowing exactly how right he is. "We've missed you, Raya. Welcome back."

"I've missed you too, but now's not the time for this." The skirt of her dress rustles lightly as she heads for her vanity. She looks herslef in the big mirror and grabs a cotton disc that she soaks in makeup remover, I presume, so she can clean her ruined makeup.

"So I shouldn't point out that you're about to create your own reverse harem of husbands?" Dante laughs, making it obvious that they'd all overheard the conversation that took place earlier.

Every muscle in my body goes tense at the reminder and I dart my eyes to the wallpaper that decorates the wall behind the king sized bed, counting the birds on it to bring the fury that's boiling my blood to a simmer.

"Don't be ridiculous." She huffs, the sound bringing my attention back to her. She's gathering her long hair in a low ponytail that she styles quickly. Why she's fixing her appearance when she's not about to walk down that isle is beyond me. "There'd need to be at least 3 men for that to happen, and I'm only on my second one."

"Soraya." I warn, clenching my fist.

A feminine laugh makes Addie's presence known. "You've got to give it to her, she'd have broken the record at how quickly you can become a widow."

"She could earn a cool nickname like 'The black widow.'" Lo jumps in. "But then balck widows kill their partners only after mating with them."

Ray ignores him. "What are you doing here, Addie?"

"Helping them bring you back, obviously."

"Fuck! This was a trap to lure you all in." Star snaps going to her closet to take out a pair of white sneakers. "Who's watching Lia and Em? What if Luis made them targets?"

"They're on good hands with Damiano and Enzo, calm your tits down."

"All right. Good." She concedes, taking a seat on her bed so she can put on her shoes. Once her the laces are tied she focuses her attention on her brother that so far has been watching her every move patiently. "Sal, what did you do with the guard on the hallway?"

"I tied him up and put him in my bathroom." He shrugs, running a hand trough his short beard. "It's not ideal, but you can blame it on Russo's sloppiness."

"Careful, Cortéz." I glower at him. This mother fucker has always been a pain in my ass and now I have to act civil with him. It was easier when I was planning on killing him.

"Jesus.You can measure your dicks later." Star rolls her eyes. "Now listen up everybody, we need to adjust our plans and do so quickly. Salvador's and our people will have to work together, even though they hate each other. There's no other option. Before you showed up I was planning to have him marry me, kill him and his cousin, then have Salvador take over his Cartel. I still do."