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“Better than signing four, or five.” I met her glare. “Your father is the kind of poison that doesn’t just kill you; he makes you wish you were dead long before he’s done. I won’t let that be Sam’s fate. Or yours.”
She grit her teeth. “Teo, don’t you get it? This might already be Sam’s fate. That’s why I can’t let this go.”
“But if you go down there without a plan, you’re putting us all in danger! You’re putting yourself in danger!”
“Putting us in danger? You think I don’t know that?” Her words were sharp. “But action—Teo, we need to act. Now.”
I turned to face her, the maps and photos blurring into a backdrop for her defiant stance. She was all fire and spitfire, the kind of woman who’d walk through hell for those she cared about.
And right now, hell had a name: The Everglades Viper. Her fucking dad.
My jaw tightened as I watched the resolve etch itself deeper into her features.
“By going in guns blazing?” I challenged, crossing my arms. “You think that’s wise with the Viper maybe holding Sam?”
“Better than sitting ducks!” she shot back, hands clenched at her sides.
“Last time we did this, Victor almost died and the Viper almost gutted me!” I cocked my head to look at her. “Did you forget about that?”
“I didn’t forget! I just think we’re in a better position now, and let me remind you, he might have my brother!”
“He might!” I said. “We don’t know if your brother just doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Her eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open and she turned around, storming up the spiral stairs without saying a word.
All of the guys looked at me, not one of them saying anything.
“I can go and talk to–” Grayson started.
“I will knock you out,” I said quietly. “Just…stay here. All of you, stay here.”
I knew this was going to be a rough conversation, but I couldn’t let Sofia go off half-cocked. She knew I cared about her and she was trying so hard to protect her own family, but she didn’t know what the stakes were. We’d been through too much, lost too many people already. Reaching the top of the stairs, I paused for a moment before pushing open the door to the loft, where I knew Sofia would be. The room was lit by a single lamp on a small table in the corner, casting shadows across her face.
When I stepped inside, Sofia was pacing back and forth, biting her lip.
She turned her head up to look at me.
I took a step toward her. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“Teo, we can’t sit here twiddling our thumbs,” she spat, the words like shrapnel in the charged air of the HQ apartment. “You know as well as I do that waiting for the feds to take action would also be just giving him more time to tighten his grip on Sam.”
Her logic was sound, but it was the undertone of desperation that made me pause. It ricocheted off the bare walls and settled heavy in my gut. “Sof, you’re not hearing me. I’m not talking about sitting idle—I’m talking about not rushing in blind because of what he is to you.”
“I’m not putting Sam in danger,” she said. “And I’m not putting any of you in danger, either.”
The last thread of my patience snapped. ”Enough!” I said. “You’re not a fucking superhero, you’re not even a gangster. You have no idea what kind of world you just stepped in, Sofia, and I’m not going to let you get hurt.”
She bared her teeth at me. “Fuck you, Teo,” she said. “I don’t have a hero complex. Look who’s talking, anyway, Mr. ‘I’ll shield everyone with my body and go to the fucking feds’. You think I don’t hear it? How much you would love to be a fucking martyr?”
“That’s not fair,” I let go of her. I knew I was crowding her as she took a step back, her back ramrod straight against the door. “This isn’t about ego. It’s about strategy, and keeping our heads cool.”
Her eyes narrowed, her brow wrinkling. “Is that what you were doing, Teo? Keeping cool?”
“Dammit, Sofia! It’s my job to keep you—“
“No,” she cut me off. “No, I’m not your job. My life is not your job.”
“You’re wrong,” I said. “Keeping you safe is my job.”
