Sophie’s POV
Sophie’s POV
Shortly after the conversation with Marco, I heard loud noises coming from every direction in the warehouse. Gun fire, shouting, cussing, and loud banging noises.
Marco spoke up. “Here comes the cavalry.” He had a smirk on his face.
I wasn’t holding my breath. Dominic could use this as his opportunity to lose his wife. An unfortunate accident. She didn’t make it out alive, but his man did. No one would think twice about it.
Marco looked pretty banged up, but he appeared to be in good spirits. We were sitting next to each other, about two feet between us, in fold out chairs, tied with our hands behind us.
Loud noises and talking sounds moved closer to us.
I didn’t want to die, regardless of what others may think of my behavior.
But I wasn’t going to plead or beg for life.
That didn’t mean I wouldn’t fight on my way down, but I wouldn’t beg for my life.
At this moment, I hated my father. Hated him for the life he gave me.
I was disgusted with my mother for not fighting more for me, for herself.
And Serena? I wished her the best karma had to offer her.
The door to the room we were in burst open, loudly.
And there in the doorway, in an oppressive stance, stood my husband.
It really was a shame. He was a gorgeous man.
In a suit. In a black t-shirt and slacks with blood on him, like he was wearing now.
Pretty much anything he wore, he looked like the perfect specimen.
But he was out of reach. Well, he was out of my reach.
I could feel a pang in my gut. I knew what it was.
Wishful thinking. For a moment. I allowed myself a moment. Then he spoke. And ruined it.
He was staring at me coldly, “Couldn’t even save yourself in a crisis moment, could you?”
I heard Marco mutter, “What the fuck?”
That brief fantasy, of hoping my husband, fake or not, came to save me, vanished.
“Well, you could just leave me here and take Marco with you. Say you tried to save your wife, but you were too late. I’m sure no one would question you.
” My voice came out soft and calm, but inside I wanted to scream at him.
To be fair, I hadn’t felt this kind of anger in a long time.
I had learned to shut off and accept this shitty life as it was.
But how dare this asshole act like I wanted any of this!
If anything, he looked even more dangerously livid.
Marco spoke up. “Could someone untie us?”
I could tell he was trying to interrupt whatever was going on with Dominic, but I could care less.
Maybe he wanted to slap me too, like that brute had.
It had hurt, and I probably had a mark on my face, but really it was nothing compared to the abuse Serena doled out on me.
She hadn’t raised a hand to me in two years, but the last time she had, she had punched me in the stomach until I fell to the ground, then kicked me while I was down.
We have avoided each other like the plague since then.
Dominic stepped into the room, a hostile intensity in his eyes. Another one of his men entered the room and went straight to Marco.
“Hey Marco. Why didn’t you get out? Were you putting on a show for Miss Sophie?”
My head whipped to Marco and the other man.
I whispered, “What?”
Marco grunted, but the other man spoke on as if not noticing. “Marco can get out of any situation. He’s like a Houdini on steroids.” He chuckled. “That’s probably why he’s Dom’s Second.”
He finished cutting Marco’s zip ties, then walked out of the room.
I stared at Marco, who stared back at me with a guilty look on his face.
I turned to look at Dominic, who was staring at me, but his jaw was clenched tight.
“So you knew about this.” A statement. Not a question.
He continued to stare at me intensely. Marco cleared his throat. He moved behind me to cut off my zip ties. Still staring at Dominic, I rubbed my wrists once the ties were off.
“Well, I hope you got what you needed from this.” I felt resigned. I had been set up. Yep. Just a pawn.
I got up and walked out of the room, not looking back.
??????????
Two days later, one of the maids came to my room and told me Dominic wanted to speak to me in his office. I hadn’t spoken to him since that day. Actually, I had actively avoided being out of my room for most of the time except when I needed to. Like running down to grab quick foods to eat.
I had been put into a situation, knowingly, that could have ended my life. I no longer felt safe in this house. I thought I had been safe. Well, relatively so. More so than my own childhood home anyway. But that had been a lie. I should have known.
I knocked on Dominic’s door, waiting for him to allow me entrance. I heard him say in a commanding voice, “Come.”
I took a deep breath, and put my mask on. I walked in and saw him sitting behind his desk. Again, the man was beautiful. I’m sure he knew it too. He had on a button up shirt, top two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to mid arm. His hair looked a bit more disheveled than usual.
How many women has he been with since we got married? The thought made me sick. That wasn’t any of my business. Not something I needed swirling about in my head.
I walked in and stood in front of his desk, my hands crossed in front of me.
He looked at me for a long moment. I was used to people staring at me, trying to make me uncomfortable. I had been able to hold my own when others did this to me, but having Dominic do it now was unnerving me.
Finally he moved, rubbing a hand down his face, and sighing. “I’m sorry for putting you in that position a few days ago. I was testing you.”
I just stared at him, then shrugged. “No worries. I know you have to do what you have to do.”
He grunted and glared at me. “Don’t do that!” He snapped.
I could feel myself tense up.
He lightened his tone. “It was not okay. I thought that maybe you were taking secrets to your father, or had some other agenda for not fighting more against the arrangement.” He looked at me seriously.
“And what made you think that’s not true now?”
“I had a wire on Marco.”
“Oh.”
“The fact you were trying to sacrifice yourself for him, even when you thought he was just a guard, tells me more than I had planned to find out.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry for putting your life at risk. Regardless of what you may think of me, that’s not the kind of person I am. That’s why I had Marco with you. I knew he could keep you safe.”
“Hmmm.” I wasn’t sure what else to say at this point.
“I want to call a truce between us, Sophie. I’ve been trying to be neutral with you, but you keep shutting me out.
” Again he ran a hand over his face. Then he looked at me.
“I catch parts of the real you when you're talking to Mrs. Fancelli or Felipe.” I stiffened. He was watching and listening to me. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Though I guess I couldn’t blame him.
“I would like for you to start meeting with me once a week, if you’re okay with it.
And we can go over whatever useful information you have that may help me.
” He paused. “And I’ll share some information with you.
Only what I can share. Because there will always be information I can’t share with you.
” He looked at me like he was trying to appease me.
I was shocked to say the least that he was open to me sharing information in a more formal setting. I would be okay with that.
“Ummm. Sure. Okay. I would be open to that.”
And then he shocked me again. He actually smiled at me. And damn him for being so beautiful.
He continued. “And if it makes you feel any better, Maximo texted me just before we went in to get you both that if I didn’t move sooner, he’d set his own dogs on me. Apparently Aria was about to rip him a new asshole, and burn the world down for you.”
I jolted, not expecting such a reaction from Aria. She had been keeping in contact with me fairly frequently since the gala, but she never gave the impression she’d go unhinged on my behalf. Guess if push came to shove, once this marriage was over, maybe I could seek out Aria for help.