18
Isa
Spain passed by in the windows as we made our way in the car that had been waiting for Rafael at the marina after docking his speedboat. It begged a very simple question. Something that made me realize just how little I knew of his life.
Was the McLaren his? If it was and he lived on another island, how did he get it to Ibiza?
I turned my head away from the window, studying the lines of his profile as he shifted gears and drove along the road. The corner of his mouth tipped up in an arrogant smirk. The same one I'd begun to get used to seeing when he noticed me watching him. It was a look that spoke to the fact that he knew just how handsome he was. That he knew he was irresistible to the female population. Every now and then the smirk took on a dark moment as he turned his eyes to mine, a hunter watching his prey and knowing he had it trapped exactly where he wanted it.
I hoped that part was unique to me, at least. I knew the arrogant smirk was likely shared with the women in his past. But the heat in his eyes felt unique, like he genuinely wanted me in the same way I wanted him.
Irreversibly. Uncontrollably.
Desperately.
I smiled, shaking my head despite the turbulent emotions running through me. He made me feel like I would combust inside my own body. Like he brought out a part of me that I'd never thought would see the light of day. I wanted to hate it, but I didn't.
He made me feel more like myself than I could ever remember being, and that scared the shit out of me.
"Tell me about your family," I said, turning my body in my seat as much as I could with my seatbelt fastened, so that I could get a better view of him.
"There isn't much to tell," he grunted. "My mother died when I was young. My father passed a few years ago," he said. "Neither had any family that they were particularly close to, with the exception of my father's brother. He lives further north with his sons. He and my father never got along, so much so that they moved to opposite corners of Spain to avoid one another. I spent some time with them when I was a child, but we're all typically too busy to spend any time together now."
He pulled off the main road and made his way along a smaller street as he slowed down. He nodded to a man we passed who stepped into the middle of the road after we'd gone. "Does anybody live with you on the island?"
"A great many people live on the island with me. I've made my own sort of family. Sometimes the bonds we form for ourselves are stronger than the ones we're given at birth. I live alone in my house, but we're a very close community."
"I'm glad you have that. I can't imagine all my family being gone," I sighed, wrinkling my nose when I realized it had probably been an insensitive thing to say. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't stress, Princesa," he chuckled. "I'm not one to be offended by such things." I breathed my relief, glancing to the ceiling. "You talked about your sister a bit. What about the rest of your family?"
"My mom and dad work a lot to be able to support us all. They don't have the highest paying jobs, but they're dedicated and they always made sure we had food on the table. They're strict. I think mostly because of Odina's tendency to rebel against every rule ever created. Then there's my grandmother. She's terrifying," I laughed. "She's my favorite person in the world. It terrifies me to think of her age and the fact that she won't live forever, you know?"
Tears stung my eyes as Rafe pulled the car into a parking spot at the front of the empty lot. I looked across the road, swallowing when my gaze landed on a natural pool with a waterfall near the back as the water curved around the corner of a rock face. They were empty. Not a single person was in sight despite the large parking lot, the only exception being a man who stood guard on the other side of the street with his back to the pond.
"Nobody can live forever,mi princesa. But she must have had joy in her life. Having you for her granddaughter," he said, reaching over to unbuckle my seatbelt when I didn't move. He chuckled and threw open his door, closing it behind him as he walked around the front of the car. His lips moved as he said something to the man on the other side of the street, but the blood roaring in my head prevented me from hearing a word of it.
When he pulled my door open, I didn't move to swing my legs out. Frozen to the seat as I glanced over at the hand he extended to guide me out of the car. "You can't be serious," I hissed, turning my head to glare at him.
"Come on, Princesa," he reached in, taking my hand in his grip and tugging me from the car so firmly that I stumbled.
"No!" I growled at him, tugging my hand back from his grip. "I'm not getting in that water, Rafael," I warned. I glared up at him, furious that he'd driven me all this way for something he had to know I wouldn't tolerate. "I can't believe you brought me here."
Shaking my head, I grabbed the handle on the car, determined to wait in there until he had his fun or gave up on his stupid idea. A lifetime of fear wouldn't just be overcome because he felt like going for a swim.
A pool was one thing. They had edges and people to help if something went wrong.
They weren't questionable in depth, but a defined depth for safety. Never again would I step foot in a natural body of water.
Rafe sighed, closing the small distance between us quicker than should have been possible and taking my wrist in his grip. His thumb stroked over the joint gently despite the suddenness with which he'd grabbed me. "I'll be with you the entire time."
"That doesn't mean I can just jump into a fucking lake with you! Are you kidding me right now?" I pulled back, feeling like the day had served as a convenient reminder of everything I needed to remember.
He didn't know me, and I didn't know him.
"Take me back to Ibiza, please."
He quirked a brow, that intense gaze of his turning unsettling as he stared down at me. "No," he said, his lip twisting with the words. My pulse quickened, sensing that small hint of something that lurked beneath the surface. With a glance at the man standing next to the walkway to go up and around the falls, I looked back to Rafe with a flare of my nostrils and purse of my lips.