Chapter 14
Sophia
Grim drove Sophia to the hospital for her night shift. The sky was washed in soft peach and pale gold, the last warmth of the day fading as evening crept in. The world felt quiet — too quiet — like everything was holding its breath.
Sophia watched him from the passenger seat, studying the hard line of his jaw, the way his hands gripped the wheel, the way he seemed to take up all the space in the car without trying.
She cleared her throat. “Can I ask you something?”
“No.”
She blinked. “You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
She huffed. “Fine. I’ll just talk anyway.”
He didn’t stop her.
“Do you have family?” she asked.
Silence.
“Brothers? Sisters? Parents?”
Nothing.
“Anyone you’re close to?”
His jaw tightened.
She tried again. “What about before the club? What were you like as a kid?”
His grip on the wheel tightened. “Drop it.”
She’d spent her whole life being the one people talked to, the one they trusted, the one they leaned on. His silence felt like a door slammed in her face.
Sophia stared at him. “You know everything about me. My family. My job. My schedule. My life. I’m an open book.”
He didn’t look at her.
“And you won’t give me anything,” she said, voice rising. “Not one piece of yourself. How am I supposed to trust someone who won’t trust me?”
Still nothing. She wasn’t used to silence being a weapon. In her family, everything was loud, love, anger, joy, frustration. Grim’s quiet felt like a door slamming shut. She felt something inside her crack. “Pull over.”
He didn’t.
“Pull. Over.”
He pulled into the hospital parking lot. Before he could say a word, she grabbed her bag and slammed the door behind her. She didn’t look back.
Sophia stormed into the hospital, cheeks flushed, chest tight. She badged into the ICU and forced herself to breathe. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, too bright, too cold, too indifferent to the tightness in her chest.
Amanda met her at the nurse’s station, eyes tired. “Hey. You okay?”
“Fine,” Sophia lied. “What’s going on with Reyes?”
Amanda’s expression fell. “He’s failing. We don’t think he’ll make it through the night.”
Sophia’s stomach dropped. She nodded, swallowing hard. “I’ll check on him.”
She went through her shift mechanically, meds, vitals, charting, but her mind kept drifting to the waiting room.
To him. To the man who refused to let her in.
Every time she passed the glass window, she saw him.
Sitting there. Drinking terrible hospital coffee.
Checking his phone. Watching the doors. Watching her.
He was sitting exactly where she’d left him, like he hadn’t moved, like he’d been holding the whole damn night together with his bare hands.
Why wouldn’t he open up? Why wouldn’t he trust her? Why did she care so much?
Maybe she was imagining everything. Maybe he didn’t feel anything for her. Maybe she was just a job. A responsibility. A burden. Maybe she was a fool.
Near the end of her shift, Reyes’s vitals plummeted.
Sophia rushed into his room. His heart rate was erratic, dropping dangerously low. His breathing was shallow, uneven. She thought she heard him mumbling.
“Reyes?” Sophia whispered, leaning close. “Can you hear me?”
His eyelids fluttered.
She leaned closer. “Talk to me. Please.”
His lips moved.
She bent down, ear near his mouth.
One word.
“Elena.”
Then the monitor flatlined.
Sophia hit the code button. The room filled with people. Hands moved. Voices shouted. They called time of death. Sophia stepped back, her throat tight, her eyes burning. She finished her shift in silence.
She kept replaying the moment he whispered “Elena,” wondering if she’d missed something, if she could’ve done more, even though she knew she couldn’t. The word clung to her like a bruise.
Grim was waiting outside when she walked out. He didn’t say anything. Neither did she. She got into the car. He drove.
The silence was suffocating.
When Grim pulled into her driveway, Sophia finally spoke. “Reyes didn’t make it.”
Grim’s hands tightened on the wheel.
“You don’t need to stay anymore,” she said quietly. “He’s gone. The reason you were here is gone.”
He turned to her, eyes dark. “I need to keep you safe. The threat hasn’t gone anywhere.”
She shook her head. “No. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to shut me out and then act like you care.”
He flinched.
Sophia opened the door and stepped out, the cool night air hitting her like a slap. Gravel crunched under her shoes as she walked toward the house. Grim followed a few steps behind, silent and heavy, a shadow she couldn’t outrun.
The porch light flicked on automatically, casting a soft glow across the walkway.
Sophia’s keys trembled in her hand as she unlocked the door.
She stepped inside, the familiar warmth of her home wrapping around her, but it didn’t settle anything.
Grim entered behind her, closing the door with a quiet click that felt too final.
She turned to face him.
“You won’t tell me anything about yourself,” she said, voice cracking. “You won’t let me in. You won’t trust me. And I’m supposed to just… what? Pretend that doesn’t hurt?”
Grim’s jaw clenched. “Sophia.”
“No,” she snapped. “You don’t get to decide what I can handle.”
He stepped closer, anger and something raw flickering in his eyes. “I’m not good. I’m not safe. I’m not for you.”
She stepped closer too, their faces inches apart, breath mingling, tension crackling like static.
“You don’t get to decide that,” she whispered.
He looked at her like she was breaking him open.
She turned away before he could see the tears.
Sophia stormed down the hallway and shut her bedroom door. She pressed her back to the door, swallowing hard, but the tears came anyway. Her hands shook as she grabbed her phone and dialed.
“Hola, mi ni?a,” her abuela answered.
Sophia’s voice broke. “Abuela, I don’t know what to do.”
“Ah,” Abuela sighed knowingly. “Es el hombre, ?verdad?”
Sophia wiped her eyes. “He won’t let me in. He won’t tell me anything. He just shuts down and pushes me away.”
Her abuela’s voice softened. “Los hombres rotos aman fuerte… pero también lastiman sin querer.” Broken men love hard… but they hurt without meaning to.
Sophia sank onto her bed, tears slipping down her cheeks.
She didn’t know if Grim wanted her in his life. She knew he was broken. She was falling for him all the same, and she couldn’t tell if loving a man like that would heal him or…ruin her.