POV: Alternating - Sofia and Antonio
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SOFIA
The man walked into my bookstore at 4:47 PM on a Tuesday.
I knew him immediately. Not his name I'd never learned that but his face. The cruel set of his mouth. The cold eyes. The way he moved like he owned every room he entered.
Derek's best friend. His partner in cruelty. The man who'd held me down once while Derek took his time.
I hadn't seen him in five years.
He smiled when he saw me recognize him.
"Hello, Sofia."
I reached for my phone. He was faster crossed the space between us in three strides, grabbed my wrist, squeezed until I dropped it.
"Don't." His voice was soft. Pleasant. Like we were old friends catching up. "I'm just here to talk."
"We have nothing to talk about."
"We have everything to talk about." He released my wrist, but stayed close. Too close. "Derek's been looking for you. Years now. He never stopped caring, you know."
"Caring?" I laughed, and it was ugly. "He tried to kill me."
"He was emotional. You provoked him." He shrugged. "Water under the bridge. He wants to see you. Talk. Make amends."
"I'm married."
His eyes flicked to my ring Antonio's mother's ring and something shifted in his expression. Interest. Calculation.
"Married. To who?"
"None of your business."
"It's absolutely my business." He leaned against the counter, casual, like he belonged here. "Because Derek's not going to stop looking. And when he finds you and he will he's going to want to know who's in his way."
I thought of Antonio. Of the war he was already fighting. Of the Russians and the bodies and the constant pressure.
Derek was small-time. A bully, not a kingpin. But small-time could still cause damage. Could still be a distraction Antonio didn't need.
"Tell Derek I'm not interested. Tell him to move on. Tell him"
"I'll tell him whatever I want." He straightened, smiled again. "But I'll also tell him where you are. What you're doing. Who you're with." He walked toward the door, paused. "Nice store, by the way. Cozy. Be a shame if something happened to it."
He left.
I stood there, shaking, for a long time.
Then I called Antonio.
---
ANTONIO
I was in a meeting with Marco and Dominic when my phone buzzed. Sofia's ringtone a soft chime I'd programmed myself.
I answered immediately. "What's wrong?"
"Someone was just here. At the bookstore." Her voice was steady, but I heard the tremor underneath. "One of Derek's friends. The one who used to help him... do things."
My blood went cold. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. He didn't touch me. But he knew who I was. Where I was. He said Derek's been looking for me for years."
"Where is he now?"
"Gone. But Antonio he threatened the store. Said it would be a shame if something happened to it."
I was already standing, grabbing my coat.
"I'm coming. Stay there. Don't open the door for anyone."
"Antonio, I'm fine"
"I'm coming."
I hung up, turned to Marco. "Sofia's ex just resurfaced. One of his men showed up at her store, made threats. I need to get to her."
Marco stood. "I'll come with you."
"No. Stay here, finish the planning. I'll handle this."
"Boss"
"It's personal, Marco. I need to handle it personally."
He nodded slowly. "Understood. But if you need backup"
"I know."
I was out the door before he finished the sentence.
---
SOFIA
Antonio arrived in fifteen minutes. It should have taken thirty.
He was through the door and across the store before I could blink, his hands on my face, his eyes searching for wounds.
"I'm fine," I said again. "He didn't hurt me."
"Tell me exactly what he said."
I did. Every word. Every look. Every threat.
When I finished, his jaw was granite.
"He's dead."
"Antonio"
"He threatened you. He threatened our home. He's connected to a man who hurt you for years." His voice was quiet, controlled, terrifying. "He's dead. Derek's dead. Anyone who ever touched you is dead."
I should have been scared. Should have pulled back, reminded him that violence wasn't the answer, that killing people wasn't a solution.
Instead, I stepped closer.
"Okay."
He blinked. "Okay?"
"Okay, they're dead. But not today. Not like this." I took his face in my hands. "You're in the middle of a war. You can't afford distractions. Let me handle this."
"You? Handle Derek?"
"I know him. I know how he thinks. I know what he wants." I held his gaze. "Let me talk to him first. Let me try to end this without more blood."
"He won't listen."
"Then we do it your way. But let me try."
He stared at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"One conversation. With me in the room. And if he so much as looks at you wrong"
"Then he's yours."
"Deal."
He kissed me then hard and desperate and full of promise.
When we broke apart, I was shaking again, but not from fear.
From the knowledge that this man would burn the world for me.
---
ANTONIO
Finding Derek took three days.
He was living in New Jersey, running some small-time operation, still the same bully he'd always been. When my men brought him to me to a warehouse in Red Hook, fittingly
he was arrogant. Cocky. Thought he was meeting with someone who wanted to do business.
Then he saw Sofia.
Her hand in mine. The ring on her finger. The way she looked at me like I was her protector.
His face went pale.
"Sofia," he said. "Baby"
"Don't." Her voice was ice. "Don't you dare call me that."
"I've been looking for you for years. I never stopped loving"
"You never loved me." She stepped closer, and I had to fight every instinct to pull her back. "You owned me. Controlled me. Hurt me. That's not love."
"I changed. I'm different now"
"People like you don't change." She stopped a few feet from him. "I brought you here to tell you something. To give you a choice."
He looked at me, at the men flanking the doors, at the hopelessness of his situation.
"What choice?"
"Leave. Tonight. Go somewhere far from here and never come back. Forget you ever knew me. Forget this city exists."
"And if I don't?"
"Then my husband kills you." Her voice didn't waver. "And trust me when I say he's very good at it."
Derek looked at me. I let him see exactly what was waiting for him.
"You'd let her talk for you?" he sneered. "Some mob boss."
"She doesn't talk for me. She talks for herself." I squeezed Sofia's hand. "And I'd advise you to listen."
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he laughed an ugly, desperate sound.
"You think this changes anything? You think I'm just going to disappear?"
"I think you're going to choose to live." Sofia's voice was steady. "Because the alternative is very, very final."
He stared at her. At me. At the men waiting in the shadows.
Finally, slowly, he nodded.
"I'll go. Tonight."
"Good." Sofia turned away. "Don't come back."
We walked out together, leaving Derek to my men, who would escort him to the city limits and make sure he understood the terms.
In the car, Sofia was quiet.
"You did well," I said.
"I know."
"Are you okay?"
She looked at me, and for the first time, I saw the cracks in her armor.
"I will be."
I pulled her close and held her while she shook.
---
SOFIA
That night, I cried.
Not for Derek never for him. For the girl I'd been. The one who'd believed she deserved that treatment. The one who'd stayed too long, forgiven too much, lost herself in someone else's cruelty.
Antonio held me through all of it. Didn't try to fix it. Didn't offer platitudes. Just held me and let me fall apart.
When I finally stopped, he kissed my forehead.
"She's gone," he said quietly. "That girl. She's gone, and she's never coming back."
"I know."
"The woman who took her place is the strongest person I've ever met."
I laughed weakly. "I don't feel strong."
"You don't have to. I'll feel it for you until you're ready."
I looked at him at this impossible, violent, tender man and loved him more than I'd ever loved anything.
"I love you," I whispered.
"I love you too. Forever."
We fell asleep tangled together, and for the first time in years, I didn't dream of Derek.
I dreamed of the future.