The building trembled again.
Dust scattered from the ceiling while distant gunfire echoed outside, but somehow none of it felt louder than the silence between Rachel and Raziel.
Or the look on Daniel's face.
Because Rachel's younger brother stood there staring at Raziel like he was trying to decide whether to thank him…
Or punch him.
Maybe both.
"You loved him before you remembered him."
The words still hung heavily in the air after Daniel said them.
Rachel hated how hard her heart reacted to that.
Because deep down
She already knew it was true.
Raziel's eyes stayed fixed on her.
Steady.
Intense.
Like hearing it out loud mattered more to him than it should have.
Rachel suddenly couldn't breathe properly.
Very annoying timing.
Daniel looked between both of them and sighed tiredly.
"…yeah. This is worse than I thought."
Rachel blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You're looking at him the same way again."
Her cheeks warmed immediately.
"No, I'm not."
Daniel gave her a look.
Rachel instantly looked away.
Traitorous face.
Cassian snorted softly from the corner.
"She definitely is."
"Cassian," Raziel warned.
"What? I'm helping."
"You're not."
Rachel rubbed her forehead.
Her life had become deeply unserious.
One minute gunfire.
Next minute everybody was analyzing her eye contact.
Daniel finally stepped closer toward her again.
And despite being twenty now, despite the sharper features and the harder expression life had clearly given him
Rachel still saw glimpses of the fourteen-year-old boy who used to follow her around complaining about homework.
That realization hit unexpectedly hard.
"You disappeared for two years," Daniel said quietly.
The softness in his voice made Rachel's chest tighten.
"I thought you were dead."
Silence.
Real silence this time.
Even Cassian stopped talking.
Rachel swallowed slowly.
"I'm sorry."
Daniel shook his head immediately.
"You don't apologize for that."
His eyes shifted briefly toward Raziel.
"You apologize for letting him ruin your life."
Rachel blinked.
Raziel's expression darkened instantly.
Oh God.
Here we go.
"Daniel," Rachel warned softly.
"No," he replied firmly, still staring at Raziel. "You don't know what he became after you disappeared."
Rachel's eyes moved toward Raziel automatically.
And for the first time
He looked away first.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Daniel laughed once without humor.
"He stopped sleeping."
Cassian nodded immediately.
"True."
"He nearly killed one of his own men because they lost your location for twenty minutes."
Lucien muttered, "To be fair, that guy was incompetent."
Rachel stared at all of them.
"…what?"
Raziel looked completely unbothered.
That was somehow the worst part.
Daniel folded his arms tightly.
"You think this man is calm because he acts composed around you."
Rachel looked back at Raziel again slowly.
Daniel continued:
"He burned through millions searching for you."
Silence.
"He bought entire buildings because he thought you might've been there."
Rachel's stomach flipped slightly.
No.
Absolutely not.
Cassian looked amused now.
"Oh, tell her about the café."
Rachel frowned immediately.
"What café?"
Daniel looked deeply exhausted.
"The café you worked at before all this."
Rachel's eyes narrowed slowly toward Raziel.
"…what about it?"
Nobody answered quickly enough.
Again.
Suspicious.
Then Daniel said the sentence that nearly made her choke.
"He used to sit outside pretending to read financial reports just to watch you close the shop safely."
Rachel turned toward Raziel so fast she almost got dizzy.
"You WHAT?"
Cassian burst out laughing immediately.
Lucien physically looked away to hide his smile.
Even Adrian seemed entertained now.
Traitors.
All of them.
Raziel remained completely calm somehow.
"You walked home alone."
"That does not explain stalking."
"I was making sure nobody followed you."
Rachel stared at him in disbelief.
"You didn't even know me."
"I knew enough."
God.
That voice again.
That low calm voice that made every insane thing he said somehow sound romantic.
It was honestly manipulative at this point.
Daniel pointed at Raziel immediately.
"You see? THIS is what I mean."
Rachel looked back at him weakly.
"…okay but that was slightly attractive."
Daniel looked horrified.
"Rachel."
"What?!"
Cassian almost fell over laughing.
Raziel's attention stayed entirely on her now.
Not the guards.
Not the collapsing building.
Her.
Always her.
"You used to smile at customers even when your feet hurt."
Rachel's breath caught slightly.
Because that was such a small detail.
The kind people usually didn't notice.
"You always bought cheap coffee after work," he continued quietly, "but you hated the taste."
Rachel stared at him.
"…how do you know that?"
"You made the same face every time you drank it."
Oh.
That hit harder than expected.
The atmosphere shifted subtly.
Softer now.
Warmer.
And Rachel realized something terrifying.
This man had been paying attention to her long before she became important to him.
Before the danger.
Before the obsession.
Before all of this.
Daniel watched her expression carefully and sighed.
"Yeah. That's the exact face you used to make whenever his name came up."
Rachel blinked.
"…my WHAT?"
"You talked about him constantly after you met."
Rachel froze instantly.
Raziel did too.
Interesting.
Daniel smirked slightly for the first time tonight.
"Oh yeah. You thought you hid it well."
