The line crackled for a second, then exploded with fury. "You son of a bitch, Rafael! Married? You got married to Eliana without so much as a goddamn whisper to me? After everything? You knew—you knew how important she is to me! I handpicked her for you, vouched for her soul, and this is how you repay me? Sneaking off like some coward in the night?"
Rafael winced, holding the phone slightly away from his ear as H's voice boomed through the speaker, laced with betrayal and raw anger. He could picture his friend: rugged with a scar across his cheek from some sad unforgotten skirmish, his dark eyes burning with the fire of a man who'd lived in the shadows too long. H had always been the steady one, the protector who'd hidden himself away after tangling with powerful enemies—perhaps even tied to H's own family's web of deceit. "H, listen—"
