24
Isa
Chloe wouldn't answer her phone, and Hugo went silent after texting me to let me know he'd gotten himself and Chloe out of the club and safely away from whatever had gone down. Fear for Rafe was only overcome with my own fury. I was so fucking done with being ushered away when people he knew made themselves known. Was he ashamed of being with me? Was there a reason he shouldn't have been with me?
Or was I just really so far in over my head that I couldn't even begin to fathom the reality?
My fingers twitched on my phone, anxious to hear from my friends and not knowing if I should finally take the leap and find my own answers in a moment of desperation. Nothing could be worth the secrets between us.
People who loved one another didn't keep secrets, and the thought was a jarring reminder of a single truth that I'd somehow let myself forget and needed to be reminded of.
Rafael Ibarra didn't love me.
If he had, he would have said the words. He'd have told me the truth in a bid to get me to stay with him, but he'd never so much as asked me to extend my stay in Spain. He'd never hinted that it might be what he wanted. His passionate comments about me being his weren't enough.
In my heart, I'd wanted to believe they were some dramatic confession of his love for me. That they were the words of a man who didn't know how to express his heart, but Rafe wasn't a high school boy. He had no problems communicating what he wanted me to know.
I'd let myself fall in love with a man who would never return those feelings, and tears stung my eyes with the realization that some part of me had clung to the hope that he would reciprocate. That going our separate ways when it ended would somehow be easier knowing he loved me and thought of me when we were an ocean apart.
I'd still have gone home. I'd still have done what was expected of me, but I would have done it with a bittersweet smile when I remembered him at every turn. When the next man couldn't compare, I'd think of him and hope he was happy. I’d smile and remember that he’d shown me how to live, even just for a little while.
Knowing I'd been so stupid stripped all that away from me. I couldn't even blame him, since he'd made me no promises beyond our week together. Like always, my decision to trust the wrong person rested on my shoulders entirely.
Hopefully this time, it wouldn't hurt anyone else. I couldn't survive that guilt again.
His odd statement as he'd tucked me into the car and sent me away was the only piece that I somehow still clung to. Even as the jagged shards threatened to tear through my flesh, I held tight to the one remote possibility that men in his world protected their queen at all costs. My blood coated the fragments of hope as I thought back to all our time together, wondering if I was the Queen he would protect.
But he didn't call me his Queen, he called mePrincesa.
So who was the Queen in his life?
The first tear tracked down my cheek, startling me into shock as I hurried to the balcony and threw open the glass doors. The warm night air hit my face as I leaned over the glass railing, looking down on the beach and where the slight waves lapped at the shoreline in the dark.
It felt like hours had passed since I'd returned to an empty suite, staring at the reminders of Rafe all over the room. Looking everywhere he'd touched me, everywhere he'd sat and smiled at me as I fell deeper in love with him every day. Tears dropped onto the railing steadily while I waited, frozen in place and unable to find the strength to move. I turned to look back at the bedroom door, considering my options and the bag I'd kept packed to make a quick escape if I needed to.
My phone rang in my hands, terrifying me so much that I jolted in place and dropped it to the floor with a heavy thump. Chloe's name flashed on the screen, the photo of us together at graduation staring up at me from the floor as I picked it up with trembling fingers. I swallowed and considered not answering, despite how much I wanted to know if she was okay.
Somehow, I knew in my gut that whatever she had to say would break me. That those shards would shred the last pieces of my soul that I clung to. Still, I took a deep breath and hit the button to accept her call.
"Isa," Chloe's harsh whisper said over the phone.
"It's me," I said, my voice quivering as I tried to hold it steady. "You okay?"
"Get out. God, Isa you have to fucking get out of there right now. Before he comes back."
"What?" I whispered, hating the fear that filled her voice. Fear for me. Fear that I felt down to my bones as I moved to the closet and shoved the last of my things into the bag. I tucked it back behind Rafe's suits so he wouldn't immediately see it when he came back.
Even with the warning filling my body with dread, the thought of never seeing him again tore me in two.
"He's a murderer, Isa," she whispered on the other end as a loud banging echoed in the background. "Get out. Go to the embassy. I'll meet you there as soon as I can."
My voice didn’t convey the shock I felt.Nothingcould come even close to hinting at the feeling slithering through my body. "Are you sure?" I asked.
"I wouldn't do this if I wasn't. Just get out," she growled. The line disconnected as I went back out to the balcony to grab my purse with my passport and wallet. I hurried forward on shaky legs, snatching it off the table where we'd played chess only the day before. It felt like a lifetime ago that I'd done something so simple with him.
I'd played chess...with a murderer?
My mind was a jumbled mess as I clutched the strap in the palm of my hand. I spun to go back inside through the door, stopping mid-step as my eyes landed on the face glaring at me and then at the purse in my hand.