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Fix You (The Irish Rogues #3) Chapter Eight Raphael 26%
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Chapter Eight Raphael

T he morning after Callum and Caterina’s wedding reception, I woke up to a brass band marching through my head. With a grunt, I rolled over in bed and lamented all the fucking Irish whiskey I’d consumed after Maeve demanded I leave her on the roof. My ego had been more than a little bruised by her reaction to my kiss, so I’d very maturely drowned my sorrows in copious amounts of alcohol.

At my lamentation over the whiskey, thoughts of Maeve immediately entered my aching head. Fuck. What a mess. While I’d known better than to even remotely get involved with Callum’s sister, I’d once again let the head below my waist do my decision making. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. She’d wanted me to kiss her. She was enjoying my kiss. She’d said she was fine with my hands on her body.

But then she wasn’t.

I didn’t know if it was me going too far or if it was her regretting letting me kiss and touch her. I didn’t know if she was just so embarrassed about puking or if she just wanted to get rid of me. After all, Maeve wasn’t like other women. If I didn’t have a clue about your average woman, I sure as hell didn’t with her.

In the end, it wasn’t like I could ask anyone for advice. I wasn’t supposed to be kissing and groping Maeve. I imagined the best thing I could do for the both of us was to leave her the hell alone. Nothing good could possibly come from pursuing her. The new alliance with the Kavanaughs was far too precarious to risk it by rocking the boat. Most importantly, I had a future arranged marriage hanging over my head.

I pushed myself up in bed. When I stumbled into the room last night, I hadn’t taken in much of the décor. I’d ended up sprawled out on the bottom of one of the bunk beds. I guess Leo or Gianni had slept above me since they were less plastered.

With a groan, I reached over to the nightstand to grab my phone. I’d just logged our flight plan to leave at nine when a text dinged from Caterina.

Wake up, sleepyhead! Come upstairs and have breakfast with me and your brothers.

The jet is leaving at nine

??You own the jet, so just reschedule.

Marriage has made you even bossier.

Pretty please.

Fine.

Of course my sister would throw a wrench into my plans to get the hell out of here. Since I was forever incapable of telling her no, I rescheduled for noon and then hit the shower.

As I lathered up, my mind once again went to Maeve. My concern and overwhelming regret over what happened soon vanished and were replaced by illicit thoughts of her. Damn, she was so fucking beautiful–one of the most beautiful I’d ever been with. She’d felt like heaven pressed against me. At the thought of her firm breast in my hand and my tongue in her mouth, my cock became painfully erect.

Jerking off to Maeve’s image in her brothers’ house was the last fucking thing I should’ve been doing, but I still palmed my erection. With a groan, I jerked my soapy hand up and down the stiff length.

I imagined having Maeve inside the shower with me. Her alabaster skin shone under the track lighting in the bathroom. Her dusty pink nipples peeked out from the long auburn strands of her hair. She wore the same coy smile she’d given me last night when she’d crooked her finger at me to collect on her bet.

Dipping my head, I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth. Maeve’s hands came to my head, her nails raking through my hair, causing me to shudder. “Mmm, Rafe,” she moaned. My cock grew even harder at the sound of my name on her lips. More than anything, I wanted to hear my name with her echoes of pleasure.

With my mouth sucking her hardened peak, my hand slid over her taut stomach and between her legs. When I began stroking her clit, her nails raked almost painfully against my scalp. Maeve’s hips began rocking against my hand. When I thrust two fingers deep inside her, she gasped while I grunted at the feel of her slick, tight walls.

As I furiously jerked my cock, I finger fucked Maeve’s pussy. Her arousal coated my fingers, and I wanted nothing more than to taste her sweet center. More than tasting her, I wanted to replace my fingers with my cock. I wanted to pound in and out of her tight cunt.

When her walls began to clench around my fingers, I found my own release. Ropes of cum shot onto the marble wall as I pumped my cock and imagined Maeve’s body satiated with the pleasure I’d given her.

As I came down from my high, I stared down at my slackening cock in disgust. What the fuck was wrong with me? Maeve wasn’t a sleazy fantasy to get my rocks off to. She was kind and gentle and had a wonderful sense of humor.

When I stepped out of the shower and caught my reflection in the mirror, I shook my head. “You’re a disgusting fuck, Raphael Neretti,” I muttered.

After throwing on yesterday’s clothes, I hurried out of the bedroom. Pounding up the steps, my mind worked overtime to what I was going to say to Maeve when I saw her again. When I stepped into the dining room, I craned my neck to search the table for her.

Fuck. She wasn’t at the table. Immediately I reasoned it had to be because after what happened last night, she didn’t want to risk seeing me. Was it because she was embarrassed or disgusted?

