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Chapter Thirteen
Roman
Waking up with Sophie in my arms is nothing short of a dream. I half expected what happened yesterday to be nothing but a sick, twisted joke my mind had played on me. Then I wake up to find she is still burrowed into chest and I know it wasn’t any of those things. Sophie is back, and she wants me, she claimed me just as I had claimed her even after I lost my damn mind and hurt her. She still wants me, and I don’t deserve her, god knows I don’t but I can’t give her up either. I’m too selfish, too in love with her to let her go.
The sound of my phone ringing on my nightstand pulls me from my thoughts, I groan in displeasure as I roll away from Sophie to grab the god-forsaken thing. Ivan’s name flashes across the screen and I hit the green answer key, wondering what the hell he could possibly want.
“She’s fine, I didn’t do…” I answer, but Ivan’s voice stops me dead in my tracks.
“I didn’t call to harass you Roman. I’ve got a lead on some of the assholes trying to go behind my back. I know for sure now that they have been trying to get back into the flesh selling business and I want to shut them down before it gets too bad.” The blood in my veins turns to ice.
I remember Andi telling me that he was approached by some men who wanted Sophie. We weren’t certain why they wanted her at that time because the men never told him why they wanted her but it makes sense now. She wasn’t taken to auction and the men that bought her from her parents never made their money back because she was never sold. If they’re looking to sell girls again then that explains why they came to take her, to make their money back.
“That means Sophie is in danger. What the hell do we do?” My voice raises, and I try to stop the anxiousness from consuming me. Nervous bubbles of fear fill my belly. I’ve finally got her back and now fear is on the horizon, threatening to rip all the good away from us. She stirs beside me, and I know the moment her big eyes open because I can feel them roaming over my skin.
“We need to find out where they’re operating, take in any of the other girls we can…it also wouldn’t be a bad idea to go and pay Sophie’s father a visit. He sold his daughter to these men, he might have some information we can use, maybe even know where they are now.”
I grit my teeth at the thought. I’ll kill her father if I discover he’s behind this. Hell, I should kill him anyway for putting his hands on her the way he did.
“So what do we do?” Sophie pushes up into a sitting position, her eyes wild, confusion marring her delicate features.
“We wait. I need to call Xander first since that is his turf. I’m going to talk to him and see if I can set up some operations so we can shut this shit down for good. I’ll need his permission since Sophie’s parent’s live in Xander’s territory. But I highly doubt he would have anything against it since those are the same people who took Violet and Ella.”
“And if he says no anyway?” I quip. Would Ivan go against Xander’s wishes?
“He won’t say no. Xander doesn’t agree with human trafficking anymore than we do, especially since this one hits so close to home. He’ll help us Roman. Don’t worry about that.”
“Okay, let me know what you need from me, and if I can help somehow,” I mumble into the phone, pulling Sophie onto my lap. Right now I need to keep her close, as close as humanly possible.
“Just watch over Sophie. Let me know if anything strange happens.” My muscles tense instantly as I remember last night.
“Last night Sophie said she saw her father. Mac said it’s stress and her mind is conjuring up things, but I don’t think she was hallucinating. She was truly afraid Ivan. And since her father lives in North Woods he can’t be here by coincident, he’s here for something, most likely for her.” Saying the words out loud enrages me. I can feel the fear in Sophie’s body as she clings to my chest like a second skin.
“Maybe we can lure him out of hiding. If he’s looking for her and he’s on my territory breaking rules and laws then we need to put an end to him.”
“We are not using her as bait. I don’t want to put her in danger. We know where he lives so I say we go to him instead of trying to find him here. We just make sure he knows where we are going,” I say softly, stroking my hand down Sophie’s back and wishing I could end all of this right now. The last thing I want to do is let her father get close to her. Her reaction to his presence last night was unnerving and seeing her paralyzed with fear as she was, scared me to death, and angered me beyond words all at once.
