Chapter 84 Chapter 84
Sophia’s POV
I lay on my bed in the soundproofed room, my hand moving between my legs as soft moans escaped my lips. The door was locked, the walls thick enough that no one could hear me.
This was the only way I could escape.
The only way I could stop thinking about Marco’s lifeless body. About the gunfire. About Tyler’s betrayal. About the fact that seventeen men were dead because of my stupidity.
The only way I could silence the guilt that was eating me alive from the inside out.
My fingers worked faster, chasing the temporary oblivion that orgasm would bring. Just a few minutes where I didn’t have to think. Didn’t have to feel. Didn’t have to remember.
“Fuck,” I breathed, my back arching as the pleasure built.
Almost there. Almost….
A sharp knock at the door shattered the moment.
I froze, my hand stilling, my breath caught in my throat.
“Miss Sophia,” Kai’s voice came through the door, professional and distant. “Your father needs everyone in the dining room. He has important news.”
I squeezed my eyes shut in frustration. “Give me a minute,” I called back, my voice shakier than I wanted it to be.
“Five minutes,” Kai said. “Don’t be late.”
I heard his footsteps retreat down the hallway, and I let out a shaky breath.
The moment was gone. The escape denied.
I pulled my hand away and stared at the ceiling, feeling tears prick at my eyes.
I couldn’t even have this. Couldn’t even have a few minutes of peace before reality came crashing back in.
With a frustrated groan, I rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. I washed my hands thoroughly, splashed cold water on my face, and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
I looked terrible. Dark circles under my eyes. Pale skin. Hair a mess. I looked like exactly what I was a girl who’d destroyed her own family.
I quickly cleaned myself up, changed into fresh clothes, and made myself presentable enough to face them all.
———
When I entered the dining room, everyone was already there.
Benita sat at the far end of the table, her arms crossed, her eyes red and swollen. The moment I walked in, her gaze locked onto me with such pure hatred that I actually flinched.
But I forced myself to ignore her, moving to take a seat as far away from everyone as possible.
Hailey was there too, looking exhausted and pale. She didn’t look at me at all, just stared down at her empty plate.
Isabella sat rigid and perfect as always, though I could see the tension in her shoulders.
Barbara sat beside Hailey, her expression hard and protective.
And Kai stood near the wall, his eyes forward, deliberately not looking at me.
We all sat in uncomfortable silence, waiting.
Finally, my father entered. He looked like he hadn’t slept which he probably hadn’t his shirt wrinkled, dark circles under his eyes that matched mine.
He sat down at the head of the table and immediately started eating his breakfast without a word of greeting.
The tension was suffocating.
“Damien,” Isabella said sharply after a full minute of silence. “You called us all here for important news. So speak.”
Barbara leaned forward. “Yes, please. What’s going on?”
My father set down his fork and looked around the table at all of us.
“It’s not safe for us here,” he said bluntly. “We’re too exposed in this hotel, so we’re leaving.”
“Leaving to where?” Hailey asked quietly.
“To my safe house,” my father said. “It’s remote, heavily fortified, and off the grid. We’ll be secure there while I deal with the Morelli situation.”
“When?” Isabella asked.
“Soon,” my father said.
“All of us?” Barbara asked, her tone suspicious.
“Yes,” my father confirmed. “All of my family. Only longtime workers and secret agents will come with us for security. Everyone else stays behind to maintain appearances and security here.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
The safe house.
Not just any safe house THE safe house. The one my mother had loved. The one where we’d spent summers when I was little, where she’d tended the garden and decorated every room with such care.
The place I hadn’t been back to since she died because it hurt too much.
And now Hailey was going to be there. Living in my mother’s house. Sleeping in my mother’s space. Taking over everything that should have been sacred.
“No,” I said, the word escaping before I could stop it.
Everyone turned to look at me.
“No,” I repeated, louder now. “I’m not going there. You can’t make me go there.”
“Sophia….” my father started.
“That was Mom’s house!” I interrupted, my voice rising. “She loved that place! She decorated it, she picked out every piece of furniture, she planted the garden! And you’re just going to bring HER there?” I pointed at Hailey. “You’re going to let her move into Mom’s space like she never existed?”
“Sophia, that’s enough,” my father said, his voice hard.
“It’s not enough!” I shouted, standing up. “Nothing is enough! You’ve already replaced Mom with some college girl who got pregnant! Now you’re going to erase her memory completely by bringing your new family to her favorite place?”
“Sit down,” my father ordered.
“No!” I refused. “I won’t go! You can’t make me go!”
My father stood slowly, and the look on his face made me take a step back.
“You are the reason we’re in this mess,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “You are the reason we can’t stay at our home. You are the reason seventeen men are dead. You are the reason Marco is gone. So you will go where I tell you to go, when I tell you to go there, and you will be grateful that I’m still protecting you despite what you’ve done.”
Each word hit like a slap.
“You don’t have the luxury of making demands anymore, Sophia,” he continued. “You lost that privilege the moment you brought a Morelli spy into my home and gave him everything he needed to destroy us.”