I took a reluctant seat between Gianni and Kellan. I gave Callum a reluctant nod when he managed to look up from his iPad for a moment. Although I’d fully expected the breakfast spread to be all Irish foods, my brows popped at the sight of a basket of Brioche col tuppo.

Turning to Gianni, I asked, “Did you run out to get these?”

As he shook his head, the silver-haired cook spoke from the head of the table. “That was my doing,” she replied, as she sat down a platter of eggs.

I smiled at her. “My brothers and I thank you. I never imagined a Sicilian treat in the middle of an Irish spread.”

With a wink, she replied, “It’s your sister you should be thanking. She had me make a run to the bakery this morning.”

Of course she had. Caterina had the kindest heart of any woman I’d ever known. She certainly hadn’t inherited it from our mother. Growing up, my mother had handed off her maternal duty to our nanny, Talia. Whatever goodness and kindness there was within us was because of Talia.

At that moment, Caterina entered the dining room with a pitcher of orange juice. When she saw me, a beaming smile lit up her face. “There’s the sleepyhead!”

Caterina then threw her arms around me and squeezed tight. “I hate our visit was so short. I’m going to miss you guys so much.”

Leo grinned at her from across the table. “Don’t worry, sis. Just as we promised now that you’re stateside again, you’ll get sick of seeing us.”

“I can’t wait,” she mused with a wide smile.

Callum motioned to the chair next to him. “Come back and eat, Kitten.”

Wanting to needle him a little, I scooted over. “Pull up a chair between me and Gianni.”

Inwardly, I chuckled at the pissed look that Callum shot me. With a huff, Caterina pushed away from me. Her lips turned down in a pout as she glanced between me and Callum. “I meant it when I said I wanted you both to be friends.”

Callum gave Caterina a tight smile. “We’ve barely been face to face for twenty-four hours. There’s a lot of years of animosity to get over before that can happen.”

Easing back in my chair, I countered, “Especially since you didn’t even trust me to dance with your sister.”

My words caused not just Callum to stiffen around the table. “Maeve is a special case,” Callum bit out.

“So is Caterina,” I countered.

With a shake of his head, Callum countered. “It’s not the same. Your sister wasn’t–”

A cheerful voice bellowed from the doorway, cutting him off. “Good morning!” Orla called comically loud. Considering my hangover, the tone was irritatingly painful.

As the others' attention went to Orla, I noticed Caterina’s slight shake of her head at Callum to which he nodded. I couldn’t help wondering what they were trying to hide about Maeve.

Behind Orla was Eamon. Once they all sat down, I noted Maeve’s absence. Chewing my Brioche col tuppo, I fought the urge to ask about her.

Thankfully, Callum addressed it for me. “Where’s Maeve?” he questioned his mother.

Orla’s cheerful expression slipped slightly before she playfully tittered, “The naughty minx must’ve celebrated a little too hard last night. I couldn’t drag her from the bed no matter how hard I tried.”

Her words sent a pang reverberating through my chest. Maeve had barely had more than one flute of champagne. Unless she had gotten drunk after I left, it was all a ruse to keep from seeing me.

Throughout the rest of breakfast, I feigned interest in the conversations around me. Luckily, no one pressed me for what was wrong. There was also the fact that most everyone around me was epically hungover.

Despite sitting around the table for almost an hour, Maeve never came downstairs. With time ticking to get to the airport, I rose from my chair. “We better get going.”

After making goodbyes with the Kavanaugh brothers, we started to the front door. I couldn’t help craning my neck up the stairs. More than anything, I wanted to go find Maeve to check on her. But I knew if her brothers found me anywhere alone with her in a bedroom all hell would break loose. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask Caterina to check on her, but I knew that would raise suspicion as well.

In the end, I fell into step behind the others as we headed out into the Boston sunshine. When we got to the waiting SUV, I wasn’t surprised to see tears in Caterina’s eyes. “Don’t cry, Kitty Cat,” Gianni implored.

She hiccupped a sob. “I’m sorry I’ve been so emotional.”

“It’s not surprising considering the ordeal you’ve been through,” I said.

While Callum rolled his eyes at my statement, Caterina shook her head. “Please don’t make this about my kidnapping.”

“Fine,” I muttered.

To both my surprise and disgust, Callum slid his arm around Caterina’s waist and drew her against him. “Despite me being a prick about it in the meeting yesterday, you have my word that you can visit your brothers any time you want.”

She smiled up at him through her tears. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” he mused.

After bestowing a somewhat chaste kiss on his lips, she moved on to start hugging Gianni. Callum and I stared at each other, silently daring the other to relent first. Since my sister’s happiness was tied to the fucker, I decided to be the better man. I extended my hand. “I look forward to the continued benefits of our alliance.”

“As do I.”

