Raine
The world shrank down to a single point.
The clinking of silverware, the murmur of conversations, and the footsteps of the waiters all vanished, swallowed up by a ringing silence that filled my ears.
My eyes were locked onto Miguel, and for a terrifying second, I couldn’t even breathe.
He moved through the crowded restaurant like a predator navigating its own territory.
He didn’t look left or right.
He didn’t smile at the hostess who desperately tried to greet him, nor did he acknowledge the way people instinctively shuffled their chairs closer to their tables just to stay out of his path.
He still had that same devastating, dark hair, that sharp, cut-glass jawline, and the commanding aura that used to make me shrink into the shadows.
Flanked by his two large security guards in black suits, he looked less like a businessman and more like a king arriving to inspect a conquered land.
Beside me, I heard Kordell let out a sharp, sudden intake of air.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and saw the color completely drain from his face.
Kordell’s eyes were wide, his hands hovering just above the table, trembling slightly.
He knew Miguel.
He knew exactly what Miguel was capable of, and his reaction confirmed everything.
Joshua, however, remained entirely still.
I felt the muscles in his arm tighten beneath his tailored jacket.
He looked up from our intertwined hands, his gaze shifting from my frozen face to the giant of a man walking toward us.
Joshua didn’t know Miguel, but he possessed the sharp instincts of a man who spent his life dealing with high-stakes power plays in New York.
He could read the room instantly.
He knew that the man approaching was the ultimate threat to the peace we had built.
Miguel kept his eyes fixed straight ahead.
For a brief, agonizing moment, I thought he was going to walk right past us.
His path seemed directed toward the private dining rooms in the very back of the restaurant.
I gripped Joshua’s hand tighter, my fingernails digging slightly into his palm.
Please just walk past, I prayed silently, closing my eyes for a fraction of a second.
Please, just let him be here for a business meeting.
Don’t look at me.
Don’t notice me.
But the universe wasn’t answering my prayers today.
He turned his head.
His piercing, dark eyes swept over Kordell, dismissed him instantly, lingered on Joshua for a tense second, and then locked squarely onto me.
The impact of his gaze felt like a blow to my chest.
Up close, the heavy, unmistakable scent of cedar and winter rain rolled off him, cutting through the heavy aroma of the restaurant’s Italian cooking.
It was the exact scent that lay hidden beneath the artificial chemical smell of the masking ointment I rubbed onto my sons’ skin every single morning.
It was his lineage.
His blood.
Deep inside my chest, a part of me I thought had died years ago suddenly sparked to life.
My inner wolf, quiet and dormant for four and a half years, unexpectedly raised her head.
She stirred, her instincts reacting to the sheer presence of the man standing before us.
I felt a hot flash of anger at myself, almost cursing her out internally.
Down, I told her fiercely.
He is nothing to us.
He threw us away.
Stand down.
I hated that she still recognized him.
I hated that after all the pain, the rejection, and the cold nights, a primal part of my biology still knew his scent.
But the love I had once carried for Miguel was entirely, completely dead.
There was no warmth left in my heart for him…only a cold, protective wall built to safeguard my children.
That’s what I told myself.
“What a pleasant surprise to see you here, Raine,” Miguel said as he took a slow step closer, completely cutting off the space around our table.
The two guards stepped back, forming a wall that blocked the view of the rest of the restaurant, isolating us.
“It’s been like…how long again?” I don’t know what surprises me more, the fact that he even bothered to stop it, or that he’s acting like we’re old-time friends.
“What are you doing here, Miguel?” I demanded not having time for his shenanigans.
I didn’t recognize my own voice.
It came out smooth, icy, and completely flat—the voice of Ms.
Argent, the CEO who managed sixty employees and handled multi million-dollar accounts.
I forced my features into a perfect, unbothered mask, refusing to let him see the absolute chaos screaming inside my head.
He had told me he never wanted to see my face again on the day I left.
He had made it clear I was a stain on his life.
So why was he standing here, looking at me like he owned the air I breathed?
Miguel didn’t flinch at my tone.
A slow, unreadable expression crossed his handsome face.
“What?
Were you trying to leave me out of the gathering?” I stared at him, confused.
What was wrong with him?
Was he high?
Did he start taking drugs after I left?
“Since there’s a gathering of all the men in your life, I think I deserve to be here.
Because I hold the highest rank.” Without asking for permission, he reached out, grabbed an empty chair from the neighboring table, and dragged it over.
The heavy wood scraped against the floor, a loud, deliberate sound that made Kordell flinch.
Miguel pulled the chair right up next to mine, intending to sit down.
I stood staring at him and wondering what he was playing at.
Did he know that I was Ms.
Agent?
I didn’t care.
I wasn’t doing this.
Not now, not here.
I stood straight up, my heels clicking sharply against the floor.
I refused to let him settle into my space, refused to let him dictate anything in this room.
“Why aren’t you sitting?” He asked, confused.
His voice was deep, calm, and entirely too casual for the absolute havoc he was causing.
He looked up at me from where he stood, his eyes dark and calculating.