Chapter 61: Leo

It’s early morning, and I’m still sitting at the desk, my eyes burning from staring at the screen for what feels like hours. But I don’t mind, not even a bit. Transferring all of Sofia’s classes to online options, making sure she doesn’t have to step foot on campus... it’s worth every second.

Riley’s got a meeting in two hours, so he’s heading out soon, but before that, we wanted to surprise her with everything we’ve done.

Danny’s already come back from his early morning trip. He went out before the sun even rose to get her all new notebooks and pens. He was so excited about it that I couldn’t help but grin when he showed me what he bought. Some of the notebooks are blue with butterflies, others are soft pink. He even found a couple of spiral notebooks with little stars and constellations on them. There’s a variety of pens too—gel pens, pastel highlighters, and some smooth, sleek ballpoints. Danny told me he had to look on Pinterest for "trendy" school supplies. I had to laugh at that, imagining him scrolling through pages of “aesthetic” study spaces to find what she’d like.

But he did a good job. He always does.

Meanwhile, Nate spent the morning building a small desk in the corner of the living room. It’s simple but sturdy, with a smooth wooden surface and a little lamp on top. We set up all her new notebooks and pens there, along with a few decorative plants and some small, framed pictures of her. We even downloaded all her textbooks onto a brand-new iPad Pro. It’s sleek, light, and will make studying a lot easier for her.

Everything’s ready. Now, we just have to show her.

Riley, knowing he has to leave soon, goes to wake her up. I hear him whispering softly, kissing her awake, and I can’t help but smile. He’s good with her, even if he tries to act like he’s not always the softest one.

“We’ve got a surprise for you, baby girl,” he murmurs to her, just loud enough for me to hear from where I’m standing downstairs. “But I have to leave soon, so let’s go see it.”

A few minutes later, Riley comes down, carrying Sofia in his arms. She’s still half-asleep, her hair tousled and her cheeks flushed. She’s wearing one of our oversized shirts, and as soon as she spots us, her sleepy eyes blink wide open.

“Surprise!” Danny grins, his excitement written all over his face as she rubs her eyes and looks around.

I watch her take it all in—the desk, the notebooks, the pens, the iPad, everything. At first, she seems stunned, like she doesn’t know what to say. Her hand flies to her mouth as her eyes glisten with tears.

“Oh my God… you did all of this for me?”

I step forward, sliding my hand behind her neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You said you didn’t want to just sit at home doing nothing. So, we made sure you could keep going to school… from here.”

She’s silent for a moment, looking around the room, her gaze falling on every little detail we’d planned for her. Then she blinks up at me, her eyes filling with unshed tears.

“I love it,” she whispers, her voice cracking just a bit. “You guys... I didn’t think...”

“You deserve it,” Danny says, stepping in front of her and pulling her into his arms for a quick hug. “Now you don’t have to go anywhere. You can do all your classes here, safe with us.”

Riley kisses her temple, still holding her close. “We’ll take care of the rest, but for now... it’s your turn to focus on school again.”

Sofia takes a deep breath, looking between the four of us, overwhelmed in the best way possible. “I… I don’t know what to say. This is… this is perfect.”

Nate steps forward, adjusting a notebook on her desk. “We even set up a corner for you in the living room, so you’ll have your own space to study.” His voice is soft, but there’s something proud in his eyes as he looks at her.

Sofia nods, still blinking back tears. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I say, even though I know it means the world to her. “We just want you to be happy.”

She looks at each of us, her lips trembling slightly before a beautiful smile spreads across her face. “Thank you,” she says softly, her voice full of emotion. “Really... thank you.”

Riley squeezes her waist gently, reminding her that he’ll have to leave soon. “I have to go in a bit,” he murmurs, his lips brushing the side of her head. “But I’m glad I got to see this before I left.”

Sofia turns to him, her eyes searching his. “You’re leaving?”

“Just for a couple of days,” he reassures her. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She nods slowly, though I can see the reluctance in her eyes. But as soon as she looks back at the desk we made for her, that smile returns, and she’s beaming again.

“This is perfect,” she repeats softly. “I’m so excited to start school again.”

