Carefully, she laid back down and closed her eyes. Just as Ari began drifting to sleep again she heard Rafe on his phone. She barely heard his last words, thinking they weren’t anything other than a dream.
“Ari, we have to move to my place. I have work I have to attend to, and I’m not leaving you by yourself. The pills I gave you take the pain away, but they also make you drowsy, so I don’t want you shocked when you wake up in a new bed… Ari… are you listening?”
Ari mumbled something, though she had no idea what. Thankfully sleep took over and she passed out, not having to feel any further pain.
Chapter Thirteen
Ari awoke feeling better, but still not at a hundred percent. Stretching her arms above her head and arching her back, she didn’t realize she wasn’t home until she turned and felt the cool satin beneath her fingertips.
There was no way she was sleeping in her own home. Had she died and was now feeling what heaven was like? The sheets were amazing and she felt like she was sinking into a vat of cotton, the bed was so comfortable.
Opening her eyes, Ari was bombarded with natural light as she looked across the huge room and out the opened curtains of at least eight foot high window panes.
“I was beginning to think you were going to sleep the entire day away.”
Ari jumped at the words and whipped her head around to find a young woman in her mid-twenties, standing next to the bed.
“Um, where am I?”
“You’re at Mr. Palazzo’s residence. He said you may still be a bit unsettled when you woke, that you’d been drugged. I’m so sorry you've had to go through this. The doctor looked at you again this morning and said your fever is down and you’re almost back to full health, but he also said you needed to be looked after for another twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
“Forty-eight hours? What day is it?” Ari asked as panic began to set in.
“It’s Monday, just past ten in the morning. You’ve been here for two full nights, but you spiked a fever yesterday and the doctor gave you a heavy dose of pain relievers and antibiotics. Your coloring looks much better now. ”
“I have to go! My boss is going to fire me,” Ari exclaimed as she jumped from the bed. The room began to spin slightly with her quick movements and she found herself falling back, thankfully landing on the soft mattress.
“Whoa, slow down. Mr. Palazzo already called into your work and they know you’ll be out for a few days.”
“He doesn’t have the right to do that. He certainly doesn’t have the right to abduct me from my home!”
The woman looked at Ari like she was mentally ill. Maybe she was, but she was angry that he’d swooped in and taken over her life. She refused to be in debt to the man. Thinking back over the events of the last few days, and the hospital incident, she couldn’t seem to get away from him. She couldn’t afford to owe him anything more.
“It’s okay, Misty. I’ll take care of Ms. Harlow now.”
Ari’s head turned sharply and her breath caught at the sight of Rafe standing in her doorway. Without giving her eyes permission, they drank in his massive frame. How she could despise everything the man stood for and still feel attraction for him – she didn’t understand – but every time she was in his presence, she found herself fighting just a little more to keep her hormones at a neutral level, especially after that dream.
With a quick pep-talk, she tore her gaze from his mesmerizing eyes and focused upon a button on his shirt instead. She had to remain calm, and then get back to her apartment and the real world before she began to think she could accept his indecent proposal.
“I appreciate you taking care of me the last few days but I need to get home. I have a job that I happen to like, and a life waiting for my return,” Ari told him, proud of the false bravado to her tone. Inside, she was shaking like a leaf in a fall breeze.
“You’re not going anywhere, Ari,” he said before pausing. “Doctor’s orders.” As if his doctor giving an order was going to stop her.
“Where are my clothes?” She’d learned enough about Rafe by now to know that arguing with him was useless. She wouldn’t bother with a battle she knew she’d lose. She’d simply get dressed and walk out the front door. She didn’t think he’d go so far as to physically hold her.
“You have a fresh change of clothes in the bathroom – that door on the right. Why don’t you take a shower and then meet me downstairs for lunch.” As if the matter was settled, he turned and exited the room.
Ari really wished she was quick enough to come up with a sarcastic retort, but of course she didn’t think of anything witty until she was locked in the guest bathroom.
She looked around the space with awe. How she’d dreamed of having such a wonderful bathing area as she’d watched romantic movies all her life. She hadn’t been poor, but the modest home she’d shared with her mother had been efficient, not luxurious.
The room she was standing in could be classified as a spa it was so spacious and ornate. She glided across the heated tile, then ran her hand along the marble surrounding the large tub. She hadn’t planned on taking a bath, not wanting to follow any order Rafe commanded, but the tub was calling her name. He’d told her to shower, anyway so taking a bath wasn’t exactly doing what he’d said.
The gold handles of the taps were smooth and well-polished and pushed on with no effort at all. A giggle escaped her as the water flowed out of the spout, cascading down like a waterfall. Several bottles of bubble bath sat clustered in a basket on the corner of the tub, and Ari’s hardest decision in that moment, was which amazing scent to use. She finally settled on peach and honey, then inhaled as the expensive aroma surrounded her.
As Ari stepped into the tub and sank down allowing only her face above the water, a content sigh escaped. With a satisfied smile, she decided she could stay in this exact spot for the next hundred years or so. Rafe could just go ahead and wait on her to show up for lunch. Hopefully, he’d get so frustrated that he’d just leave, making it easy for her to escape.
As she laid her head back on the soft cushion of the bath pillow and closed her eyes, she ignored the small voice inside saying that she was crazy to want to escape a secret haven such as this. It wasn’t the incredible spa bathroom she was running from – it was the rules Rafe insisted on if she were to accept his generosity.
She was no man’s mistress – not for any amount of luxury or security. Part of her wished she could just say yes and let him take the weight off her shoulders, but a greater part of her knew that wasn’t who she was.