Break the Day - Lara Adrian Page 0,40
through the records. “I just realized there’s something very important you haven’t told me yet.”
His head lifted sharply and he swung a bland, yet oddly guarded look at her. “What’s that?”
“Is Rafe your full name, or is it short for something?”
He exhaled a wry laugh. “My given name’s Xander, actually.” That peculiar expression on his face relaxed into a knee-melting, crooked grin. “Xander Raphael Malebranche.”
“It’s beautiful.”
He chuckled. “I’ll tell my parents you said so next time I see them.”
“How often is that?” she asked. “You haven’t spoken much about them.”
Other than his confession that he’d almost gotten his parents killed on account of his involvement with Opus Nostrum’s mole, Devony might have assumed he had no family in his life either.
Looking at him, he seemed as alone as she was. Whether his solitude was self-imposed or a result of the shame he obviously carried for having been duped by an Opus operative, she wasn’t sure.
All she did know was that he was hurting underneath the tough face he showed the world.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen them,” he said. “A couple of months, maybe longer.”
“So, not since you left the Order?”
He drew in a long breath, turning away from her to page absently through the files in front of him. “Yeah, I guess so. Around that time.”
“Your last name,” she said, realizing it was familiar to her. “Are you telling me you’re related to Dante Malebranche?”
“He’s my father.”
“Seriously?” Devony sat back in her chair, astonished. “I don’t think there’s anyone in or around JUSTIS who doesn’t know the names of Lucan Thorne and his warrior commanders. Wasn’t your father one of the founding members of the original compound here in Boston?”
“Not quite,” Rafe said, pivoting to look at her again. “There are others who go further back with Lucan than my father. But yes, he’s been an Order warrior for a long time. He’s one of the district commanders now, heading up the operation center and patrol team in Seattle.”
“You sound very proud of him.”
He nodded. “I am. My father is an extraordinary man, not only because of his long role in the Order. He’s one of my best friends. And he casts a long shadow. My mother, Tess, as well.”
Devony knew the feeling of pride he described. Her family didn’t have the high profiles that Rafe’s and some of the other Order’s founding members had, but she had been immensely proud of her parents too. She had longed to prove herself to them somehow.
Instead, they coddled her under lock and key growing up, sheltered her. When she was old enough, they pushed her toward safe pursuits like music and dance. As if they expected her to disappoint them somehow. As if she already had.
“What does your father think about you no longer being part of the Order, Rafe?”
He shrugged, deflecting. “I haven’t asked him.”
“And your mother?”
He folded his muscled arms over his chest and held her in a narrowed stare. “Why are you asking so many questions about this?”
His defensiveness took her aback. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I was just curious. I’m just trying to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“You.”
“What for?”
“Because I want to know more about you. Because I care . . . about you.”
She looked away from him and shook her head again. “And because I don’t have parents to talk to anymore, to ask what they think about my choices or anything else in this world. I’m just curious what it’s like to have parents who are a constant in your life.”
Rafe reached out to her, drawing her gaze back to him with his fingers resting gently beneath her chin. “What are you talking about? I know you’ve been grieving over your family these past few months, but it sounds like they’ve been gone for much longer than that.”
She hadn’t intended to carve into her own psychic wounds. Rafe’s coaxing, solemn stare drew the words out of her as easily as his caress on the side of her face. “I was alone even before my family was killed in the London bombing. My parents lived for JUSTIS. So did my brother. Their work sent them all over the world, which meant I was raised by strangers most of my childhood. Nannies, governesses, boarding schools here in the States. I felt so lonely back then. I didn’t realize it could be possible to feel even emptier, like I do now that they’re really gone. Now that I truly have no one left.”
“No,” Rafe said. “That’s not right.