Chapter 4 Spaghetti

Isabelle bit the inside of her cheek, staring at Raphaël with wide eyes. Oh, God, why did she have such a big mouth?

"What did you say?" he asked again, the question as low and dark as a dare.

When she only turned her big eyes away from him, Raphaël clenched his teeth and started marching back to her.

"Woah!" Isabelle yelped, jumping away with her hands up in a karate pose.

That didn't stop him. He stalked up to her until she was forced against the wall with nowhere to escape and unable to avoid his gaze.

Raising one hand, Raphaël nudged away her karate chop hands and then stepped even closer, his stormy gaze fierce with what really looked to Isabelle like lightning bolts.

Clearing her throat, she tried to inch out of the tiny gap between the wall and his body. "I, uh... gotta go-"

"Stop."

The order was enough to turn her to stone. Isabelle froze like her life depended on it.

His hand closed around her jaw and turned her face to his. "When I ask you a question, Isabelle... what do you do?"

His question was fairly simple and Isabelle could answer it. Sure, she could! And she would. Once he took his fingers off her jaw and her brain started working again! Him being this close turned her brain to cotton candy. At the moment, she could do little more than stare up at him, her mouth agape like Nemo the fish.

"What do you do?" Raphaël demanded once more, raising a brow.

Isabelle blinked, literally just staring at the man. Why was he so close? Another question was, how was he so freaking handsome?

"Isabelle!"

"Hm?! Uhm..." Blinking with her jaw still in his grip, she tried to answer him. What was the question he'd asked again?

"When I ask you a question!" Raphaël muttered. "You answer!"

She swallowed, moistening her parched throat. "Y-yes! I answer! S-sir!" God, what was this situation she'd gotten herself into? Why did Little Raphaël currently have her pressed against the wall with her chin held firmly in his grip? Was this a fantasy or a nightmare?

"Good," said Raphaël. "Now, hurry and do your job."

With those final brusque words, he released her jaw and stepped away from her, giving her one last hard stare before stalking away in the direction of the kitchen.

Isabelle stared in the direction he'd gone with wide eyes, still stuck to the wall like someone was holding her there. With a squeak, she released the rush of air she'd been holding and swayed on her feet, stumbling her way to her room on shaky legs. It felt like her legs had turned into spaghetti!

Dragging in deep breaths, she made her escape. Gosh, Little Raphaël was... dangerous.

***************

Raphaël reached the kitchen entrance, but quickly stopped when he spotted his nephew's brown-haired head over the back of a chair.

There was a painful tug at his heart.

Raphaël lips curl in displeasure. A painful tug?

What he felt was more of a ripping of the flesh of his heart.

Unconsciously smoothing back his hair, Raphaël walked into the kitchen and around the counter to face the boy who had his sister's vivid blue eyes.

The moment his uncle was before him, Rayan let go off his orange juice cup and sunk back into his chair, eyes wide and looking up at Raphaël in something close to... what?

Raphaël couldn't even decipher the look in the child's eyes. He hoped to heaven it wasn't fear.

He didn't want the child to fear him.

He wanted Rayan to know that he was Raphaël's only link to his sister and because of that fact among many others, Raphaël would turn the world upside down, he would break down walls, he would raise hell for this boy.

Leaning in, he looked little Rayan in the eyes.

"Hey," he said.

The child shrunk further into his seat.

Raphaël shook his head. "No, no, it's okay... Don't be scared..."

The sound of footsteps alerted him and Raphaël stopped speaking. Isabelle appeared at the kitchen entrance.

"Oh!" She stopped at the sight of Raphaël in the kitchen. Why hadn't he left yet?! Was he determined to make her first day even scarier? "Y-you're still here."

"It's my house. I can leave when I choose," he answered her crisply. Raphaël glanced at her, inspecting her outfit from the corner of his eye. That large jersey and leggings? Not to mention the bunny ear slippers. He didn't like it. She looked too comfortable in his house. Like she'd lived here forever.

He didn't like the way she's so easily fit into his home. Didn't like it at all.

And to make things worse, the moment Rayan heard her voice he turned to her, reaching for her, when he was cowering away from Raphaël less than a minute ago.

Unaware of Raphaël's inner turmoil, Isabelle smiled as she lifted Rayan out of his chair and settled him easily on her hip.

Raphaël looked at them, unable to hide his jealousy. Rayan liked her more than he liked Raphaël, but he only just met Isabelle. Raphaël found that so annoying. With clenched teeth, he grabbed his keys and made his way out of the house through the large sliding backdoors of the kitchen.

"Hey, wait..." he heard Isabelle call behind him, but didn't stop.

Picking out a car, he drove it out of the garages to find Isabelle standing outside, watching him.

Her and the child. Raphaël's frown deepened to darker shades when the image they presented made things buried within him, come back to life.

She stood with her arms crossed, her eyes on him and her chestnut brown hair just swaying down her back, while Rayan stood right next to her with his right arm curved around her left leg.

His eyes lingered for a second longer. She waved, like she couldn't wait for him to leave.

With an even darker frown, Raphaël pulled out and began driving down his long driveway.

Something told him, and it was a strong feeling, that this woman would be trouble for him.

The biggest evidence for that was that he already couldn't get it out of his head.

The way it had felt to have her so close to his body that morning, his cheek soft against his fingers. He couldn't stop thinking about it. He'd tried to scare her and it backfired, now he was scared of her.

He swore as he drove, her stubborn eyes filling his mind. Isabelle Fourie. Trouble.