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Sophia pushed off her chair, going to throw away the bloody rags.
“I’ll clean that,” I snapped, forcing my muscles to thaw. To move. If I was busy, then I didn’t have to think—not until I had sufficient alcohol in my system that would numb the brain waves of the bombshells I’d just heard.
I repacked the medical kit, threw the bloody gauze away, and tucked the needle back in its wrappings to throw away in the plastic container Sophia held out to me.
It didn’t take her long to whip up a batch of drinks, and I kept the wild thoughts from circling inside my head. Pitcher in one hand and a pair of cups in the other, Sophia jerked her chin to the opposite door. I followed her through the cut glass of the French doors and down to the pool.
Taking a seat on a lounger, I held out my hand for a drink. Sophia filled my glass and started to speak, but I shushed her, holding up a finger. “Uh-uh.”
She obediently waited while I took a long pull of the tart and slightly sweet goodness. Breathing out a long sigh as the alcohol washed down my throat, I nodded. “So, this is where you live?”
That brought a ghost of a smile to my friend’s face. “Yeah, Viktor likes castles. This place was already a villa; he just turned it into an uber man cave when we—when he moved. I didn’t always live with him.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Your parents’ deaths weren’t accidents, were they?”
My friend bit her lip and shook her head. “Murdered—gunned down at a dinner date.”
“Shit, Soph,” I muttered. I knew Viktor took her in at twenty-two—when she was twelve.
She shrugged. “It’s just a scar now. You don’t forget tragedy like that, but you move on from it the best you can.”
“Into a castle, to live as a princess!” I pointed out, trying to pull her back into brighter territory.
“With a dragon for a brother, yup!” She lifted her cup and saluted me. We cheered, glasses chinking and margaritas sloshing. After a long drink, Sophia added, “Are you really doing okay will all of this?”
I snorted, the tangy drink shooting toward the back of my nose. Blinking through the coughing fit that ensued, I admitted, “It’s a lot. This isn’t the kind of skeleton you expect to find in your bestie’s closet.”
“I’m still me, Bri.”
“I know.” I took a deep breath. “And honestly, what you do—what he is—fits your brother’s personality. That overprotectiveness and the violence that always seemed to simmer under the surface makes sense now. And yet...he’s a teddy bear deep down.”
“His brothers in the Bratva beg to differ. And boy,” she added with a whistle, “don’t get me started on his enemies.”
A shiver trickled down my spine.Criminal. Murderer. Viktor!“I’ll come to terms with it.”
“And you can’t tell anyone.” Sophia clutched her glass tight, worrying her lip between her teeth.
“Obviously,” I assured her. And I meant it. “Soph, I won’t snitch on him. I just want to get out of here alive and put this nightmare behind me.”
“That’s all you want?” The question was guarded.
I opened my mouth and then shut it twice as fast. The immediate “yes” fizzled out. “I don’t know what I want.”
“You never do. That’s why you try so hard to do what others want,” Sophia blurted out, then clapped her hand over her lips. “Sorry, Bri.”
A rough laugh escaped my throat. “Don’t be. The trip to my sister’s wedding changed that, you know,” I admitted quietly. “I was becoming quite the rebel.”
“Except when it came to your work?” Sophia guessed.
Damn, she knew me well. “Yeah. But that was for me. It’s all I’ve got.”
“You’ve got me.”
As those words fell from her lips, I shot forward and enveloped her in a hug. “I do. I really do.”
“Good.”
We held each other for a long moment.
