him."
"I was going to call her. I just"
"You just needed time to process. I understand." His voice softened, just slightly. "But she's here now. And she's scared. Come home."
I hung up and ran.
---
SOFIA
Vincent Matteo made me coffee. Real coffee, in a china cup, like we were having tea instead of a conversation that could change everything.
"You love my son," he said. Not a question.
"Yes."
"Does he know that?"
"I haven't told him. But yes. He knows."
He studied me for a long moment. "He gave you his mother's ring."
I looked down at it on my finger. "Yes."
"That ring was the most precious thing in her life. She gave it to me when we married, and I gave it to Antonio when she died." He set down his cup. "He's never shown it to anyone. Not once. Until you."
I didn't know what to say.
"He's different with you," Vincent continued. "Softer. Hopeful. I haven't seen him hopeful since he was a boy." He met my eyes. "Don't break him, Sofia. He's stronger than he looks, but that kind of hope... it can destroy a man if it's betrayed."
"I'm not going to betray him."
"I know." He nodded slowly. "I didn't think you would. But I needed to say it anyway."
The door burst open.
Antonio stood there, breathless, his eyes finding mine across the room.
"Sofia."
I was on my feet and in his arms before I knew I'd moved.
"You're okay," I whispered into his chest. "You're okay."
"I'm okay." His arms tightened around me. "I'm so sorry I didn't call. I should have called."
"You should have." I pulled back, looked at his face. "But you're here now. That's what matters."
He kissed me..hard and desperate and full of everything we hadn't said. When we broke apart, Vincent was gone, and we were alone.
"We found Carlo," Antonio said quietly. "The Russians had him. They worked him over, left him for us to find."
My blood turned to ice. "Is he…"
"Alive. Banged up, but alive." He took my face in his hands. "Sofia, he told them everything. Months of information. About my family, our operations, our weaknesses. Two of my men are dead because of what he gave them."
I felt the world tilt.
"Carlo did that?"
"He did." Antonio's eyes held mine. "And now he's going to make it right. He's going to work for me, feed them false information, help me destroy Viktor Petrov. It's the only way he survives this."
I should have argued. Should have defended my brother, made excuses, begged for mercy.
Instead, I heard myself say, "Whatever you need. Whatever it takes. I'm with you."
Antonio's eyes widened. "Sofia"
"He's my brother. I love him. But he did this. He got your men killed." Tears burned my eyes, but I didn't look away. "If he has to spend the rest of his life making it right, then that's what happens. I won't stand in the way."
"You would do that? For me?"
I looked at the ring on my finger. At the man in front of me. At the future we were supposed to build together.
"I would do anything for you," I whispered. "I love you, Antonio."
He kissed me again, and this time, it felt like a promise.
---
ANTONIO
She said it.
In the middle of chaos, with her brother's betrayal fresh and my world crumbling around us, Sofia Bianchi looked at me and said she loved me.
I didn't deserve her. I knew that. But I was going to spend the rest of my life trying to earn her anyway.
"We need to move fast," I said, pulling back reluctantly. "Viktor knows we have Carlo. He'll be watching, waiting for our next move."
"What do you need from me?"
"Can you keep Carlo calm? Steady? He's going to be our inside man, but if he breaks under pressure—"
"He won't." Her jaw set. "I'll make sure of it."
I believed her.