“I appreciate the happiness that you’ve put on my sister’s face.” Squeezing down on his hand, I added, “I expect you to keep it that way.”

“Rafe!” Caterina admonished as she jerked away from Gianni.

While my brothers chuckled, Callum kept his face impassive. “As I did before, I give you my word that I will ensure Caterina’s health and happiness to the best of my ability.”

“I thank you for that.” Nodding at Leo and Gianni, I said, “We all do.”

“And you’ll ensure her safety and mine?” he countered, referencing what I’d told him about making Father promise not to threaten Callum.

“Absolutely.” Flickering my gaze to Caterina, I said, “We’d walk through fire to protect her.” When I looked back at Callum, I added, “And because of her, we’ll do the same for you.”

Callum’s menacing expression faded. “You have my gratitude.”

“Thank you. As you have ours.”

With one last hug, I started to duck inside the SUV. But as I raised my leg, I froze. Turning back to Callum, I said, “Give our regards to your brothers and sister.”

At the mention of Maeve, Callum tensed. “Thank you for dancing with Maeve.”

“It was my pleasure.”

At the mention of pleasure and Maeve, Callum’s fist clenched at his side. Without another word, I slipped into the SUV and closed the door. As the SUV lurched forward, I glanced out the window to the house. In the top right window, the curtains flickered slightly. As I peered through the tinted glass, I saw Maeve’s face for a fleeting moment before the SUV disappeared down the street.

I’d hoped once we’d gotten airborne and headed home that the ache in my chest would wane. But it didn’t. It remained steady long into the relatively short flight.

When the captain came over the speakers to inform us to prepare to land, Leandro flopped down in the chair beside me. “Why are you so quiet?”

With a shrug, I replied, “Just thinking.”

Leo cocked his brows at me. “You’re not plotting our new brother-in-law’s murder already, are you?”

I chuckled. “I think we can put that one safely on the back-burner.” Despite giving Callum shit, I truly believed in our alliance. But more than that, I knew he would be good to Caterina, and she was more important than any fucking alliance.

“Then what’s eating you?”

I leaned forward in my seat. After opening my mouth, I closed it. I couldn’t seem to find the words I needed. With a ragged breath, I shifted in my seat. Each time it was on the tip of my tongue, I grimaced or shook my head.

At my hesitation, Leo and Gianni exchanged a look. “Fuck man, put us out of our misery and spit it out,” Leo demanded.

Throwing my hands up, I blurted, “Have you ever had a woman throw up?”

Leo’s brows slanted in confusion. “Set the scene. Like have we been drinking?”

“No. Not like that.” I huffed out a breath. “I mean during….a somewhat intimate moment..”

While Leo’s lip rolled in disgust at the image I painted, Gianni nodded. “Once after a blow job was too intense.”

At my grunt, Leo snorted. “I’m impressed you managed that with your pencil dick.”

I barked out a laugh as Gianni playfully shoved Leo. “For your information, she warned me she had an intense gag reflex, but I thought she was just shooting me a line. One thrust to the back of her throat later, and I found out she wasn’t shitting me.”

Rolling my eyes, I grumbled, “Jesus.”

Gianni shrugged. “You’re the one who asked.”

“Yeah, I’m fucking regretting it.”

Tilting his head, Leo peered curiously at me. “Did you meet up with someone else besides Maeve last night?”

Before I could reply, Gianni said, “Well, that’s fucking obvious it had to be another lass. I mean, it sure as hell wouldn’t have been her choking on his schlong last night.”

Before I could call him out for not only the Irish euphemisms but alluding to Maeve sucking me off, Leo replied, “He didn’t seal the deal because she puked on him.”

“It’s not like that,” I argued.

“Then enough with all the secrecy and enlighten us,” Leo countered.

Sighing, I replied, “It wasn’t anything remotely seedy. It was just a kiss.” With a grimace, I added, “And maybe a grope of a breast.”

Leo’s expression grew serious. “You kissed her, and she vomited?”

Narrowing my eyes at him, I replied, “Save me the bullshit about turning her off, okay?”

Gianni sucked in a breath. “You’re really concerned.”

“I am.”

“Sounds trauma-induced,” Leo said.

“Her father was abusive,” I remarked.

Leo shook his head. “ Sexual trauma.”

A harsh breath burned through my lungs. “Like a rape?”

He nodded. “Something similar happened to me in college. Took me totally off guard because she came on so strong. We were hot and heavy until I got on top of her, and she started screaming.” Leandro shook his head and grimaced. “In between hyperventilating, she told me about how she’d been drugged at a party and then raped.”

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I remarked, “I need to make a call.”

“But we’re about to land,” Gianni protested.

“I’ll make it quick.”

Oh God, Maeve had been raped. It was the only answer for what happened. Bile rose in my throat. She was in emotional hell, and instead of taking her pain away like I’d wanted, I’d made her worse.

