“Listen, I know you’re getting discouraged, but we need to stay the course.”
“Fine. when’s the next party?” She stiffens her posture and wiggles in her seat as she raises her chin.
“Sophia, we’re not going to work well together if we’re fighting.”
She laughs. “Oh, you think this is a fight?” She laughs again. “Believe me, mio caro, when we fight you’ll feel it.” She does this little eye roll thing that makes me want to kiss the sarcasm in her voice away.
“Sophia, stop.” I slam my knife and fork down on the table. “Just stop.”
She sits there, steaming, fuming, I can just tell by the look in her eyes. They’re narrowed and focused right on me. “What?”
“Are you upset about what happened last night?”
She stands from the table, rushing out the sliding glass door to the patio.
I follow her, stepping onto the patio. She clenches the rail, looking at the city lights. There’s a slight chill in the air, so I head back inside to the living room, grabbing the throw blanket off the couch.
I go back outside, putting the fleece across her shoulders. “Sophia, what happened last night is perfectly fine. You’re single. I’m single.”
She spins around to face me. “I never thought I’d be into something like that. I almost feel dirty. Am I dirty for being into that sort of lifestyle?”
I place my hands on her shoulders, bending down a bit to stare right into her eyes. “No. Of course not. Sophia, there’s nothing wrong with being turned on by that sort of thing.”
She shrugs a little. “Well, you weren’t turned on by it.”
“What?” I drop my hands and straighten my stance. “Are you kidding?”
“Well, you weren’t.”
I place my hands back on her shoulders, leaning down a little. “I was more turned on than I’d ever been before. Watching you watch them was the biggest turn on. Watching you get turned on, that’s what did it for me, Sophia.”
“Really?”
“Are you kidding? I came home and jerked off so hard in the shower last night just thinking about it.”
“Really?”
I blush a little, running a hand along the back of my neck. “Yeah, maybe.”
She nudges me with her shoulder with a smile. “It’s ok. I just thought since you weren’t watching you weren’t into that sort of thing.”
“I was watching. I was watching you.”
“I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. I need to find Bishop. I need to see him dead.”
“Why?” I push my hands into the pockets of my pants. “What did he do to you?”
She turns to face the skyline. “Nothing.”
“You don’t need to push me away, Sophia. You can let me in.”
“You want to know what men like Bishop Blackstone do to poor little girls living in the slums of Naples?”
My blood boils when I think about the monster Bishop is. “What did he do?”
She spins to face me, pulling the blanket tighter over her shoulders. Tears threaten to spill from her eyes. “Bad things.”
“Please, Sophia.”
“He had one of his men take me from my home. Smuggle me into America as a sex slave.” She breathes heavily as a single tear trickles down her cheek. “I escaped, but there’s so many other women still out there.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes narrow. “I want that man to pay for taking me away from my home.”
“Sophia, I appreciate you wanting to help me, but I can’t let you be there when I go after Bishop.”
“What?”
“It wouldn’t be safe for you.”
“Safe?” she scoffs, throwing the blanket from her shoulders and parking her hands on both hips. “What do you know about safe?”
“I know I can’t keep you safe if you’re exposed to him. You know firsthand what kind of guy he is.”
She pushes me with one hand. “You can’t take this away from me. I’ve been searching for this man for a long time.”
“I understand that. But there’s absolutely no way I will allow you to come with me.”
“I know you’re trying to protect me, but you need to understand you can’t keep me from going.”
Fire is blazing from her beautiful brown eyes.
“Yes, I can. I won’t allow it.”
“Allow?” she asks with all the attitude in the world. “Allow,” she says again. “You can’t keep me here as a prisoner.”
“Sophia, I know what’s best for you.”
She steps back. “You don’t know anything, Mr. Maddox.”
I laugh, crossing my arms over my chest. “Oh, you think you know me? Listen, you’re not coming and that’s final.”
“You aren’t the boss of me. We have a deal. And you can’t tell me what to do.”
I can see this conversation spinning out of control. “Sophia, you’re not going and that is final. We need to redraft our plan, to change the deal. The circumstances have changed.”
Sophia smiles for a moment. “Ok, I understand. You just want to protect me, and I thank you for that.” She raises up on the tips of her toes and kisses my cheek and heads back into the warmth of the house.