Beneath the Waves

Chapter: 2 crashing waves

Rafe’s warning lingered in Isabella’s mind, but she refused to let it dictate her life. The Pogues were her family in a way the Kooks could never be. Still, their worlds collided more often than she liked, especially when her parents threw their lavish parties.

At one gathering, Isabella found herself cornered by Rafe again. This time, he wasn’t angry. He was drunk, the faint scent of whiskey and something sharper on his breath as he leaned against the bar beside her.

“You’re making this hard, you know,” he slurred, his words dangerously soft. “Playing both sides. Picking them over us.”

Isabella frowned, her own drink forgotten in her hand. “Maybe because ‘us’ has never felt like home. The Pogues don’t care where I come from. They care about me.”

Rafe’s jaw tightened. “They’re using you,” he snapped, his voice louder now. “You think they really see you as one of them? You’re just a Kook playing dress-up.”

Her temper flared. “And you’re just a spoiled brat trying to prove something to your daddy,” she shot back, stepping closer so her voice wouldn’t carry. “At least the Pogues don’t treat me like property.”

The fire in her eyes seemed to challenge him, and for a split second, he didn’t have a retort. Instead, he studied her like she was a puzzle he couldn’t solve. Then, without warning, he grabbed her wrist—not hard enough to hurt but firm enough to make her pause.

“You don’t belong with them,” he said, quieter this time. There was something raw in his voice, something almost vulnerable. It threw her off guard.

“Let go of me, Rafe,” she whispered, her pulse racing.

He hesitated, his grip loosening just slightly. But his gaze didn’t leave hers, and for the first time, Isabella saw something in him she didn’t understand. Not anger, not hate—something deeper, darker, and far more dangerous.