Sofia
I worry when five p. m. rolls around and there’s still no sign of Dominic. It’s not that I don’t expect him to be out late, but he said that he would be home in time for dinner tonight. I hope something didn’t come up.
I take my food to the living room and eat alone, watching a romantic comedy while I wait.
I think about messaging him, but at the same time, if he’s busy with something for the family, I don’t want to irritate him or sound like a nag. I don’t know how I feel. I just…I guess I miss him.
The front door opens just as I set my plate on the coffee table, and I
get up, hurrying out of the living room. Arianna turns and grins at me.
“Hey, Sofia, how are you?”
There’s something sad about her smile, and my stomach plummets.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, wringing my hands.
Arianna looks taken aback but shakes her head. “I just came over to keep you company because Dominic’s been taken to hospital.” She quickly adds, “He’s fine. He just got a little beat up by some guys. He’ll be out by tomorrow.”
My heart feels like it’s breaking in two. Poor Dominic. I feel like this is my fault. He’s been getting hurt ever since he rescued me, and this all kicked off.
“There are extra guards,” Arianna says, “So you’re safe, don’t worry.”
I give her a brave smile. “Do you want some coffee?”
“How about I make us something? I used to live here, you know,” she comments, leading me through to the kitchen. “We all did, growing up before we moved to the bigger family home where Alessandro stays now.”
“Do you stay with Alessandro?” I ask, trying to keep the conversation going.
She shakes her head as she takes out two mugs. “No, I have an apartment that I pay for. Despite my brothers trying to convince me otherwise, I wanted it that way. I did, however, agree to a security detail.”
There’s something wistful about the way she looks, and I remember the bodyguard drinking with us at the club. “Do you have feelings for your security detail?”
She grins mischievously. “A topic for another day. For now, I want to know how you’re holding up.”
“I’m fine. I’m just really worried about Dominic. He keeps getting hurt because of me.” I look at her sadly. “I feel terrible.”
“Don’t,” she says matter-of-factly, “This is the life my brothers chose to pursue. This is an inevitable outcome. If it weren’t you, it would be some other reason. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
There’s a moment of silence. I stare at my hands when her next question catches me off guard. “Sofia, do you care for my brother?”
I look up quickly. ‘I…”
“Like, do you like like my brother?” she asks, and she gives me a small smile. “Because he wanted to kill you the first couple of days, but now he seems to only care about your comfort.”
I blush. “Your brother is being very kind to me at the moment, but he’s still an ass.”
She giggles. “You can still care for him, faults and all.”
I look back at my hands and then take a deep breath, revealing the truth, “I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know how to reconcile my feelings for your brother with the fact that he kills innocent people. It’s just something that makes me hesitate.”
She sets her coffee down and sits beside me, facing me. “My brother only does what is necessary to protect the family.”
“He says that,” I say, sipping my coffee. “But it’s like he doesn’t feel remorse.”
Arianna shakes her head. “Could you imagine having to feel remorse for that, though? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a shitty thing for anyone to do, but it has to be done, and if you don’t pack that away, if you don’t compartmentalize that, it will drive you mad.”
I nod slowly. “I mean, I get it’s hard to deal with, but I just feel like it makes him so inhuman.”
Arianna and I sit there for a moment, thinking about our conversation, when she perks up. “You know…if you don’t fight it. If you treat the family as your own, something to protect and be loyal to. Something to be committed to like a relationship, it is easier to think of the horrible things that happen because they become a necessary evil.”
“A necessary evil,” I echo, finishing my coffee. “I’ll think about it.”
Arianna smiles warmly. “I mean it. Think about it. If you really like him, you should accept him warts and all.”
She stands and takes her mug to the sink. “If you need me, call me.”
“Can I go see Dominic?” I ask and then quickly follow up with, “To take him things from home to make him more comfortable.” Arianna nods, and I blush. “Thank you,” I say.
“I’ll chat to you soon.” She comes toward me and envelops me in a hug, and I hug her back, feeling comforted.
Once she’s gone, I pack some food into a container because I’m sure the hospital food is absolutely disgusting. Then I go upstairs and pack him some fresh clothes for tomorrow. I’m not sure how hurt he is, so I go with something easy to get into, slacks and a t-shirt.
I also pack his toothbrush and some toiletries. While standing alone in the bathroom, I see his cologne and spray some in the air before I sniff it. I immediately feel a sense of warmth spread throughout my body.
I take everything to his bed and sit there, looking at where he sleeps. I feel like I’m some kind of creepy stalker at this point, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him or me.
I think about what Arianna said. I close my eyes and picture them as my siblings and their parents as my own. I try and feel it with my entire being. Then I imagine someone threatening that, and I’m instantly filled with rage.
I open my eyes, and I sigh. I know what it is that I want. I don’t know if he wants the same thing as me, though, and confessing my feelings to him might just lead to heartbreak. It would be so awkward to live together afterward.
I think about the sex we had and the hungry look in his eyes when he was inside me. I lick my lips.
I have to try.
He is a pain in the ass. God, he is so annoying. He’s bossy, controlling, and overprotective, but the more I think about it, the more I appreciate the lengths he’s willing to go to for the people he cares about. I mean, shit, he nearly got killed for me and he didn’t even know me at all then. Now, though, I know he would kill anyone who came near me. I don’t know if I’m okay with that, but I know I need to try. I need to try because I think I’ve fallen hard for him.
I pick up his things and go downstairs, grabbing the container of food.
I walk out the front and smile at the guard standing there. He’s new. I don’t recognize him. I walk to the car where the driver is waiting for me, and suddenly, everything just goes black.
