Chapter 2 - The Sovereign’s Decree
When Maeve woke up, the smell of cheap grease, old dishwater, and bleach was gone. Instead, the air smelled faintly of lavender and expensive leather. She was lying in an enormous canopy bed draped in charcoal-gray silk sheets.
She gasped, immediately trying to sit up, but a sharp, blinding agony flared in her shoulder, forcing a cry from her throat.
"Don't move," a voice commanded from the shadows near the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Rafe Colazo stepped into the soft morning light. He had discarded his formal suit jacket; his white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, the sleeves rolled up to reveal dark, intricate tattoos creeping down his forearms. He held a crystal glass of water and walked slowly to her bedside.
"Where... where am I?" Maeve whispered, her throat dry as sandpaper. "My brother Finn... I need to get to the shelter... I have a shift..."
"You don't have a shift, Maeve. And you're never stepping foot in that restaurant again," Rafe said flatly, handing her the glass. He sat on the edge of the mattress, his massive presence shrinking the bedroom instantly. "You are at my estate in Beacon Hill. My private physician set your shoulder and stitched your back. You've been asleep for nearly twenty-four hours."
Maeve drank the water greedily, her mind racing. "My brother. He’s at Boston Children's Hospital. He needs surgery. If I’m not there—"
"Finn is fine," Rafe interrupted, his gray eyes tracking the movement of her throat. "In fact, he’s currently in a private VIP suite on the top floor of the hospital. The chief of cardiothoracic surgery was woken up at three o'clock yesterday morning to personally review his file. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow."
Maeve froze, the glass trembling in her hands. "How? The bank denied my loan. The insurance—"
"I paid it," Rafe said simply, as if he were discussing buying a cup of coffee. "I paid the hospital bill in full. I also bought out the remaining twenty thousand dollars of debt your late parents left behind. The loan sharks from the O'Leary crew who were harassing your brother? They've been... permanently dealt with."
Maeve stared at him, a mixture of profound relief and sheer terror swirling in her chest. "Why would you do that? You don't even know me."
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Rafe leaned forward, his face inches from hers. The sheer magnetism of his gaze made her breath hitch. "You took a steel baton meant for my sister, Maeve. In my world, loyalty like that doesn't exist. You saved the only person I love. That makes you mine to protect."
He reached out, his thumb gently wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "But the men who attacked my sister are still out there. They know your face now. To the rest of Boston, you are no longer a waitress. You are the woman under the protection of the Colazo family. And tomorrow night, I am going to show this city exactly what happens to people who belong to me."