Rachel wanted to disappear immediately.
"You'd pretend you hated him," Daniel continued, "then spend thirty minutes defending him whenever people criticized him."
Cassian looked delighted.
"This is beautiful."
Lucien nodded. "I'm enjoying this more than I should."
Rachel covered her face briefly.
"No. Absolutely not."
Daniel ignored her completely.
"She used to get mad whenever tabloids called you heartless."
Raziel's gaze shifted slowly toward Rachel again.
Dangerously soft now.
"You defended me?"
Rachel's face burned.
"…you donated to orphanages."
The room went quiet.
Rachel immediately regretted speaking.
Raziel stared at her carefully.
"That's what you noticed?"
Rachel avoided eye contact instantly.
"You funded children's hospitals too."
A pause.
"You acted like nobody was supposed to know."
Silence settled around them again.
But softer this time.
More intimate.
Daniel shook his head tiredly.
"You were already in love with him before he even spoke to you properly."
Rachel groaned softly.
"This conversation feels deeply violating."
Another tremor shook the building violently.
Everybody finally snapped back to reality.
Right.
Danger.
Armed men.
Possible death.
Important details.
Adrian checked his weapon quickly.
"We need to move. Now."
Daniel nodded immediately.
"My car's downstairs."
Rachel blinked.
"You drove here?"
Daniel looked offended.
"What was I supposed to do? Uber into a mafia shootout?"
Shockingly
Raziel almost smiled again.
Tiny.
Brief.
Still there.
And Rachel noticed immediately.
Then Daniel's expression hardened as he looked back at Raziel.
"But before we leave…"
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Cold again.
Tense.
Daniel stepped directly in front of Raziel now.
Close enough to challenge him.
And unlike everybody else
He didn't look intimidated at all.
"You protect her."
The words came low.
Sharp.
Personal.
Raziel's gaze stayed steady.
"I always will."
Daniel's jaw tightened slightly.
"If she cries because of you…"
Rachel held her breath.
Daniel's voice dropped lower.
"…I don't care how rich, powerful, or feared you are."
A pause.
Pure warning.
"I'll become the worst mistake of your life."
Silence crushed the room immediately.
And for the first time tonight
Raziel smiled fully.
Not amused.
Not mocking.
Something darker.
More dangerous.
Then quietly
He answered:
"Get in line."
For one dangerous second
Nobody moved.
The tension between Daniel and Raziel filled the entire room like smoke.
Rachel honestly felt like she was watching two wolves silently decide who got to stand closest to her.
Which was both stressful…
And weirdly attractive.
She needed help.
Cassian broke the silence first.
"Oh, this family dynamic is insane."
Lucien nodded immediately.
"I need alcohol."
"You always need alcohol."
"True."
Rachel rubbed her temples tiredly.
The building was literally collapsing around them and somehow the biggest issue currently happening was masculine emotional warfare.
Fantastic.
Daniel finally stepped back first.
Not because he was intimidated.
Rachel noticed that immediately.
He stepped back because of her.
Because she looked overwhelmed.
That small detail softened something inside her chest instantly.
"Can we leave before somebody else starts threatening murder?" she muttered.
Cassian pointed toward Raziel.
"No promises."
Raziel looked completely calm again.
Which honestly felt more threatening than the violence earlier.
Adrian moved toward the hallway carefully, checking the corridor outside.
"Path's temporarily clear."
"Temporarily?" Rachel repeated weakly.
Nobody answered.
Terrible group.
Raziel reached for her instinctively as they started moving.
His hand settling against the small of her back naturally.
Possessively.
Guiding her forward.
Rachel felt the warmth of his palm through the fabric of her dress immediately.
And annoyingly
Her body reacted to him before her brain could.
Again.
Daniel noticed instantly.
His expression became deeply tired.
"…I can't even fight this anymore."
Rachel looked at him defensively.
"We're literally under attack right now."
"That's not the point."
"It absolutely feels like the point."
The hallway outside looked destroyed.
Broken lights flickered overhead while smoke drifted through the corridor.
Somewhere deeper inside the building, alarms continued screaming.
Rachel stepped carefully over shattered glass as the men surrounded her instinctively.
Protective formation.
Interesting.
And yet despite all of them being armed
Raziel stayed closest.
Always closest.
Rachel noticed something else too.
Every few seconds his eyes shifted toward her automatically.
Checking her.
Making sure she was still there.
Still safe.
Still beside him.
The realization settled heavily in her chest.
This man really had been terrified of losing her.
They reached the elevator lobby quickly.
Or what was left of it.
One side of the wall had completely collapsed, exposing flashing city lights far below.
Rachel immediately stepped back.
"Nope."
Lucien glanced at her.
"You scared of heights?"
"I'm scared of dying."
"Reasonable."
Daniel pressed the elevator button repeatedly.
Nothing happened.
Of course.
Cassian sighed dramatically.
"We're taking the stairs."
Rachel looked horrified.
"This building has like fifty floors."
Adrian looked at her calmly.
"And?"
"And I'm emotionally exhausted."
