Only Gaia

Chapter 13:

Rafe and Gaia sat silently in a secret passage behind his office wall. They could hear shouts and gunfire within the house. Rafe had tried to leave her in the passage and return to the fight but there had been too many people to sneak out of the office unnoticed so far. Rafe leaned his head back against the wall and sighed softly, this was not what he had planned. He had hoped to catch Nicola before he could attack.  Gaia's hand found his in the dark and squeezed gently. A small smile played on his lips, when this was over he was going to take Gaia far away from here.
A tap on the panel in front of them made Rafe raise his gun and cock it, his finger sat gently upon the trigger. As the panel began to slide Gaia squeezed her eyes shut but no gunshot ever came, opening her eyes slowly she was met by the smiling faces of Sal and Marco. She sighed in relief, "Thank God it's only you two."
Marco grinned, "I wouldn't let anyone else make it into this office. You are well protected little Gaia. I promised Fernando you would be protected with my life."
"It was Nicola?" Rafe questioned, drawing the subject away from Fernando.
Sal nodded, "Most definitely boss. He made it out with a handful of men. Most are dead or badly injured. We caught two for questioning."
Rafe grinned sadistically, "Get me answers Sal. I don't care how you get them."
Gaia grimaced, "Are there many bodies I'll have to see?"
Marco shook his head, "Give us twenty minutes and you will be able to go to your bedroom."
She smiled at him gratefully, "I appreciate it."

****
Rafe stared at the young man before him. The boy was haggard, his limp body tied to the chair. Blood oozed from his busted lip and his head lolled forward. Walking up in front of him Rafe kicked his shin, "Ready to talk yet boy?"
The boy looked up at him and smirked, "Fuck you. I'm not a sell out."
"No? Too bad. I was really hoping to have a short day at work." Rafe said as he picked up a knife from the table behind him. Sal snickered from a dark corner of the room where he leaned against the wall watching.  Rafe walked toward the boy with the knife spinning carelessly around in his fingers, "I wanted to get home and take my girl out for a romantic dinner. You, unfortunately, make that task difficult."
Spitting at Rafe the boy snarled, "You better do that now Raffaele. The boss is going to get to her."
Rafe glared at the boy and plunged his knife into the lads thigh, twisting it as he pulled it back out. Screaming and writhing in the chair the boy glared at Rafe while Sal approached from the corner, "I'm pretty sure the boss didn't like your attitude kid. Quite frankly, neither did I."
The crack of knuckles echoed through the room right before Sal punched the kid in the jaw. Rafe snickered, "Sorry kid. Looks like my turn is over. Good luck." Turning away from savage attack Sal was making on the kids face he started toward the door. He had other business to deal with.

****
Gaia stared longingly at the pictures in her photo album. Pictures of her and her father on their quiet little farm. Back when the name Gaia Bianchi was unknown to the world. She hadn't existed outside the farm, it was perfect that way. Nobody was after her, her papa was still beside her, and she certainly wasn't falling for the Mafia himself. A small sigh escaped her lips as she flipped through the photos.

Across the hall in his office Rafe sat at his desk raking his fingers through his hair. He had never wanted a wife. He never wanted love. His world was chaos and pain. But Gaia changed it all. She brought peace to him. He stared down at the photograph of his mother and father together. His mother had been the one person his father adored since he was a child, but she had left him without any hesitation and broken his heart. His own mother had left his father to raise him alone and gone off to pursue 'bigger fish' as she put it. Her bigger fish had been a Sheik, filthy rich from an oil discovery.  Love had ruined his father, Rafe questioned if it would ruin him as well.

****
Rafe slipped silently into the bedroom, he could make out the figure of Gaia laying beneath the covers as he slipped into the bathroom to change for bed. Slipping out of the bathroom he crawled into bed and cuddled up to Gaia's side, bringing her back into his chest. As he inhaled her scent the peace that was Gaia overcame him, he was falling in love with her in spite of himself. He sighed and kissed her bare shoulder. She crumbled every defense he had with a single look, how was he supposed to be hard and callous with this angel beside him? Perhaps, he mused, she was the angel to his devil. The one who was sent here to save him from himself. A small smile played across his lips as he drifted to sleep holding her tightly.