Dominic
I wake up, and my head is less sore than it felt yesterday, but my body is still in pain. I’ll adapt, though, because I’m used to pain.
I eat the stupid hospital breakfast they bring me only because they won’t let me go if I don’t. Once I choke it down, they give me another once over before the doctor declares I can be discharged.
The nurse brings the paperwork to me to fill out, and I think about Sofia. I wonder if she has missed me at all. She hasn’t called to check on me or come to visit, but I hope she’s happy to see me when I get home.
“Hello, big brother,” I look up at Arianna’s smiling face.
“Ari,” I say. “What are you doing here?”
“Picking you up.” She sits on the side of my bed. “Wanted to make sure you were okay.”
I snort. “You know this isn’t the worst I’ve been.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t worry,” she singsongs. She looks around the room and then at me. “So, did you and Sofia talk?”
“About what?” I ask curiously. “The last time I spoke to Sofia was yesterday morning.”
Arianna frowns. “She said she was coming to see you last night.”
“Maybe she fell asleep,” I say. “Or changed her mind.” My sister looks away, and I frown. “Arianna Amelia Sorvino, what did you do?”
She grins. “Don’t say my full name. It’s bad luck.”
I raise an eyebrow, which hurts. “What did you do?”
“I went to see her,” she says, drawing a lazy circle in the bedspread. “And I chatted to her about how she might feel about you.”
I balk. “Arianna, that is none of your business.”
She looks up at me. “Well, someone has to intervene between you two. It’s like watching two ships pass in the night, except the lighthouse is on and shining at both of you.”
We fall silent, and I look out the window at the buildings across the road. “What did she say?” I ask quietly.
“I think it’s best she speaks to you. I just made it clear she needs to make up her mind and that you’re more than what you appear to be.”
Arianna stands up. “Are you coming or what?”
“I’m a killer, Arianna, nothing more than that. You shouldn’t put ideas in her head.” I stand up and wince, holding my ribs.
Arianna observes me for a moment before saying, “You’re more than what you think you are, brother, and the ideas were already there. I was just watering the seeds.”
“Well, don’t, please. This doesn’t need to be more complicated than it already is.” I walk with her out of the room, and the guards follow us as we exit the hospital.
I see Carmine waiting for us at the elevator and look at Arianna. “Is there something I should know?”
“Yes, that you’re full of shit, and I’m glad you’re okay.” She touches my shoulder gently, so I lean down. She kisses my cheek and grins. “I’m not going to drive with you home after all. I think it’s better you two have some alone time. Ciao.”
She walks off with Carmine toward the stairs, and I roll my eyes. She knows I can’t keep up with her in my current shape. I take the elevator down to the ground floor and get to the car, sitting back and relaxing in the back seat.
I close my eyes as we drive. Traffic is shit at this time, so I know I can doze off for a while, at least. I think about what Arianna said about Sofia having a choice to make. What if she chooses me? I don’t know what I would do with that.
Do I return her feelings? Alessandro might not like that, although he said he would simply change my role in the family. Do I want to change my position?
I try and clear my mind. This stress is making my headache come back quickly.
“Boss,” I hear my driver say as we slow down.
I open my eyes and lean forward. The gates to the estate are wide open. There is no one to be seen.
“Get to the house,” I say, realizing Sofia might be in danger.
“It could be a trap,” Carlos, my guard, says.
I glare at him. “Shoot any motherfucker that doesn’t belong to us.”
My driver pulls up to the house, and we exit quickly. Moving fast is painful, so I let my guards go first. I see three dead bodies near the front door.
My men.
I don’t know where the others are, but I know they’re probably dead. I walk into the house without a qualm. “Sofia!” I yell. “Sofia, answer me!”
The house has been turned upside down, and everything that could be destroyed has been destroyed-shards of glass and pottery and pieces of torn artwork litter the floor. Cushions have been ripped and strewn about.
I look at the top of the stairs to see a graffiti tag emblazoned on the wall.
The Catalan tag.
This is what their soldiers use to deliver warnings to other families. They’ve taken Sofia, and they’re basically saying I’m not getting her back, and I’ll die if I try to.
I take my cell phone out as my men sweep the house and dial Alessandro. “You home?”
“They’ve taken Sofia,” I say immediately.
Alessandro goes quiet for a moment. “Do you need help?”
“I just need your permission to do what I must to get her back, regardless of the consequences,” I say.
“You do this. There is no going back,” Alessandro says, then, after a pause, “I would do the same thing for Katya. I have done the same thing for her. Go, do what you need to do.”
I hang up and hobble out to the side of the house, where there’s a large shed. Carlos follows me, and I say, “Get a few men ready, as much ammo as they can get. I will ping her cell phone to see where last it went off. We must do this carefully, or they will take us out at the knees.”
“How carefully?”
“By carefully, I mean not one of those motherfuckers comes out alive, do you understand?”
“I’ll get Carmine,” Carlos says, walking away.
I enter the shed that remained untouched due to the security locks and switch on the light. Weapons of all kinds line the walls and the table in the center. I look around and nod, “This will do,” I say to myself.
I carefully change into a bulletproof vest, as painful as it is. I know I could send my men on their own, especially since Carmine is an amazing mercenary. Second only to me.
Once I’ve finished strapping as many weapons to myself as I can manage without being weighed down, I grab one set of keys from the many hanging in a box to the left of the door.
I walk into the large garage at the side of the house and hit the button, unlocking the armored vehicle sitting to the right.
I climb in, start the car and rev it.
I’m getting my Sofia back, she’s my princess, and no one touches my things. Least of all some filthy mug like Jose Catalan.
He has declared war, not only on my family but on me personally, and war is what I’m best at.