Until Tomorrow Comes: A Dark Mafia Romance (Beauty in Lies Book 1)

It came to a dead end as I slowed, the black King staring back at me as if he had eyes of his own. As if he could see me and feel my fear along with me. My last free breath came in a broken sob, but I shoved down my desolation.

I whirled to run, stopping short when the movement brought me face to face with Rafael's cold eyes staring down at me. He stood with his hands in his pockets, his head subtly cocked to the side. Even in the dim light, I'd never mistake the handsome face that had stolen my breath.

Lost to the nightmare that stole him away.

I backed away a step, looking at the end of the alley over my shoulder before I swallowed and turned back to him. My heart beat out of control as my lungs struggled to get air past my panic.

"Checkmate, Princesa," he murmured, stepping toward me slowly as I raised my hands defensively.

"Rafael, what are you doing?" I asked, sobbing as one of his hands reached up to stroke my cheek with a mocking gentleness.

"It's time to go home," he said, his face twisting with a moment of regret.

A startled gasp broke free as something pinched my neck, my eyes tracking down to watch him withdraw a syringe from my flesh and toss it to the side. He wrapped me in his arms, holding me through my struggles as I beat his chest with furious hands and struggled to get away.

A car engine started up at the side of the alley as my vision turned fuzzy. My body went limp in his hold while he held my gaze. “Shhh,” he whispered, his thumb making small circles on my spine. Everything felt heavy, but I fought to keep my eyes open. Fought to get away. “Go to sleep, Princesa. I’ve got you.”

“Why?” I asked, my eyes barely open as he stared back down at me intently. Leaning down, he ran his nose up the side of mine as he scooped me into his arms and carried me in the direction of the fuzzy black SUV waiting at the corner.

"You shouldn’t have left me," he said, as the sound of a car door opening hit my ears. I rolled my head to the side as the door for the back seat creaked open. Rafael climbed into the car, laying me in the seat so that my head rested on his lap. “It didn’t have to be this way,” he whispered softly. All I could make out in the darkness was the vague shape of his face and two shining eyes staring back at me.

A phantom from my memory.

My head lolled to the side as darkness crept in.

Then there was nothing.

Rafael & Isa’s story continues in Until Forever Ends. Coming March 25th

n my bones, but as she screamed out her orgasm and shattered around me, nothing else mattered when she sent me spiraling with her.

I grunted, grinding my pelvis into her as she rode out the waves of her orgasm and I filled the condom with what should have been inside my princesa. When her breathing steadied, I pulled out of her and moved to the bathroom to grab a washcloth to clean her up. She didn't move in the time I was gone, her eyes drifting shut as if she needed to close out the world.

She blushed as I cleaned her but didn't speak, the sudden influx of silence between us feeling unnatural. My world wasn't complete without her smile and her voice in it, now that I finally had her with me.

I wanted to hate her for it, for making me so dependent on her happiness. Instead, we'd both hate me for stripping that away from her.

At least for a time.

ISA KNOWS.

The void inside of me widened as I turned my eyes back to her sleeping body and the innocence on her face. Pursing my lips, I moved to the balcony and pulled the glass closed behind me as I pressed the button to call Hugo back. "Tell me, Hugo. What exactly does Isa know?" I asked the moment he answered the phone.

There was a pause of silence, and then his response of what Chloe had told Isa in their brief conversation before he got through the door to stop it. "That's unfortunate," I said, spinning back to stare at Isa as she slept. It could have been worse, and perhaps she would brush off the rumor as simply that.

I wasn't optimistic enough to think that was the case.

"What do you want to do?" Hugo asked.

"Clear the streets," I said. "If she decides to try something stupid, I don't want any witnesses to what will come next."

He paused. "Why not just take her now?" he asked, and the question held merit. With everything crumbling around me, I could just slip a needle into her neck and she'd be on El Infierno before she woke up.

She'd never know a moment of fear, until it was too late to change.

"I need to know," I said, ending the call as I stepped back inside and crawled into bed with Isa. If she left me, she deserved to have to deal with the monster vibrating under my skin.

I'd warned her what would happen, and Isa would very quickly learn that when I made a promise?

I fucking kept it.