Chapter Twenty-Five

~McKenna~

After so much bad luck, it seemed like all of that had finally changed. My work life was great, I was starting to be able to invest more into my apartment, and dating Rafael was like a dream come true.

For someone so intense and powerful, he never tried to make me afraid of him, or put me in my place. In fact, he seemed to enjoy my snarky humor, and I found myself growing more and more saucy by the day.

But today… today was something special. It was our first date out on the town as an official pair. It had been a couple of weeks since my first night over at his place and we hadn’t had a ton of time together. I was very insistent on going to work each day and often he was getting ready to go into the office as I was leaving, which pretty much only left us weekends.

Unfortunately, the first weekend had fallen during an important conference, so had to go for that, and the next I had my period and felt too sick to leave my apartment.

But finally, finally, it was our time to enjoy ourselves, and we definitely would.

“Are you sure you took care of HR?” I asked on the phone as I waited for the cab to take me to Rafael’s place.

“Yes, I’m sure. You signed the agreement yourself.”

Oh. Right. Rafael’s company had a pretty strict no-fraternization policy, so both him and I had to sign a statement with HR disclosing that we were dating and a whole other long list of things that made my eyes cross. But it was necessary. If we tried to sneak around, I knew it would all go wrong, so I much preferred to do things the right way -even if it was a whole lot more inconvenient.

“I know, I know. I’m just paranoid. Can you blame me?”

I could hear him laugh through the phone and it filled me with relief. Strange how a single sound could influence my mood so completely, but there was no denying that it did. “No, I guess I can’t. The cab should be there soon; I need to finish getting ready.”

“Oh, gonna paint your face and make yourself look pretty?”

“You betcha. Got a new pair of heels to make myself feel pretty too,”

“I see how it is, you’re trying to outshine me now, are you?”

“Physically impossible. I could hire all the plastic surgeons on Earth and still not be as beautiful as you.”

Whoa. That was a compliment in a half. I was grateful that he wasn’t there for a moment to see my blush. “Oh! I think I spotted it now. I’ll talk to you soon, Rafael.”

“Talk to you soon,” he answered before disconnecting the line.

Normally I would insist on taking public transport instead of expensive cabs, but I didn’t want to lose what precious little time we had together, and Rafael was paying anyways.

I frowned at that thought as I slipped into the cab. I wasn’t… using him, was I? The idea made me sick to my stomach. Sure, I didn’t have the greatest life, but I always worked hard to get what I had. Despite everything, I had graduated with a BA. Despite everything, I’d managed to stay sane and find jobs wherever I fled to. Despite everything, when my ex had showed up again I had told him no.

I guessed Rafael’s strength was rubbing off on me before I even knew it.

That comforted me, and when I arrived at his place I was all smiles. Sure enough, he was already waiting for me at the front, dressed in a black and silver suit with green accents. God, he was scrumptious! His dark hair was brushed back from his handsome face, his smoldering gaze already making me weak at the knees. Did he have any idea the effect he had on me?

Well…probably. I was pretty vocal about it every time he sent me toppling over that sharp edge of pleasure.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he said, offering a hand to me after he opened the cab door.

“Oh, this ol’ thing?” I said coquettishly, batting my lashes at him. I had actually used some of my funds to buy myself a new dress. It was a red bodycon, with ruching along the sides that really accentuated my curves. Ever since I was born, people had been telling me that gingers should never wear red, but clearly, all of them were wrong because I felt like an outright sex bomb in my little number. “It was just lying around.”

“Naturally,” he said with a laugh. “I’m glad I didn’t inconvenience you with stressing over your outfit.”

If only he knew how long I had spent in the store trying on dress after dress after dress until I found the perfect one. Thankfully, only me and the saleslady knew that little factoid.

He offered his arm and I took it, letting him lead me to his car that was waiting at the valet service. After making sure that I got in, he closed the passenger door and walked around to the driver’s side. Again, I was struck by how confident he looked as he strode across the headlights. If I had that kind of aura I bet I would never have to worry about my ex -or any other man- trying to abuse me again.

“You ready?” He asked once he was in, shooting me that smile that made my whole body rush with electricity.

“I think so!” I answered, smiling brightly at him despite the butterflies in my stomach.

“Good. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.” And then we were taking off, zipping down the streets like we owned them. And who knew, maybe he did. I had no idea how far Rafael’s wealth went, but from what I had seen, it was borderline unlimited from my perspective.

The streets whipped by and I had absolutely no idea where we were beyond the uptown part of the city that I rarely went to. Well, I supposed that I couldn’t really say that anymore considering that I was going to try to spend the night with Rafael at least once a week. Especially once we explained to Dom what was going.