Shockingly
Raziel's mouth twitched slightly again.
Rachel caught it immediately.
So did Daniel.
"You smile too much around her now," Daniel muttered suspiciously.
Raziel looked completely serious again instantly.
"I don't."
"You literally just did."
"No."
Cassian looked disgusted.
"Oh, he's in deep."
Rachel tried not to smile.
Failed slightly.
Raziel noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
God.
This man noticed everything.
The stairwell was quieter than the rest of the building.
Dim emergency lights cast soft shadows across the concrete walls while distant chaos echoed from below.
And for the first time all night
Things felt strangely intimate.
Smaller somehow.
Rachel walked beside Raziel silently for a while.
Daniel stayed slightly ahead with the others, checking each floor carefully as they descended.
Which meant
For the first time tonight
Rachel and Raziel had a moment alone.
Sort of.
She glanced toward him quietly.
"…you really watched me before we met?"
Raziel didn't answer immediately.
Then
"Yes."
No embarrassment.
No denial.
Just honesty.
Rachel looked ahead again.
"…that should probably scare me."
"It doesn't."
The confidence in his voice irritated her slightly because unfortunately
He was right.
Another few steps passed quietly.
Then Rachel asked softly,
"How long?"
Raziel's gaze shifted toward her.
"Eight months before I approached you."
Rachel nearly missed a step.
"EIGHT MONTHS?"
Daniel turned around instantly from several steps ahead.
"See?! THIS is what I'm talking about."
Cassian looked delighted again.
"I knew this conversation would feed families."
Rachel stared at Raziel in disbelief.
"You watched me for almost a year?"
"You were being followed."
Her expression shifted immediately.
"…what?"
Raziel's jaw tightened slightly.
"There were threats against you already."
The warmth from earlier faded instantly.
Rachel frowned.
"Why?"
Nobody answered quickly enough.
Again.
At this point she was developing trust issues professionally.
Raziel's voice lowered.
"You witnessed something you weren't supposed to."
Rachel blinked slowly.
"What did I witness?"
A pause.
Then
"A deal."
Rachel frowned harder.
"What kind of deal?"
This time Daniel answered quietly.
"The kind powerful men kill over."
Okay.
That sounded significantly more mafia romance and less weird science project.
Good.
Very good.
Rachel exhaled slowly.
"So all of this started because I accidentally saw something?"
Raziel nodded once.
"They would've eliminated you."
The cold certainty in his tone sent chills through her instantly.
Not dramatic.
Not emotional.
Just fact.
Rachel suddenly remembered something.
A man following her after work once.
Black car parked near the café repeatedly.
The strange feeling of being watched before Raziel ever entered her life.
Her stomach tightened slightly.
"…that was real?"
Raziel looked at her carefully.
"Yes."
Silence settled again.
But this time
It felt different.
Grounded.
Human.
Not experiments.
Not supernatural nonsense.
Just danger.
Powerful men.
And a billionaire mafia boss who became obsessed with protecting a waitress after she accidentally got involved in something deadly.
Much better.
They finally reached the underground parking level.
Luxury black vehicles lined the dim garage while armed guards moved carefully through the area.
Daniel's car sat near the far exit.
But before Rachel could move toward it
Raziel's hand caught her wrist gently.
She looked back immediately.
And the second their eyes met
The world felt quieter again somehow.
"You're shaking."
Rachel blinked slightly.
She hadn't even noticed.
Raziel stepped closer slowly.
Not forcing.
Not controlling.
Just there.
Solid.
Warm.
Safe.
"It's been a long night," she admitted softly.
His gaze searched her face carefully.
Like he was trying to memorize every emotion she felt.
Then quietly
Too quietly
He asked:
"…are you afraid of me now?"
The question hit her harder than anything else tonight.
Because for the first time
Raziel Benedict looked uncertain.
Not powerful.
Not feared.
Just a man waiting for the woman he loved to answer carefully.
Rachel stared at him for a long moment.
Then slowly
Her fingers curled lightly around his wrist.
And Raziel physically went still.
"No," she whispered honestly.
A pause.
Her eyes held his.
"I think the scary part is that maybe I should be."
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerously intimate.
Raziel's hand slowly tightened around hers.
Not enough to hurt.
Just enough to say: I'm here.
And somehow
That felt more dangerous than anything else tonight.
Then Daniel's voice suddenly echoed across the garage:
"IF YOU TWO START FLIRTING DURING A SHOOTOUT I'M LEAVING WITHOUT YOU."
Rachel jumped slightly.
Cassian burst out laughing.
Even Raziel finally looked amused openly.
And for one brief moment
The chaos faded.
Until headlights suddenly flooded the garage entrance.
Too bright.
Too fast.
Everybody turned instantly.
And Rachel's stomach dropped when three black SUVs sped violently into the underground level
Blocking the only exit.
The driver's door opened slowly.
A woman stepped out.
Tall.
Elegant.
Dangerously beautiful.
And the second Raziel saw her
His entire expression changed.
Rachel noticed immediately.
And for the first time tonight
Jealousy hit her hard enough to hurt.