Page 124 of The Billionaire's Virgin

Chapter Thirty-Six

Taylor

“Really… very, very touching,” Sofia said again.

I could feel the sweat on my palms rub off on Jenna, but I still kept a firm grip on her hand. She had cringed into my side and was hiding half her body behind my legs. I could feel her fear… it was palpable.

“Sofia,” I said. “You wanted to talk to me, and I’m here now. So you can let Jenna go.”

Sofia frowned. “Did I say that?”

“What?”

“Did I say I would let Jenna go just because you showed up?” Sofia asked, in a condescending tone. “I mean… that just seems silly to me.”

She was wearing a white dress that bordered on being bridal. Her makeup was done to perfection, and if she hadn’t been smiling with an insane glint in her eye, I might have thought she looked beautiful. As it stood, however, she just looked like a deranged woman.

My eyes fell to the hand she had placed behind her back, and I realized she was carrying something. I felt a gasp in my throat as I realized she really did have a gun. Instantly I felt better about following her instructions at the park. If I had called her bluff, I fully believed she would have started shooting, and I didn’t want that on my conscience.

“Sofia, please,” I said, trying again. “Jenna’s innocent in all this—”

“Is she?” Sofia asked, cutting me off. “Because I don’t think so.”

“How can you possibly say that?” I demanded, pushing Jenna behind me completely. “What possible justification can you have for saying that?”

“It seems to me that she was the reason Reed broke up with me the first time.”

I shook my head. “He broke up with you because of what you did,” I pointed out.

“Don’t pretend like you know what happened,” Sofia said, as the smile dropped from her face.

“But I do know what happened,” I said. “Reed told me everything.”

“No, he didn’t,” she screamed, and I felt Jenna jerk behind me.

“Stop it,” I yelled back. “Stop it; you wanted to talk to me, so talk. What do you want from me?”

“I just wanted to see you up close,” Sofia said, as she took a step forward towards me. “I wanted to look at you… study you… I wanted to try and understand why he even took a second glance at you.”

I kept a close eye on the gun in her hand, and I prayed to God that it wasn’t real. I had a feeling that it was, however. It looked far too dangerous and far too sinister.

“Now that I see you up close, however… you’re nothing special,” Sofia said decidedly.

“I could have told you that myself,” I said.

“What does he see in you?” Sofia asked, and because she sounded like she was talking to herself I didn’t reply. “Doesn’t he realize that he and I would be perfect together? We were perfect together. We were so happy; he was so happy with me.”

“Then why did he break up with you?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Because of that little brat cowering behind your legs,” Sofia spat.

I shook my head at her. “She’s hischild,” I said. “How can you expect to make anything work with him if you can’t find it in your heart to be kind to Jenna?”

“If she were out of the picture, I wouldn’t have to be kind to her at all.”

I frowned. “You’re going to hurt her,” I said. “And you think Reed is going to take that lying down?”

“Oh, he’s not going to blame me for hurting her,” Sofia replied. “He’s going to blame you; the police will blame you too.”