Chapter 13 Sophia
Sophia
It was a hot day outside, and cool air poured out of Gabriel's open front door as he held it open for me. His gaze almost sent a shiver through me as I stepped inside, but I looked away, knowing better. Gritty sand clung to the bottom of my feet as I stood between his kitchen and living room, rubbing my sandy arms to regain some of the warmth I’d felt outside.
“There’s a shower just down the hall, Emma,” he said, closing the door behind us.
She gave me a sheepish look, then followed his directions without a word, clutching a change of clothes.
The last time I’d been face-to-face with Gabriel, I’d felt just as uncomfortable when he confessed to extorting Rosso Drilling.
But now, we stood in his immaculate home, surrounded by all the symbols of wealth.
“Looks like you’ve been spending some money,” I said, my expression as blank as his.
He studied me for a moment, then walked past me toward the huge window overlooking the ocean.
“It’s a rental,” he replied, raising an eyebrow as I joined him.
“A pretty expensive rental, then.”
“Depends who you ask.”
When my eyes finished rolling at his comment, they landed on his patio, barely in view from the window. A beer bottle rolled back and forth in the wind, and a sandwich lay scattered around a shattered plate. Gabriel must have noticed me looking because he stepped closer.
“I imagine you’re wondering what happened out there, huh, Sophia?”
The picture was pretty clear. He was eating on his patio, enjoying the view and watching two girls paint in the distance when a wave came and ruined their day. Then, without wasting time, he ran to their rescue. The arrogant hero.
“Thank you for saving my friend,” I said, looking directly at him.
Then I turned away and went out to his patio.
Thankfully, he let me go without a word, but it wasn’t long before he was cleaning up the mess behind me.
I pressed my lips together, still unwilling to face him.
What he did was risky, stupid, and dangerous.
He might be enjoying his lavish beach house now, but he would probably be arrested in a few days for extortion.
“I was wondering when you’d finally come over. If I’m being honest, I thought it would be sooner. But hey, you’re here now, and that’s all that matters, right?”
The patio vibrated under the weight of his steps as he approached me. He leaned against the railing next to me, ran a hand through his hair, and lifted a lighter to a cigarette pressed between his lips. My face twisted in disbelief.
“Don’t smoke! What’s wrong with you?”
“Relax, it’s organic,” he said.
I reached out for it, and he turned his face away, but I was faster. I grabbed the cigarette from his mouth before he could light it, crushed it, and tossed it over the railing.
He watched it fall to the ground, then looked at me. “Well, that was my last one, so I hope you’re happy,” he said, seeming to enjoy this somehow.
“I am not happy, Gabriel. Everything is messed up, and you’re an idiot.”
“Let’s start with how everything is messed up, then we can address why you think I’m an idiot.”
“That doesn’t really need to be addressed, does it?”
“Yes, it does, because I’m not an idiot.”
“Well, I guess that depends on who you ask.”
He laughed. “Clever girl. But seriously, tell me what’s wrong.”
He looked like he cared, and a small part of me was glad to see it.
I let out a long breath and sat down at his patio table.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I was thinking about quitting to get away from you, obviously.
I took a few sick days to think about it, but during those days, everything fell apart.
Cabana Cup cut my hours to basically nothing, Henry freaked out and canceled the art event, so I made no money from sales.
Henry offered to let me pay rent with the painting I was working on, but”—I gestured toward the beach—“you know what happened to that.”
“I’m sorry all of this is happening to you, Sophia. I understand why you needed a few days to think, but don’t quit. You still have another day off tomorrow, but after that, you should come back to the office. You should accept the raise you’ve earned.”
“I didn’t earn it, Gabriel.”
He shook his head and looked out to the ocean. “We discovered they were intentionally polluting the water to save money. I made them pay us to keep the government out of it. You were a part of this, so why do you think you didn’t earn it? Please, explain it to me.”
“Stealing money isn’t the same as earning money.”
“So what would the government have done differently if we had reported this? Would you think they were stealing money from Rosso Drilling by imposing a fine?”
“I… I probably wouldn’t. But that is different, and you know it.”
“The only difference is the government has enough power to not fear consequences or retaliation from Rosso Drilling. But something you need to realize is, we don’t either.”
“Gabriel, you aren’t—”
He cut me off. “Let me ask you something. I want you to answer honestly.”
“Okay, sure. What?”
“Is fear of consequence the only reason you rejected the money, or do you have some moral dilemma about making bad people pay for what they’ve done?”
I didn’t respond for a long moment, not wanting to admit it. Finally, I looked up at him.
“Yes, Gabriel, the only reason I rejected the money was because I have an issue with making corrupt corporations get what they deserve.” I rolled my eyes at him—thanks to him, it was becoming a habit.
“Fuck Rosso Drilling. They’re destroying the environment for profit, and they don’t care about what’s right and wrong.
I hate to admit it, but a lot of what you said in the restaurant is true.
I’m tired of other people screwing me over.
So yes, hypothetically, if it was safe, I would take their money and smile at the thought of using them for my benefit or whatever you said.
But that’s just not how life works. You do realize they most likely went to the cops after paying you, right? ”
He just smiled and walked away.
“Where are you going?” I called after him. He stepped inside for a moment, then returned with something in his hand. As he got closer, I realized it was a pair of binoculars.
“And what are these for, Gabriel?” I asked, suspicious.
“They’re to see if you were telling me the truth,” he said, handing them to me.
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Look out into the ocean. Find the oil rigs on the horizon, and tell me what you see.”
I shook my head, letting out a strained breath. I held the binoculars up to my eyes and scanned the horizon.
