4. Sophia
FOUR
SOPHIA
V oices. I hear them all around me, but I can’t make out who they belong to. I try to open my eyes, but the light is too much. Shutting them again, I wince from the brightness. When I finally manage to open them without feeling like tiny daggers are stabbing into my pupils, I take in my surroundings. I don’t recognize where I am.
Why do I have an IV in my arm? Why does my body feel like it has been run over by a truck? I try to focus, but my memory is blocked, like my mind is intentionally hiding something from me. That thought piques my curiosity, and I strain to recall my last memory.
Maxim’s voice. He was telling me he loved me. I felt pure joy for a split second before it was replaced by pure terror. The sound of gunshots from all directions had us running for our lives, Maxim’s frantic voice telling me to hide in a closet, and then…
I try to push through the fog. The closet door opens. Men with black masks. The terror is suffocating as memories come flooding back—violence, chaos, and pain. My heart races as I remember fighting back with everything I had—kicking, thrashing, screaming for Maxim. My throat went raw, but he never came for me.
The cold, cruel hands of strangers touching me, doing things to me only Maxim ever had permission to do. The anger surges inside me, hot and molten.
Maxim was supposed to protect me. He promised. He fucking promised—and he failed. But it wasn’t just his fault. It’s mine. I let myself trust him. I let myself get comfortable with someone so deeply entangled in this fucked-up world. Why didn’t I listen to my gut and stay away? After Luca, I swore I wouldn’t let myself go down this path again. But here I am. Broken. Confused. Lost.
I ball my fists, crumpling the sheets beneath my hands. The difference between this and what happened with Luca is that he only broke my heart.
“Sophia?”
That voice. My traitorous heart skips a beat. No, no, no, I tell myself. He doesn’t deserve this reaction. He doesn’t deserve my love. He doesn’t deserve me. But my self-doubt sneaks in, uninvited, tearing down the walls I’ve built.
You’re overreacting, Sophia.
No. I scream at myself, trying to fight it back. This isn’t overreacting. He’s the one who persuaded me, whomade promises he couldn’t keep. I told him my fears, and he swore to keep me safe. And look where I am now—kidnapped, molested, beaten, shot. This isn’t safety.
Adrenaline mixed with anger courses through my veins, and I gather the strength to open my eyes. I glare at him, letting every ounce of my rage, hurt, and betrayal flow into that look.
Our eyes lock. Maxim stumbles backward, his face draining of color. I don’t need words to say what I feel. I don’t have the strength to speak it, but my eyes tell him everything.
Movement in my peripheral vision catches my attention. I turn toward it, my heart sinking into the floor when I see who’s standing there.
Luca.
My world shatters again.
The word no repeats like a broken record in my mind. Why is he here? Why did Maxim let him near me?
Maxim knows how much damage Luca did to me. Why the hell would he think it’s okay for him to be here?
A terrible thought creeps into my mind—what if Maxim has been lying to me this whole time? What if our relationship was nothing but a facade, a way for him to get revenge for something my father might have done to him before he died? What if I’ve been a pawn in some twisted game all along?
My chest tightens, and the air feels like it’s closing in on me. I can’t breathe.
Relax, Sophia.
No. I can’t.
“Sophia, please calm down,” Maxim pleads, his voice cracking, but it only makes things worse. I can’t listen to him. I can’t trust him.
I feel hands on me, and I know it’s him.
“No.” I scream. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
I thrash, desperate to get away from him, knocking over the IV pole. The needle is ripped out, but I don’t feel it. My body is numb. Nothing hurts right now.
Maxim’s voice keeps pleading, but it’s useless. It doesn’t reach me.
“Let. Go.”
“Of.”
“Me.”
The words come out between sobs, my body wracked with emotion. I scream them over and over, thrashing with all the strength I can muster.
And then, something sharp pricks my neck, and the darkness welcomes me, pulling me into its embrace.