Chapter 25
Sophie
“I’m downstairs. I didn’t want to just come up, but we need to talk.” Trooper had no emotion in his voice, so I wasn’t quite sure how he felt at the moment.
Me, on the other hand, my emotions were all over the place. From the time he dropped me off and walked me to the elevator after we left the hospital, my mind had been racing.
My father wasn’t my father and Trooper had been raised by the man who should have raised me. I hadn’t slept all night. I felt physically drained and my mind was exhausted.
“I wish you would have called before you came. It’s not a good time, Trooper, I—”
“It’s never gonna be a good time, Sophie. But the longer we avoid it, the easier it will be for both of us to stay away. I don’t want that, even if you do. I didn’t call because I knew you would say the shit you just said.”
Inhaling and releasing an exaggerated sigh, I gave in.
He was right, but it didn’t make things any easier.
I wasn’t even mad at him about the situation with Orin anymore.
With everything else going on, she wasn’t a factor but Trooper was.
He played a role in my life not being what I thought it was.
Whether he knew it or not, being with him was a constant reminder that complicated things I had no idea how to deal with yet.
“Fine, you can come up.”
I couldn’t stop him anyway. Short of calling down to have his key to my elevator deactivated, he had access. I appreciated that he’d asked instead of just coming up. Trooper was just that way.
As rough and unrefined as he was, he showed me more respect than any of the well poised and groomed assholes my father… William wanted me to be with. That part was hard to deal with. He was my father, but then he wasn’t. Forcing my mind to reroute was hard.
I looked up from the sofa when the elevator doors opened. Trooper stepped off looking amazing as always. He was dressed simply in jeans, and a Polo pocket tee with a matching black hat, but even that made him look like a magazine cover model.
If perfection existed, Trooper was that.
He lifted his head slightly to look at me because his hat sat so low on his head his eyes were hidden.
Standing only about a foot away from where I sat, he examined me, not trying to hide the displeased look on his face.
Even if it didn’t totally surface, I felt his mood.
“You didn’t sleep.” His deep husky voice bounced off my chest as I looked up at him with a forced smile.
“I did, a little,” I lied.
He released a muffled laugh before he sat next to me. The weight of his body forced me toward him even before his arm secured me against his side.
I closed my eyes as I inhaled his cologne. I was addicted to everything about this man, even when I didn’t want to be, like right now.
“Tell me what’s on your mind.” A warm sensation flowed through my body as Trooper’s thumb glided across my skin as his hand rested on my arm.
“What’s on my mind?” I repeated before releasing a sarcastic laugh.
Trooper used his free hand to remove his hat, which he placed next to himself, then looked over at me.
“I’m not the enemy, Sophie. I may not be everything you thought I was, but I’m not the enemy.
I’m just a man and men make mistakes. I can’t change that, but I can promise you it won’t happen again. ”
He was talking about Orin, but right now she was the least of my worries.
“I don’t even care about that. Maybe I should, but I don’t. I almost expected it, and to know for sure, I almost feel relieved. What I care about is that nothing about me is what I thought it was.”
I felt Trooper’s chest rise and fall next to me before he spoke again. “You’re still you, Sophie. The thing with your mother or your father won’t change that.”
“He’s not my father.”
“You know what I mean. They didn’t make you who you are. That just happens. They had money, and that allowed you to live a certain way, but you are who you are, so fuck all that.”
Trooper kissed me on the forehead and it eased a little of my tension, but I still felt off, almost unbalanced.
“You knew about William? Is that what you were arguing with my parents about the night you met them?”
“Nah, I didn’t know back then. That’s when I found out, though.
I asked your mom after something your fath…
William said, but she told me to ask Story.
I was confused as fuck as to how she knew him.
None of it made sense, but she wouldn’t tell me anything else besides asking him.
I went to see him the next day and he told me everything. ”
“That was like a month ago. Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
I sat up and pulled away from him, watching his face ball up.
“Because he asked me not to and I had to respect that. He’s in prison, Sophie. Ain’t much that makes him happy, but there’s a lot of shit that doesn’t. I didn’t want to make things worse for you or him. When he asked me not to, I agreed.
“He gave you up because he had to, not because he wanted to, and honestly, I think he loved your mother enough to let her do it. William ain’t shit. He’s a fucking coward and he had Story locked up because he was too weak to admit defeat.
“He’s only breathing right now because of you. You don’t think I would have shot his ass last night? Trust me, I’ve killed for less, and for you…” He paused and looked me right in my eyes. “Just know where you’re concerned, it won’t take much for me to take a life.”
His words were harsh, but he meant them.
He had no intention of hurting me by not telling me about my father.
Keeping Story’s secret was out of loyalty to him.