Riley asks Sofia if she wants to spend a small moment with him before he heads out, and of course, she says yes. I watch them disappear upstairs, leaving me, Nate, and Danny alone in the living room. There’s a moment of silence between us, the air shifting slightly, when Nate’s phone buzzes loudly on the table, cutting through the quiet. He grabs it, eyes narrowing at the screen before he answers.

His face tightens almost immediately, and I know something’s up.

“What is it?” I ask, leaning forward.

Nate listens for a few seconds before turning his back to us, his shoulders tense. “When? How bad?” He glances at Danny and me, his expression darkening. “Yeah. Send the footage over. We’ll review it and call you back.”

Danny’s on his feet before Nate even hangs up. “What happened?”

“One of our men,” Nate mutters, running a hand through his hair. “Someone tried to break into the office. They managed to injure one of our guys in the process. It’s bad.”

My blood runs cold. “Who the hell would be stupid enough to try that?”

Nate shakes his head, the phone still in his grip. “We’ll know more when we see the footage. They’re sending it over now.”

Danny’s pacing already, his fists clenching and unclenching, while I try to stay calm. I’ve always been the one to keep a level head in these situations, but hearing someone broke into the office—it’s hard to keep my emotions in check.

Moments later, my phone buzzes, and the footage comes through. Nate hooks it up to the TV so we can all see it better, and as the video plays, my stomach churns.

We watch in silence as a figure steps into the building from the back alley. One of our men comes into frame, clearly surprised to find an intruder there. The guy—our guy—tries to stop him, but it doesn’t take long before he’s struck down. He hits the ground hard, blood staining the side of his head.

“Jesus Christ,” I growl, my fists clenching tight. “Bastard knocked him out cold.”

We all freeze when the camera angle shifts, giving us a clearer shot of the intruder’s face. And even though he’s masked, I swear my blood turns to ice in my veins.

Danny stiffens next to me. “No fucking way…” His voice is low, dangerous, like he’s barely holding on.

Nate swears under his breath, hands curled into tight fists. “This better be a fucking joke.”

It’s taking every ounce of control to not punch something. Of all people… he’s the last person we ever expected to pull this kind of shit. I thought he was too much of a coward to even attempt coming at us head on.

We watch as the intruder turns sharply, like he’s heard something. Backup arrives—more of our guys flooding the hallway—and just like that, he bolts. He doesn’t even try to fight; just takes off running before anyone can catch him. Coward alright.

The screen goes black.

For a second, no one says anything. We’re all too furious to speak.

Finally, Danny breaks the silence. “That son of a bitch. I don’t care what it takes—we’re going after him.”

“I’m with you,” Nate growls, standing up so fast the chair scrapes across the floor. “This can’t stand. He’s dead.”

Before I can stop him, Danny hurls a glass across the room. It crashes against the wall, shards scattering everywhere.

“Danny, calm the hell down!” I hiss, glancing towards the stairs. “Sofia’s going to hear.”

He’s pacing now, breathing hard, trying to keep his anger in check. And I get it—I feel the same fury burning inside me, but we need to be smart about this.

“What the hell was he thinking, going after one of our men?” Nate mutters, running a hand through his hair. “He’s not stupid. He knows better than this.”

I can’t answer because I’m still trying to wrap my head around what just happened. It’s not just a random attack. This is personal. But the last thing we want is to let Sofia in on this—not yet, not until we have a plan.

Just then, I hear soft laughter from upstairs. Riley and Sofia are coming down. I plaster on a fake smile, trying to keep the tension out of my body language.

“What’s going on?” Sofia asks, glancing around the room. Her eyes land on the shattered glass, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Riley’s got his arm around her, instantly understanding what's going on. “Oh man, Danny, not again?” he asks, his voice full of fake laughter.

I step forward, keeping my voice as even as possible. “Yeah, just an accident.” I motion to the broken glass. “Danny knocked it over.”

Sofia’s eyes flick between us, clearly not convinced. She looks at Danny, whose jaw is still clenched, but thankfully, she doesn’t ask any more questions.

Riley kisses her on the forehead, keeping her close. “I’m about to head out,” he says softly.

Danny finally snaps out of his rage long enough to step forward. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

Sofia watches them head towards the door, still looking a little concerned. I force another smile and put a hand on her back, guiding her away from the mess of glass.

“Don’t worry,” I say gently, trying to calm the storm brewing inside me. “Everything’s fine.”

But it’s not. It’s far from fine.