“In the broad light of day?” Ryan counters, his expression skeptical.
“This leaves too much to chance,” I add. “So many things could go wrong.”
“They always do,” Raf replies.
“You could be killed before we even get Riley back.”
“I’ll make sure we get her into the room with you.” He shrugs. “Then you take her by force if you must.”
“You can’t control what happens once you’re a prisoner, Raf,” I insist. “You can’t control what they’ll do to you.”
His jaw tightens. “I’ll stay alive long enough for you to get our daughter back.”
The room catches on a breath as everyone I love and care about is brought up to speed in an instant.
But no one says a word.
Too much is at stake right now to worry about simple petty things like the truth about the past.
My voice drops. “And you’re willing to just sacrifice your life after that?”
“For Riley?” he says quietly. “Yes. If that’s what it takes. Protect Riley and don’t look back.”
The finality of his command breaks something in me.
“This is insane,” I whisper. “You can’t just… offer yourself.”
His mouth twists. “Seems appropriate. I owe her.”
“You owe her being alive,” I fire back.
Silence stretches, taut as wire.
Raf turns fully toward me then, his eyes sharp, infuriatingly calm, but I see the flicker of warmth behind them that I could almost mistake for… amusement.
“You have terrible timing, you know that?”
I blink. “What?”
He tilts his head, his mouth curving into an ironic smirk. “Did you really pick now to start caring about what happens to me,focosa? You should be happy—if things go wrong, you won’t have to worry about me being in your life any longer.”
The room seems to contract around us.
“That’s not funny,” I say, throat tight.
“I’m not joking.”
Anger surges, hot and desperate. “You think I want you gone? You think I want Riley to lose her father?”
The wordfatherhangs between us, heavy and unignorable.
Something shifts in his eyes. Surprise. Then something deeper.
Before he can respond, my mother speaks shakily. “We don’t have another option.”
I hate that she’s right.
I hate that logic and love are pulling me in opposite directions, tearing me apart.