What a strange world I had hopped into. It still seemed a bit surreal that I would never have to worry about my ex again. The weight that had been hanging so heavily on my chest for so long was now gone, leaving me to look at the world with a new sense of wonder.

We arrived at a sort of low key restaurant, much less glitzy on the outside than the Greek restaurant had been, but the valet line spoke otherwise to its popularity.

I was almost bouncing in my seat as we waited. I had found that I had so much more energy lately, probably due to not having to look over my shoulder all the time, and I was still getting used to it. If Rafael noticed my shifting, he didn’t comment on me, just sending me an amused look as he finally pulled up to the front of the line.

Just like before, he came up to the side of the car and offered his hand to help me out. I had never dated someone so gentlemanly, and it kind of made me feel like royalty to be so doted on.

We walked in and its interior was much different than the nonchalant exterior. The walls were all a marbled sort of cobblestone, giving it an older, dignified sort of presence but with a modern twist. The lighting was low, but no so dark that I had to worry about bumping into anything, and the furniture was all either polished wood or thick, luxurious booths. All in all, I was definitely impressed.

We strode right up to the hostess podium, Rafael fitting in as if he belonged. “Reservation for Barbos,” he said smoothly.

“Welcome back, Mr. Barbos. We haven’t seen you in quite a while!”

“I’ve been busy,” he answered with only the slightest hint of a smile. I guessed I understood why other people found him so intimidating, but to me he was just all about subtlety.

“Of course, I imagine there’s always something to do when you own a company.” The woman smiled and lead us into the restaurant. At first, I was concerned that she didn’t have any menus, but I figured she knew what she was doing.

We slid into a booth that was far too large for us and the hostess gave us a winning grin. “Your server today will be Anastasia. She will be able to tell you all of the chef specials and guide your experience tonight. Do you two need anything before I turn you over to her?”

“We’re fine.”

She nodded. “Then you two have a wonderful night!”

She walked back to her podium, already helping the next person, but by the time I turned back to face Rafael, the waitress was already approaching us.

“Good evening,” she said, just as friendly as the hostess. It wasn’t the overly fake, cloying kind though, just a comfortable, inviting sort of niceness. I hoped that meant that this place was kind to their workers, instead of treating them as expendable livestock like so many companies did. “My name is Anastasia and I will be your server tonight. Our specials are a porterhouse steak served over a bed of Portobello mushrooms, served with a compound butter garnish and a side of radish and corn salad. Or, our cedar-smoked salmon served on a bed of grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes.”

She went on to list three different appetizers, never sounding bored the whole time, as well as drinks until finally I felt like I was suffering from information overload. Everything sounded so good, so tasty, that I felt a little out of my depth.

“So, can I start you off with an appetizer today?”

I looked to Rafael for help and he seemed to understand. “We’ll take that specialty whisky you mentioned and a glass of merlot. We’ll start with the fresh oysters and then move on to two of those porterhouse specials you mentioned.”

“Perfect! It sounds like a plan.” She quickly strode away, and I let out a tiny sigh of relief. It made me feel like less of an outsider, and I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

“So, how has work been?”

I shrugged, reaching over the table and taking his hand in mine. It felt like electricity rushed along my skin, almost making me giggle like a school girl. Was this what it felt like to be a normal woman, without a storm cloud constantly hanging over my head? If so, I liked it. I liked it a lot.

“Oh, you know, workish. Lots of cleaning, lots of walking. Missing a certain CEO who I met once on the top floor.”

“A certain CEO, huh? He sounds interesting.”

“He is,” I said, smiling cheekily at him. “He’s tall, and gruff, and has this intense sort of gaze that turns your knees into rubber.”

“Rubber, huh?” He leaned forward, his bright eyes staring right through me. “That doesn’t sound very healthy.”

“It’s not,” I retorted, leaning right back until our faces were only a breath away from each other. “It’s unhealthy, and dangerous, just like him.”

“Doesn’t sound like a very good guy. Maybe you should avoid him.”

“But that’s the thing, he is good. The most good person I’ve ever met. The way he treats his son, and the way he treats me, I… I never knew that dating could be like this.”

He didn’t have a quippy sort of comeback for that. Instead, he moved ever so slightly forward and gently pressed his warm lips to mine.

It wasn’t a long kiss, and it was chaste, but it still filled me with a sort of warmth that I could hardly describe. “McKenna, I know that we haven’t been together very long, but-” He was interrupted by a shrill shriek and my head snapped in the direction of the sound. A woman was kneeling over her husband, who had collapsed out of the booth that they were sitting in and was twitching on the floor.

Several servers came rushing over, asking what was wrong, and the woman made breathless, squawking sounds at them while rapidly moving her hands. The servers had no idea what she was saying, of course, but I recognized it instantly.

