Because Of Love

Rafe glared at the closed door, his good mood disappearing as fast as she’d ran from him. That hadn’t happened as he’d expected, but then again neither had last night. He had an inkling of the type of woman she was, but he’d thought that she would want to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her, or for the very least to cling to him. He’d had women glue themselves to him for much less than a kiss and they’d, they’d gone beyond just a kiss, though not far enough. But still! He’d never given a wider opening to anyone to get what they wanted from him. He was more than ready to give her whatever she wanted, he even signed the proposal without reading it for crying out loud! Not his finest moment, but at the instance he wanted something priceless from her, so parting with a few million a year was worth it. Had last night meant nothing to her? It had meant everything to him. For one, he’d slept again, not as well as he had with her in his arms but enough to put him in a good mood. He’d even laughed at the hickey on his neck, but now…

He stood for a while beside one of the guest chairs, his left fist punching down on the back rest in rhythm as his frustration slowly mounted. He was clearly wrong about this whole situation. The struggle wouldn’t be with his family accepting his relationship with Talia, it would be getting Talia to be in a relationship with him. Eventually his fist stilled and his head turned towards the ringing of his cellphone on his desk. He watched the lit screen for a while before he finally decided to answer it. He stepped closer to his desk, leaned over it and grabbed the noisy device. His thumb slid over the lit screen before he lifted it to his ear.

“Che cosa?” he barked into the receiver.

“Good morning to you too,” His cousin Angelo’s surprised voice came through.

Rafe stayed silent, his jaw clenched, an itch at the back of his neck. He wasn’t in the mood for sarcasm.

“Cugino, stai bene?”

The concern in his cousin’s voice only made the itch worse as the heel of his foot started to bounce. No, he wasn’t okay, he was far from it, but that wasn’t something he wanted Angelo to know. Of all his family, his cousin was the only one who knew him best, or to say it plainly, Rafe’s confidant. When he’d told Angelo that he’d wanted to crawl out of his skin, he suggested getting away, and knowing that his father would give him a difficult time over it, he discovered a problem in the Boston office, a perfect excuse for his escape. Yes, because that was what this trip was, an escape, and it didn’t seem to be working until he met her.

Talia, the stubborn siren!

“Rafe?”

“Si?” he finally responded.

“Do you need me to come down there?”

Rafe bit down at the back of his teeth harder. That was the last thing he needed, a nanny. Angelo had been the first one to voice out the word depression and Rafe had an inkling he was where his mother had picked it up from.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“No, but you need someone. You are not okay Rafe, and as much as your macho self won’t accept it, your sanity is hanging on by a thread. Maybe this going away wasn’t such a good idea.”

With a heavy sigh, Rafe closed his eyes and rubbed his brow with the fingers of his free hand. “I’m not seeing a shrink.”

“Of course not,” he said. Rafe could hear the sneer in his voice. “You can’t possibly have your family’s reputation ruined.”

When Angelo started cursing in Italian he was tempted to hang up but didn’t. His concern was valid, as annoying as it may be. Rafe was grateful for that, for him. He was probably the only one who didn’t want, nor need, anything from him. Rafe’s aunt married an average man. His father said it was her way of rebelling, but as he watched how happy she was in her normal family, Rafe realized she wasn’t rebelling, she had run away from the unrealistic demands and expectations, the farce that was the DeLuca family. She chose her happiness over a billion dollar inheritance. He envied that, the quiet free life. He envied even more how free Angelo was raised with normal expectations and no demands as to where he should go to school, who he should associate with, his grades, his girlfriends, his livelihood, his wife. Just thinking of Gabriella put Rafe in a bad mood. He always thought that once he took over from his father, he would be able to make his own decisions, live his own life, but he was never more wrong. The leash around his neck seemed to tighten with each passing year. Sometimes Rafe wondered if this success was even his. How much of it was his father and his strings behind the scenes and how much of it was Rafe’s own effort? Angelo was a self-made man. A successful lawyer who had offers from every top law firm in the country before Rafe begged him to join him at the DeLuca Empire. Rafe knew he wouldn’t have done it if Angelo hadn’t seen how desperate he was. He just couldn’t walk into that lion’s den alone. Rafe smiled quietly. There was no fronting with Angelo. He was the only one who saw him, flaws and all. Well, not anymore, there’s Talia… but she’s currently on the run from him. Maybe she saw his baggage and didn’t want anything to do with it? Or maybe he’d come on a little too strong? He couldn’t be blamed! She was the oasis to a mad driven thirsty man under a burning sun.

Rafe snorted a short laugh as Angelo kept going with the insults, all attacking his ego.

And everyone says I’m the one with the short fuse.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Cugino, how long is your tirade going to take? I still have work to do.”

“Inferno! Fine! You have a date with the boys tonight. Don’t miss it.”

With that declaration he hung up and Rafe was left wondering why he hadn’t told him about Talia. They had no secrets, but for some reason, he didn’t feel like sharing anything about her. He threw up his hands and went back to his chair. What did it matter anyway? The way she was acting, something was bound to turn into nothing.