Chapter Fourteen
Wyatt: I need woman advice. You up for it?
Giana: Always. Did she reject you? Did your brother get mad at you?
Wyatt: Sometimes I don’t think you’re funny.
Giana: I think I am, but out with it. What did you fuck up?
Wyatt: You’re running from something or someone right?
Giana: Yes.
Wyatt: So is this girl. And I might have overreacted. I might have gone all alpha cop on her and insisted she move in with me, which sent her running home.
Giana: Rookie move, Officer.
Wyatt: I see that now. But I don’t understand why. What did I do wrong?
Giana: You demanded. You took away her choice. Whatever, or whoever, she’s running from already took away her choice by forcing her to be on the run. You need to offer it as an option, but let her decide. Don’t take anything else away from her.
Wyatt: That seems so obvious. Why did I miss it?
Giana: Because you care about her. And you’re a caregiver. You just want to take care of and protect everyone around you. Apologize. And offer to help her figure it out. Not you figuring it out for her.
Wyatt: Thanks. I guess it pays to have a friend that’s a woman.
Giana: I’m here for advice anytime. >
Texting with Giana is the best choice I have, because I’m almost one hundred percent sure that Giana and Sophia are the same person.
The similarities between the two are too uncanny for me to ignore anymore.
There’s the fact that Giana only responds when I’m not with Sophia.
And the insight into things that I haven’t shared yet, but Sophia would know, like my brother being pissed about us.
But whether she’s Giana or not, I’m doing what she told me to do. I need to apologize because it makes sense that she wouldn’t want her independence in this situation taken away from her.
From what I’ve learned about her family, she probably didn’t have a say in her life from day one. Ryder made it seem like he’s the only one who protects his sister from the life her family is involved in, and he does whatever he can to keep her safe.
Including taking away her entire identity and moving her across the country to start a new life with no connection to her past or her brother.
Pushing up off the couch, I walk down to her house.
Knocking on the door, I hear feet shuffling across the floor.
The door opens, and a red-eyed Sophia stands there with tear stained cheeks.
“Hello,” she says flatly.
“Can I come in?”
She doesn’t answer me, but she does step to the side, opening the door.
“I’m not just moving in with you. You can’t make me.” She stands next to the couch with her arms over her chest.
Crossing the small space in just a few steps, I sit on the couch and tug her down with me. “I’m not here to do that.”
“Then why are you here?” She curls into my side with her legs over my lap.
“Because I need you to know that I’m sorry for taking away your choice.”
A smile graces her lips.
“I never want to do that. I never want you to feel like I’m taking something away from you. You need to be safe, and I want to be the one to keep you safe, but I’ll only do it your way and offer options for you. So for now, my house is an option. I have a security system while your cabin doesn’t.”
She reaches up and kisses me on the cheek. “I appreciate your apology. Thank you. And I understand you want to keep me safe, but I’m fine here. As far as we know, Hugh doesn’t know I’m here. But he is after you, and that puts me at risk for the moment if I’m in your house.”
Moving the hair off her face, I cup her cheek and pull her toward me. “If that changes, can we revisit this situation?”
“Yes. We can.”
She captures my lips with hers, and I instantly feel better. Maybe Giana is right about her.