Fuck, I was such a bastard. Not only had I forced her into something she wasn’t comfortable with, but I’d jerked off to her this morning.

Fighting the urge to vomit myself, I slipped into the bedroom. As I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket, anger suddenly replaced my self-loathing. Someone had hurt Maeve. They’d caused her emotional and physical pain. My fists clenched at my side as dialed Caterina.

She picked up on the second ring. “Are you missing me already?” she teased.

“Of course.”

Her giggle echoed over the line. “Why don’t you tell me why you really called?”

“You know me too well,” I mused. Just like with my brothers, I found it hard to find the necessary words.

“Rafe? Are you still there?”

“I’m here.”

Her nervous laugh echoed through my ears. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”

I could barely wrap my head around it, least of all say the words out loud. “I’m sorry. It’s just hard to say it to you.”

She gasped. “Is it father? Is he going to retaliate again?”

“No, no. It’s nothing like that.”

Caterina’s relieved sigh echoed across the line. “Then what is it?”

“It’s about Maeve.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something happened while we were together.”

Caterina’s piercing shriek stung my ears. “Oh no, no, no! Please tell me you didn’t try anything with her!”

“I didn’t.”

“Oh thank God.”

“But why would it be so wrong if I did?”

“You’re really asking me that question considering the way Callum reacted to the two of you dancing?”

“I’m worried about her, Kitty Cat.”

Silence reverberated around me. “Why?” Caterina finally asked.

After sucking in a ragged breath, I then related what had occurred on the rooftop. When I finished, I once again was met with silence. At Caterina’s sniffle, I froze. “Poor girl,” she murmured.

“Something happened to her, didn’t it?”

“Yes,” Caterina whispered.

“Was she…” I swallowed hard. “Raped?”

“That’s not my story to tell,” Caterina replied.

“I’m not asking for the fucking details. I just need to know.”

“Why?”

“So I can hunt the bastard down and tear him limb from limb!” I snarled.

“Oh Rafe,” Caterina murmured.

A growl rumbled through my chest. “Give me a name, so I can torture the bastard for days.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Her brothers took care of him over a year ago.”

I sucked in a harsh breath. “So, she was raped?”

“Once again, it’s not my story to tell. That should come from Maeve.”

“For fuck’s sake, Kitty Cat, I can’t call her up and ask her about something so traumatic.”

“Then let it go,” she said softly.

“But things were left so badly between us. I hate thinking with everything she’s been through that she’s suffering because of what happened.” At Caterina’s continued silence, I added, “She needs to know I understand why she reacted the way that she did. That I’m okay with it. That we’re okay.”

“Is it true what Callum told me about you having to marry an Italian girl to unite the families?”

I frowned into the phone at the change in the conversation. “Yeah, why?” Like with Maeve, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Caterina about the marriage contract I’d just signed with Andrea Caruso. I don’t know why I kept treating it like a dirty secret.

“Then leave Maeve alone.”

“I can’t even reach out as a friend?”

With a huff, she countered, “Rafe, you and I both know you’ve never been friends with a woman in your life.”

“But this is different. Maeve is different.”

“Yes, she is. It’s why I can’t imagine you were even interested in her in the first place.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“ Sei un donnaiolo .”

A mirthless laugh burst from my lips. “You can’t just call me a womanizer in English?”

Her sigh crackled through the line. “It’s just hard for me to accept how you can put me on a pedestal the way that you do and then be so heartless when it comes to other women.”

Fuck me. Of course she would have to bring up my past. “That has nothing to do with Maeve.”

“It has everything to do with her!” Caterina cried. A few moments passed before she said, “I know what I saw between the two of you. Like I said before, there is no potential for friendship. I know what Maeve wants, and it isn’t to be a conquest or one of your many one-night stands.”

“You don’t know what she wants. For fuck’s sake, she was the one who came onto me when she asked me for a kiss.”

“Please, Rafe, trust me on this one. You’ll only end up hurting her, and then despite how much I love you, I’ll have to hurt you myself rather than Callum or his brothers.”

“Ouch, Kitty Cat. You’d bring out the claws.”

“As much as it would kill me, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

I exhaled a ragged breath. If Caterina was this defiant now, I knew she would truly lose her shit if she knew I’d signed a marriage contract. “I’ll let it go.”

“It really is for the best.”

Although I knew she was right, I couldn’t bring myself to agree with her. I’d forgotten all about us landing until the jet began to skid along the runway. “Thanks for talking to me, but I’ve got to go.”

“Love you despite you being a donnaiolo. ”

I smiled at the phone. “I love you, too, Kitty Cat.”

After hanging up, I knew I wouldn’t be getting Maeve Kavanaugh off my mind any time soon.

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