“Hold on,” I said to Rafael, pulling my hands from his grip and rushing over.

“Excuse me ma’am,” One of the servers said, standing in my way. “But we need some space while the paramedics arrive.”

“That woman is communicating to you in ASL. Do any of you understand her?”

The man’s eyes went wide, and he stepped aside, allowing me to kneel in front of the woman. Although I was rusty, the skills that I had worked so hard for started coming back to me, and I rapidly signed to her.

What’s wrong? Can I help you?

She looked so relieved to see me that tears sprung into her eyes. I couldn’t blame her. Being hard or hearing or deaf could be hard enough in the hearing world, and it was even worse in an emergency.

My husband! He’s allergic to nuts. I wrote it down for the waitress, but I don’t think she saw it!

Do you have an epi-pen? I asked, quickly realizing the gravity of the situation.

Yes! I tried it but it wouldn’t deploy! It must have been damaged somehow!

I looked to the closest server. “He has a nut allergy, and something got into his food. We need an epi-pen, now. Do you guys have one?”

She nodded and ran off. I didn’t realize it for a beat or two, but Rafael replaced her, his face quite serious.

“Did I hear you say allergic reaction?”

I nodded, wondering just how loud I had been talking. “Do you know how to treat it?”

“It’s not about treatment. It’s about buying time.” He leaned over the gasping gentleman and his face grew much softer. “Sir, I know that what you’re going through is both painful, and scary, but I need you to try to slow your breathing while they bring you that pen. The calmer you are, the more we can slow the histamine flowing through your body. Okay? So, try to breathe with me now.”

Rafael demonstrated several long, slow breaths and the man tried to imitate them as best he could. His face was still going red while his lips tinged blue, but Rafael kept on. “I’m gonna remove some of your tighter clothing now, okay? Belts, shoes, socks. I know it’s awkward but try to just go with it.”

It was then I realized that the man might not go what was going on. Turning back to the wife, I signed to her, Is he deaf or HOH?

HOH, but he reads lips and has hearing aids. I think… I think he knows what you’re saying.

Good, good.

“I have the epi-pen!”

The server practically dove through the crowd that had gathered and shoved it into my hand. I quickly handed it to the wife and she uncapped it then jabbed it into his leg without a second’s hesitation.

The man’s gasping, rattling breaths faded into reedy wheezes and some of the violent color faded from his face. I sat back, sighing in relief, but Rafael continue to remove the man’s tighter clothing.

“We need a blanket, or if you don’t have blankets, a bunch of coats. Everyone needs to clear a space while the EMTs arrive. And if anyone has a second epi-pen they’re willing to spare, we’d be more than grateful.”

People began to scatter, and the workers went about fulfilling Rafael’s orders. It was only now, with the man seeming to be out of the woods and the immediate danger of him suffocating had passed, that I realized exactly what had happened. A man had almost died in front of us… and we had saved his life.

I was still reeling from that revelation when the EMTs finally arrived. However, I got over it real quick when they tried to ask her questions that she couldn’t answer, and their reaction to that was just to ask the same questions louder.

Can I help? I asked the woman, not wanting to intercede if I wasn’t needed. After all, deaf people were not children who needed to be coddled, but it never hurt to have an interpreter on hand in a situation like this.

God, yes. Please! I can see from his neck muscles that he’s shouting at me, isn’t he?

Uh, yeah.

I’m deaf! Does he really think saying the same thing but louder works?

“What’s going on here?”

“She’s deaf and her husband is hard of hearing but has implants in. He had a nut allergy, but the waitress didn’t catch it. We’re not sure exactly what he ingested yet, but he had a severe reaction. His epi-pen malfunctioned, but we were able to find one in the restaurant and administer it within three minutes of the attack.”

“Alright. Thanks ma’am. Let’s get these two in the ambulance.”

One of the EMTs went to the wife, gently escorting her out, but she caught my wrist.

Please, come with us. She signed with her spare hand. They rarely ever have a translator in the ER and it’s so hard to get them to slow down and communicate with me in a way that I understand.

Oh, I don’t think I can-

Please! I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t worry that not being able to understand them could hurt my husband.

She looked at me with such fear in her eyes, such uncertainty. How could I refuse that? I looked to Rafael and gave him a sheepish sort of shrug. “Hey, I’m gonna go with them to the hospital.”

“Really? Why?”

“She needs someone to communicate for her and she’s worried they won’t have anyone at the hospital.” For a moment I was sure that he was going to refuse, or fight me on it, but instead he just nodded.

“Go with her in the ambulance. I’ll follow along behind.”

“Thank you.” I reached out to squeeze his hand, and he returned the gesture. With only one more glance behind me, I left with the EMT, wondering how I got myself into these kinds of situations.