The Promise Between us

Chapter 2: The Pillar

Grief was not a wave; it was an ocean that sat on top of Racheal's chest, burying her alive.

Three days had passed since the hospital room went dark. Three days of living in a waking nightmare. The massive Hassan estate, usually a sanctuary of warmth and classical music, had been turned into a black-clad circus. The grand foyer was packed with extended family members she hadn't seen in years, high-profile corporate executives whispering about stock prices, and caterers carrying silver trays of food that smelled like cardboard to her.

Racheal sat on the velvet chaise lounge in the corner of the formal living room, staring blankly at the floor. She felt completely hollowed out, a ghost haunting her own life. People kept coming up to her, squeezing her hand, murmuring things like 'They're in a better place' or 'You have to be strong for the company.'

She wanted to scream at them to get out. She wanted to rip the expensive black dress off her body and wake up in her bed on Tuesday morning.

"She hasn't eaten a single thing since Tuesday, Diamond. We don't know what to do."

The low, familiar murmur of a deep baritone voice cut through the fog in Racheal’s mind. She blinked, her gaze shifting toward the grand archway of the living room.

Standing there, talking to her aunt, was Diamond Cole.

Her father’s best friend. The man who had been a permanent fixture in her life since she was a little girl. But to Racheal, he had never just been an 'uncle' figure. Since she was sixteen years old, Diamond had been the keeper of her deepest, most forbidden secret. She had loved him. Not like a family friend, but with a consuming, breathless crush that had only grown heavier as she became a woman.

He was thirty-eight now, fourteen years older than her and he possessed a rugged, commanding elegance that drew every eye in the room. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit that accentuated his broad shoulders and towering six-foot-three frame. His dark hair was neatly trimmed, and his sharp jawline was shadowed with a hint of stubble. He looked like power incarnate, yet his eyes, dark, intense, and usually unreadable, were filled with a fierce, protective sorrow as they scanned the room.

And then, he looked right at her.

Racheal felt a tiny, painful spark ignite in her frozen chest. Diamond didn't join the sea of people crowding her. Instead, he gave a brief, authoritative nod to her aunt, dismissed two executives who were trying to corner him about the Hassan Enterprises board seat, and walked straight toward her.

The crowd seemed to part for him naturally. He had that kind of presence.

He stopped right in front of her, blocking out the rest of the room, the noise, and the suffocating artificial sympathy. He knelt down on one knee, bringing himself to her eye level. The faint, intoxicating scent of his cologne, sandalwood, leather, and rain, wrapped around her, cutting through the suffocating smell of funeral lilies.

"Racheal," he said softly. His voice was a rich, gravelly rumble that always made her nerve endings tingle, even now, in the depths of her despair.

She looked at him, her lips trembling. She couldn't speak. If she opened her mouth, she knew she would choke on her own throat.

"I took care of the press," Diamond said, his eyes searching her pale face. "They won't be allowed within a mile of the church tomorrow. The catering is handled. The board has been issued a formal stay on all decisions until after the burial. You don't have to worry about a single thing. Do you hear me?"

Racheal swallowed hard, tears finally burning the backs of her eyes. She noticed the slight strain around his eyes, the tightness in his jaw. He was hurting too. Hassan had been his brother in everything but blood. Yet, here he was, standing like an unyielding wall between her and the vultures.

"Why are you doing all this?" she whispered, her voice barely a thread.

"Because your father would have done it for me," Diamond replied without hesitation. His gaze deepened, flashing with an intensity that made her breath hitch. "And because I will never let anyone fail you, Racheal. Especially not now."

The sheer weight of his devotion, mixed with the agonizing realization that her parents were truly, permanently gone, broke something critical inside her. The numbness shattered, leaving behind a raw, bleeding wound.

A choked sob escaped her lips.

Before she could think about the proprietary rules of society, before she could remind herself that he was her father's best friend and completely off-limits, she leaned forward.

Diamond caught her instantly.

He reached up, his large, warm hands gripping her waist as he pulled her off the lounge and into his lap, wrapping his massive arms completely around her. Racheal buried her face into the crook of his neck, her hands clutching at the lapels of his suit jacket like a drowning woman.

She didn't let go. She wept violently, her body shaking with deep, agonizing tears that she had been holding back for days. Diamond held her tighter, pressing her against his solid chest, anchoring her to the earth. One of his large hands moved to the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair, pulling her impossibly close.

"I've got you," he murmured against her hair, his chest vibrating against hers. "I've got you, Racheal. Let it out."

She inhaled him, her heart hammering a dangerous, chaotic rhythm. Safe. She felt terrifyingly, beautifully safe in his arms, even as guilt twisted in her gut for finding comfort in a forbidden embrace while her parents lay in a morgue. She squeezed him tighter, never wanting to let go, completely unaware of the eyes in the room turning toward them.