Chapter 12 - THE NIGHT THEY STOPPED PRETENDING|
The threat against Mateo had changed the way Sofia slept.
Every unfamiliar car outside her apartment made her look through the blinds. Every phone call from an unknown number tightened her chest. She refused to let fear control her decisions, but pretending she felt nothing had become exhausting.
Dante noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes when she arrived at the townhouse.
“You haven’t been sleeping.”
“Neither have you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Then stop asking questions you already know the answer to.”
He accepted the rebuke without protest.
Eleanor was resting upstairs, and the security team had arranged for a hospital liaison to help protect Mateo’s private information. Sofia had agreed to a temporary security plan, provided she could approve every change and retain the right to refuse an escort.
Dante had kept his promise.
It mattered more than she wanted to admit.
That evening, a storm swept across Manhattan. Rain struck the windows, and the lights flickered once before the backup system engaged.
Sofia found Dante standing in the darkened library, looking at a photograph of his father.
“Does it ever stop?” he asked.
“What?”
“Feeling that everything you trusted was a lie.”
Sofia sat in the chair opposite him.
“I don’t know. My mother used to say grief doesn’t disappear. You just build a life that has room for it.”
Dante turned the photograph over.
“I was seventeen when my father disappeared. I thought being strong meant not asking for help. My uncle told me that emotions made people easy to control, so I learned to hide them.”
“Did it work?”
“For a while.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m beginning to understand that I became very good at surviving a life I never chose.”
Sofia looked at him carefully.
“That sounds lonely.”
“It was.”
He sat across from her.
“I don’t know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Let someone matter without trying to protect them from every possible danger.”
Sofia’s heartbeat changed, but she kept her voice steady.
“You can care about someone without deciding their life for them.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He gave a faint, rueful smile.
“I’m learning.”
The storm rattled the windows. For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Dante said, “When you walked out of that ballroom, I thought about following you. I wanted to know where you were going, whether you were safe, whether I could make the consequences disappear.”
“And why didn’t you?”
“Because you had already told me what you needed. You needed me to respect your decision.”
Sofia felt something soften inside her.
“You listened.”
“I’m trying to.”
She looked down at her hands.
“I’m frightened, Dante. Not just because of the threats. I’m frightened that my brother will get hurt. That I’ll lose the little life I’ve managed to build. And sometimes I’m frightened that I’m starting to trust you.”
He did not move closer.
“Why does that frighten you?”
“Because you have the power to make my life easier. And you have the power to make it impossible.”
Dante absorbed the words without defending himself.
“Then judge me by what I do with that power.”
Sofia looked up.
“That’s what I’m doing.”
Their eyes met, and for the first time, the silence between them was not a wall.
Dante reached out, stopping before his hand touched hers.
“May I?”
Sofia placed her hand in his.
The contact was gentle, almost tentative. His fingers were warm around hers, and the vulnerability in his expression was more unsettling than any display of authority.
He leaned closer, then paused.
Sofia closed the distance herself.
Their kiss was quiet, brief, and free of the desperation she had expected from a man who controlled so much. When they separated, Dante rested his forehead against hers.
“I won’t ask you to stay because you need me,” he whispered.
“Good.”
“I want you to stay because you want to.”
Sofia swallowed.
“Then give me a reason to want to.”
He nodded.
May you like
Outside, the storm continued.
Inside, two people who had spent years protecting themselves from loss allowed themselves, for one fragile moment, to imagine something worth risking.