“I don’t see anything, Gabriel.”
“Just keep looking—you will.”
“It’s blurry.”
“Here.” He took the binoculars, looked through them, adjusted the knob, and handed them back to me.
I looked again, and after a moment, I saw the oil rig. The huge metal structure was surrounded by dozens of boats, big and small, beginning the process of the cleanup operation.
“Sophia, do you see those boats? They’re proof that Rosso Drilling respects the power and authority of my threat.
To them, this is no different than if the government was strong-arming them—aside from the fact they got a better deal with me.
I saved them millions of dollars by extorting them.
They aren’t reporting themselves to the government, and they won’t be reporting me for forcing them to do what’s right.
They’re grateful to me for not reporting them, Sophia. ”
I blinked, lowering the binoculars as I tried to process what Gabriel had just told me.
The truth of the situation felt like a weight had been lifted.
The idea that Gabriel had somehow managed to strong-arm a company like Rosso Drilling into cleaning up their mess was both unsettling and oddly impressive.
“So… you really did it?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Gabriel nodded, leaning casually against the railing. “They have no choice but to do what I demand. I did something morally right, but legally wrong.”
My mind raced as I considered the implications. “But how can you be sure they won’t come after you eventually anyway? Or that they won’t just go back to their old ways in a couple of years?”
Gabriel’s smile returned. “They understand the consequences if they do. And trust me, they’re not going to risk it.”
I swallowed, feeling a mix of relief, fear, and something else I couldn’t quite place—excitement, maybe? “So what now?” I asked, my voice steadier this time.
“Now, you can stop worrying about them and focus on what’s important to you,” Gabriel said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick envelope, holding it out to me. “And that starts with this.”
I eyed the envelope warily, not making any move to take it. “What’s in there?”
“The thousand dollars I owe you and your bonus, all in cash. This way, there’s no paper trail leading to you,” he said simply. “There’s no reason for you not to take it. This is enough money to erase your problems.”
I hesitated, my hand hovering near the envelope. The temptation to take it was strong, but a small voice in the back of my mind kept me from grabbing it right away.
“Gabriel, I—”
“Just take it, Sophia,” he interrupted, his tone softening. “It’s not blood money. It’s money you earned. You deserve it.”
I looked at him, searching his face for any hint he didn’t believe his own words. But all I saw was a man who, despite his flaws and questionable methods, seemed to believe what he was saying. A man who was genuinely intent on helping me.
Finally, I took the envelope, my fingers brushing against his as I did. Guilt and excitement swirled within me, but I pushed it aside. I needed this money, and Gabriel was right—I had earned it.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, slipping the envelope into my bag.
Gabriel nodded, then turned his gaze back out to the ocean. “You should probably get going. Emma will be out of the shower soon, and I imagine you’ll want to get her home.”
I held my arms out and looked down at myself—dry, but covered in sand.
“Um, can I shower too?”
“Yes, of course.”
I nodded, feeling a strange mix of gratitude and unease as I turned to leave. But just as I reached the door, I paused and looked back at Gabriel.
“Gabriel… why are you doing this? Why help me?”
He met my gaze, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of something softer in his eyes, but it vanished as soon as I saw it.
“There is one condition for accepting this money that I forgot to mention.”
Ah, there it is. I stared at him and felt my lips press into a fine line as I tried to brace myself for what awful thing he might say next.
“I want you to move out of Henry’s place, into your own apartment.”
“And?” I asked.
“That’s all.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I simply nodded and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. As I made my way down the hall, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d just traded one set of problems for another.
When I reached the bathroom door, I heard the water stop running. I knocked lightly. “Emma, you almost done?”
“Yeah, just a sec!” she called back.
As I waited, I leaned against the wall, my mind still reeling from everything that had happened. I knew I should be relieved—I had a way out of the financial mess I was in—but instead, I felt more conflicted than ever.
When Emma finally emerged in her change of clothes with damp hair, she gave me a tired smile.
I forced a smile in return. “I’m going to rinse off real quick, then we can go.”
“Okay, I’ll just be out here,” Emma said.
I stepped into the steaming bathroom, pulled out the thick envelope, and let out a shaky breath as I quietly opened it.
I held the pile of money in my hands. It was more money than I’d ever held or seen before.
The unique scent of cash seemed to fill the room as I shuffled through what felt like endless hundred-dollar bills.
I swallowed hard, stuffed the money back into the envelope, and then jumped in the shower, rinsing off as fast as I could.
As I walked back toward the living room, I found Emma sitting on the couch.
“Where’s Gabriel?” I asked.
“He left after I thanked him just as you got in the shower.”
“Oh. Okay, well, I guess we’ll just go then,” I said.
Part of me was relieved, but another part—a much larger part—was disappointed. I found myself wanting to see him again. Now that I wasn’t scared, the thought of him walking all over Rosso Drilling was kind of… hot.
We stepped outside, and as the door clicked shut behind us, I glanced back at the house one last time.
“You doing okay?” I asked Emma as we walked down the patio stairs.
“Yeah, I’m just really tired. Today was rough. I’m really sorry about your painting and your brushes.”
“Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Still, I feel a little responsible. It was my idea to go to the beach today, and now your brushes are gone. I want to at least pay you to replace them.”
“Trust me, Emma, you don’t have to worry about it, okay?”
As we walked, the envelope hidden in my waistband made me feel lighter with every step. Nothing in life had ever been free for me, but Gabriel’s price was… what? That I live a better life? I couldn’t help but smile as I climbed into the passenger seat.