That didn’t mean he was disloyal to me. Trooper wasn’t like that.
I didn’t have to know everything about him to know that was true.
I saw it in his actions and how he dealt with the people close to him.
Mainly Carlos and now me. Trooper took that responsibility seriously.
“Do you have anywhere to be?” I exhaled slowly because I just needed to sleep. I wanted Trooper here with me. Being with him made everything wrong in the world feel right and I needed that. It wasn’t going to solve my problems, but right now, it would make my life feel less complicated.
“Nothing’s more important than you right now. What’s up?”
I saw the truth in his statement from the expression on his face and that made me smile inside.
“I just want to sleep,” I said softly, moving my body away from his enough to rest my head in his lap. One of his hands moved through my hair while he slid the other one down the side of my body. His touch alone calmed me.
“Got to sleep then. I’ll stay as long as you need me to.” Trooper leaned down, tucked my hair behind my ear, and kissed my temple.
My eyes closed and within minutes I was out. It wasn’t going to fix things, but right now it was what I needed.
When I opened my eyes again, my living room was dark. The blinds that had sunlight shining through them, now had reflections of the city. It was quiet, other than a light snore coming from above me.
I sat up slowly and pulled myself into a seated position before I stretched and quietly moved to my bedroom. I didn’t want to bother Trooper, but needed to use the bathroom and figure out what time it was. Apparently, I had been asleep all day, which meant I was more exhausted than I thought.
After I used the bathroom and washed my hands, I grabbed my phone and climbed on my bed to check my messages.
I had three missed calls from William and a text from my mother asking me to call her.
I also had two missed calls from Maddie and a text saying she was there if I needed her.
She mentioned that she was going to dinner with Carlos but would come over if I needed her.
I smiled, thinking about the two of them. It happened fast, but I thought he was exactly what she needed. After tossing my phone onto the bed next to me, I fell back into my pillows and covered my face with my hands.
Maybe I was overreacting. I wasn’t sure why this family thing bothered me so much.
People dealt with things like this all the time, but knowing William had sent an innocent man to prison just to keep him away from me and my mother bothered me.
I also couldn’t stop thinking about my real father.
I wanted to know who he was and what he was like.
Regardless of the decisions my mother made, she loved him.
I saw it in her eyes when she talked about Story and I wanted to know what about him stole her heart.
I hated the choices she’d made, but she was my mother and always would be. I was an adult, but this situation made me feel like a slighted child. Most people would tell me to get over it and move on, but I couldn’t. Everything about me had somehow shifted in a way I couldn’t make sense of.
My ringing phone got my attention and I grabbed it, holding it up over my face, feeling annoyed at the sight of William calling me. He wasn’t going to go away easily, so I decided to answer, speak my piece, and get it over with.
“What?”
“What?” He laughed arrogantly. “Sophie, I’m still your father. Blood doesn’t change that and you need to respect me.”
I shot up in my bed quickly and my grip on my phone tightened.
“You’re right, blood doesn’t change that, but your selfish behavior did. You should have given me the ability to choose. You can’t just play God with people’s lives.”
“I did, I can, and I will. Believe me, I’ll do it again.
He’s a gotdamn criminal, Sophie. What choice was there to make?
He’s no better than that man you think you’re in love with, probably even worse.
You should be thanking me for making that decision for you.
Look at your life. You’re rich and successful and would have never had any of that without me. ”
“I can’t believe you. Are you really that arrogant?
Who cares about any of that? You sent my father to prison, and for what?
Because my mother would have chosen him over you?
Yes, I love my life, but I love my family even more.
That used to be you, but not anymore. Maybe things would have been different for me if he had been in my life, but who’s to say I wouldn’t have been happy? The choice wasn’t yours to make.”
I must have been yelling because Trooper stood in my bedroom doorway glaring at me on the phone with William. I saw his irritation in his expression.
“Don’t explain shit to him. He doesn’t deserve your explanation. Just hang up the damn phone, Sophie. You don’t have to deal with him, but trust me, I will,” Trooper yelled so loud it thundered through my room.
“You’re with him?” William yelled back. “Just like your mother, I see.”
“Don’t worry about who I’m with, just don’t call me, don’t ask about me, don’t even think about me. We’re done.”
“We’re not done, Sophie, and if you think that, you’re as naive as your mother had been ten years ago.
I don’t lose. You can bet on that. Don’t get too comfortable with that new life you think you’re building because you won’t have it for long.
I’ll see to that, and when I crush him, don’t feel like you’re alone.
I’ll always be here for you. That’s what a father does.
He fixes shit for you even when you can’t see your life is broken. ”
William hung up and Trooper stood over me looking like he was ready to take a life. I just wanted things to go back to normal, but that was wishful thinking. This was my new reality.