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Chapter 22: The Agreement
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The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 23: A Visit From Rafe
I leave the zipper only half done and dart to the closet door. Rafe is here. What am I supposed to do? Tentatively, I open the door. Ashlyn is nowhere to be seen."Dante!" Rafe calls again. His voice sounds odd. "Dante, where the fuck are you? You fucking fuckwad."He's drunk. Or at least crazed out of his mind.I creep forward to the bedroom door. Now I hear footsteps moving toward the front of the house. They're too heavy to be Ashlyn's, so I suspect Dante has heard his brother's shouting.Sure enough, a moment later my ears pick up Dante's voice, but he's speaking too quietly for me to hear what he's saying. I open the bedroom door and move to the top of the stairs. Due to the curve of the stairs, I'm out of sight where I'm standing."Why don't we talk about this in my office?" Dante says."How the fuck are you so fucking calm?" Rafe demands as their footsteps move toward the back of the house.I know I should wait for Rafe to come looking for me, or for Dante to call for me,
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 24: "Prove To Me That You're Different"
Rafe's eyes burn into me as he repeats, "Why are you still here?"Every word vibrates through me like a kiss, a delicious but dangerous touch on my skin."They asked me to stay," I tell him. "Dante and Ashlyn.""That's not what I mean." He shifts ever-so-slightly nearer. "You were different than the others. And then you lied to me. So I'm going to ask you one more time - why are you still here?"I can hardly think straight. That look in his eyes...the heat of his breath on my face...the nearness of his body, up against me... All of it makes it impossible to put more than a few words together.But I have to. So I choke out the words."I never lied to you."He moves so fast I have no time to react. One moment he's leaning over me, the next he's turned and pushed me up against the door. Not violently - in spite of his intensity, I don't fear violence from him at all. In fact, I'm not even sure he touches me. It's just one minute he's leaning over me, and the next I'm against the do
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 25: Exactly What Rafe Needs
Rafe's nose wrinkles, his confusion visibly deepening, but I don't have time to explain it to him. My stomach lurches."Bathroom!" I say again, desperately, and his eyes finally seem to register some understanding. He steps back and points to a door on the far side of the room."Over there."I run. The dress falls down around my waist, but thankfully it's still zipped enough to stay up around my hips. I barely make it to the toilet before everything comes rushing up.I don't even hear Rafe come into the bathroom behind me. I only notice he's there when I feel a pair of hands pulling my hair back. The scent of him washes over me, and it's comforting, even as I puke my guts out.When I'm done, I sit back on my heels. I don't want to ruin any of Dante's and Ashlyn's fancy hand towels, so I grab some toilet paper from the roll and wipe my face before daring to look up at Rafe.His expression is unreadable. If anything, though, he's looking at me as if I were some sort of alien. Somet
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 26: A Fontaine Family Gathering
Somehow, I let Ashlyn talk me into a snug green dress that makes my breasts look three sizes larger than usual. I'm sure the pregnancy thing helps, too, but I can't remember my boobs ever looking even half this size.My hair is down around my shoulders, and I've crammed my feet into a strappy pair of Ashlyn's shoes. Ashlyn tries to convince me to wear some of her jewelry, too, but I draw the line at wearing someone else's fancy jewels - even if Ashlyn insists they're just from the mall. I'm not sure I believe her.Ashlyn seems to think that showing up at this party looking gorgeous will be enough to seduce Rafe. I have to laugh at her. If anyone is doing any seducing around here, it's definitely not going to be me. I lose my head every time I'm around Rafe. I can tell myself that my baby and I are better off without him...but that determination falls away the minute I fall into his eyes.I'm feeling oddly calm as we pull up to the party. Maybe I've just finally accepted how absurd a
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 27: Confrontation
Rafe's gaze burns into me, threatening to undo me.And then his mother is in front of him, blocking him from my view. The spell breaks. I turn back around quickly, sucking in the air that I'm suddenly able to breathe again.The whole thing has happened in a matter of seconds, and no one else appears to have noticed anything, thank goodness. I drink the rest of my water and pretend to listen to Luca's story.A couple of minutes later, I can feel Rafe's eyes on me again. This time, no matter how much I want to, I don't let myself turn. I try to pretend he isn't there. It works, sort of.The problem with not actually knowing Rafe very well is that I have no real idea of what he's going to do. Is he going to ignore me? Run right up and make a scene?After several long, dragging minutes pass, I can't stand it anymore and glance behind me again.He's gone over to where his father and Orlando are talking. But he's positioned himself so that he can still watch me, which explains why my s
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 28: It's Not Supposed To Be Like This
The moment Rafe kisses me, I'm powerless to do anything but fall into his arms. My head tilts back, allowing him full access to my mouth, and my arms wrap around him, sliding beneath his jacket and right up against his T-shirt. The fabric is thin enough to let me feel all the muscles of his back, and they shift beneath his skin as he hauls me against his body.We're never going to get anything settled if we keep falling into each other's arms every time we see each other. For the time being, though, I can't bring myself to care. We have a long time to figure out the whole baby thing. In this moment, I just want to be near him. To feel his body against mine.He walks me backwards into the bathroom. We push the door closed behind us, and I hear him click the lock on the knob. The moment we're safely alone, he grabs my skirt and pulls it up around my hips. I should stop him, but I don't. Instead, I release his back and find the zipper of his pants. I push them down as he hooks his thumb
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 29: In Over My Head
Rafe doesn't answer me. But our gazes are still locked in the reflection of the mirror, and I swear, I see his walls begin to fall. Just a little. His hands tighten almost imperceptibly on my waist.And then a knock sounds on the door, making us jerk apart. The doorknob wiggles.I look up at Rafe in a panic. I should have expected someone to come looking for the bathroom at some point. But there's no way for us to leave without it being obvious exactly what was going on in here.Rafe just shrugs, his usual, wicked smile returning to his face. The man who was staring back at me in the mirror a moment ago - the man who I met at the river - is gone, and the more guarded Rafe is back. That Rafe doesn't seem to care if his family knows what we were doing.My eyes dart around the bathroom. There aren't any windows to escape through. No shower curtain to hide behind. If we stay in here long enough, maybe whoever's out there will give up and go find another bathroom, but we can't count on
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 30: A Brief History of Rafe
Someone comes up behind us. "Where'd Rafe run off to?"It's Luca, and he grins and hangs an arm around Ashlyn's shoulder, watching his brother's back disappear down the hallway. "Is he on the phone?""Weird, right?" Ashlyn says. "I was just telling Edie how strange that is. She has no idea what he's up to, either.""To be fair, I don't know him that well." Even if I'm having his baby. Admitting that around his family - who may or may not know the whole story - makes me blush harder, and I silently curse myself. I need to learn how to control myself around these people. I can't turn into a tomato every time I'm slightly embarrassed. I wish I could be more like Ashlyn - self-assured and confident, even around these celebrities. I feel like everyone here can see right through me.If Luca notices how red I am, he doesn't rub it in."Well, if you want to learn more about Rafe, you've come to the right place," he says. "Have I got some stories for you. Did he tell you about the time he
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