Chapter 85: Riley

My phone rings, Sofia’s name flashing across the screen. It’s strange—she only left a few hours ago with Nate. I answer immediately, keeping my tone calm, even though something feels off.

“Hey, Sof? What’s going on?”

At first, it’s just her breathing, quick and panicked. Then her voice bursts through, frenzied and desperate. “Riley! Riley, please… you need to come, now! Help, please!”

A spike of fear jolts through me. “Whoa, Sofia, slow down. Where are you?” I manage, keeping my voice steady as best as I can, trying to ground her.

“You have to help Nate!” she cries, barely getting the words out between sobs and what sounds like running footsteps. My mind races, barely processing the words she’s throwing out. “Riley, please—he’s hurt, they tried to—”

I look over at Leo, who’s already moving, grabbing his phone. “We’re coming, Sof. Just hang on and keep moving. Where are you?”

Her voice crackles in and out. “The woods… somewhere along the road… I don’t know…” Then, just like that, the line goes dead.

Leo’s tapping his screen like mad, a hard look in his eyes. “I’m tracking them both. She’s a couple miles up.” He clenches his jaw, nodding at me. “Let’s move.”

We’re in the car and tearing down the back road within seconds, the tension so thick I can feel it in my throat. I don’t say a word, just focus on the trees flashing by, on the darkening sky, on the fear gnawing at my gut. We’re close, so close, and all I can think about is finding her safe.

Leo speaks low, almost to himself. “Think it’s Moretti?”

I grit my teeth. “Who else would have the guts to try this? Just get us there.”

The GPS pings as we pull up, and my eyes zero in on Nate, standing in the distance with his back to us, his arm moving sharply as he throws a brutal punch. I’m out of the car before we even stop, sprinting toward him. He’s barely aware of us, lost in his rage, fist slamming again and again into some guy’s face. I glance down. Another guy’s lying unconscious on the ground, his face a mess of bruises and blood.

“Nate!” I yell, closing in on him. He looks up, breathing hard, blood dripping from his knuckles, his face a mix of anger and exhaustion.

“Riley?” His voice is rough, his gaze still wild, like he hasn’t fully registered that we’re here.

I nod at the two men on the ground. “Sofia called us. She said you needed help.”

Clearly, he didn't need the help. I let out a slow breath, assessing the mess Nate made of the guys sprawled out at his feet. They’re barely recognizable, their faces swollen and bloodied to the point it’ll be a miracle if we get a solid ID. I look back at him, crossing my arms.

“You know, next time, maybe try to leave a face intact?” I mutter, but there’s a tension in my voice that even I can’t hide. “It’ll be a hell of a lot harder to figure out who these guys are now.”

Nate’s eyes snap to me, fierce and dark. He’s still got that unhinged look about him, breathing hard, jaw set. “They were surrounding us, Riley,” he grits out, voice like gravel. “They had her pinned. Guns pointed right at her head.”

I can practically feel the pulse of rage coming off him, each word like a punch. “I stopped,” he says, his voice dropping, deadly calm now, “and they’re lucky enough to still be breathing.”

For a second, I just stare at him, trying to suppress the uneasy feeling gnawing at me. Even to me, Nate’s like something out of a nightmare when he’s like this, cold fury radiating from every part of him. I don’t blame him—I’d be the same way if I’d been there, seeing guns pointed at her, realizing they meant to take her. But Nate? When he’s this far gone, he’s terrifying.

Danny and Leo move in silently, unspoken instructions between them as they start tying up the two guys still breathing, patting them down for anything useful. Leo’s already digging through the back of their SUV, yanking out phones, IDs, anything that might give us an idea of what we’re dealing with.

But then Nate turns away from us, stalking over to my car with a fresh wave of tension in his shoulders. When he pulls the door open and finds it empty, he lets out a vicious curse, loud enough to echo through the woods. His face is a storm, furious eyes turning back to me.

“Where is she?” he demands, voice low and dangerous.

I hold up my hands, trying to calm him. “She wasn’t with you? She called us, said you needed help. We got here as fast as we could.”

Nate’s fists clench, his body taut with fury and fear. “I told her to run and hide. I thought you would've went to her first.”

I bite back every response rattling in my brain, every bit of fear and anger mixing in my chest.

“We’ll find her,” I say, setting my jaw and looking to Danny and Leo, who both nod, stepping up beside me. I place a hand on Nate’s shoulder, grounding him. “We’ve got her. She won’t be far.”

Seconds later, I catch sight of her, bursting from the tree line like a shot, and relief crashes over me. Sofia’s sprinting straight for Nate, eyes wide, face flushed, and she lets out this choked sound that’s somewhere between a sob and a laugh. She doesn’t even stop running, just leaps into him, wrapping her arms and legs around him as he catches her without missing a beat.

Nate clings to her like she’s his lifeline, hands pressed firmly on her back, holding her close, face buried in her hair. I watch as his shoulders sink, all the tension from moments ago fading out of him as he just breathes her in. She’s crying softly, murmuring apologies into his shoulder, her voice shaking as she tells him, “I couldn’t stay away, I couldn’t—I had to make sure you were okay.”

It’s a raw, unguarded moment, and none of us move, letting them have it. Nate’s hand strokes her hair, soothing her as he whispers something I can’t make out, but his voice is so soft it’s like a different person from the guy who was ready to tear through anyone who’d even look at her the wrong way.

After a few seconds, he finally loosens his grip, and she slips down, eyes shining, cheeks flushed, and turns to the rest of us. She throws her arms around me next, and I wrap her up, squeezing her tight. “You scared the hell out of us, you know that?” I mutter, but my voice cracks a little, betraying how damn relieved I am to see her safe.

She pulls back, giving me a watery smile, then hugs Danny and Leo just as fiercely, whispering thank-yous to each of us as she goes. Before I know it, she’s planting a quick kiss on each of our cheeks, her face bright with a mix of relief and gratitude, and even though we’re all still buzzing from the rush, none of us let her go for more than a second.

“Thank you for coming so fast,” she breathes, her voice soft, glancing between us all with something vulnerable and relieved in her gaze.

“Always,” I say, and I mean it.