it might buy me a bit more time here under their protection because even I know I’m on borrowed time. They don’t owe me anything and it’s only a matter of time before they tire of me and send me right back to hell.
8
Maverick
I’m not sure why I changed my mind, but it probably has something to do with the fact Sophia is obviously scared shitless. Despite who she is, I can’t stand seeing a woman like that and I keep on telling myself I’ll hear her out then offload the problem to Ryder to deal with. It’s not gonna become mine because I don’t do mafia, end of. However, even I know I’m fast falling into that world where the shadows claim your soul.
As we reach my room, I don’t even try to be gentle and snap, “Sit.”
Pointing to my couch, I almost push her down and she stares around her in amazement.
“You live here?”
She says it in shock and I snap, “What’s the matter with it, not your usual standard, Princess?”
“No.” She shakes her head and appears to forget why we’re here because she says with surprising emotion, “I love it.”
I look around in surprise because it’s nothing special, but she shakes her head and whispers, “It’s perfect. I never knew.”
“Knew what?”
I am genuinely concerned about this woman’s sanity because it’s just a room, but she turns to me with tears in her eyes which makes me sit down hard beside her in shock. “It’s just like home.”
“That, I find very hard to believe, darlin’.”
I’m no fool and my modern, loft style space, is nothing like a mafia mansion and she shakes her head. “I have my own suite of rooms and they are just like this. My brother has the usual finery associated with wealth but I like it simple, modern and tasteful. It’s like being back at home without the fear of what that involves.”
“You fear your home.”
I stare at her in disbelief because I know how much of a fortress that must be. Her eyes fill with tears and she nods. “Yes.” Her voice is but a whisper and her shoulders begin to shake as she returns to a dark place in her soul.
The words hang in the air we breathe because this is a turning point for her and I don’t want to scare it away. Instead, I do something I never do and wrap my arms around her and pull her close, stroking her hair to comfort a woman who is probably not used to it. She shivers in my arms and I know she is battling hard, so I whisper, “Relax, nothing will hurt you here. We can stay here and just talk for as long as you need. I won’t judge and I won’t react. Tell me your fears, darlin’ because the bravest person is the one who is scared the most. That bravery will win your battle for you.”
She holds me tight and as her arms wrap around me, I feel something I should run away from as fast as possible because now she’s in my arms, I never want her to leave.
Then she says in a whisper, “It’s all my fault.”
“What is?”
“I killed my parents.”
I didn’t expect to hear that but just hold her a little tighter and say softly, “Go on.”
“I thought I was in love with a rival family’s son. You know the sort of thing, Romeo and Juliet had nothing on us. The thing is, he used me to find out everything he could about my family. I swear I never knew, but he promised me he loved me.”
She starts to sob and yet I say nothing. I will not let words snap her back from the past; she needs to get this out. So, I stroke her hair carefully and she says in a small voice, “We were going to run away. He told me we would get married and be together, away from the world we both lived in. Be a normal couple and find a place together and get married, have kids, you know the sort of thing most normal people take for granted. I fell for his words because I truly thought he meant them. It was exciting and I couldn’t agree fast enough. That day we met and took a cab to a motel in the next town. We checked in under false names and it felt like we had broken out of prison and the dark clouds cleared. I was