“Sophia’s dad thinks she might be in danger.” No point in mincing words.
“What do you need?” Levi asked. Nox knew he could count on them.
Thinking about the question, he didn’t even know what to say. “I have no fucking clue.” She had a bodyguard who seemed capable enough. “I need you guys to search around. Find out if anything is going on in town we don’t know about.” They nodded their agreeance and pulled out their phones to call or text someone they thought could help. “It needs to be on the low-low, guys. Her dad’s a security guy for some significant criminal law firm. I’m thinking it’s probably one of the pissed off clients.”
“You got it,” Loch responded as they began walking back into the shop.
The thought of something happening to Sophia because her father protected criminals pissed him off in a huge way. She was too soft, sweet, innocent to be tainted by such evil. She should be cherished in all manners.
He would make sure she was if it was the last thing he did.
Take every chance, drop every fear.
When Sophia’s alarm clock went off in the morning, she wanted to throw it across the room. She had spent most of the night locked away in her room listening to her parents express more emotion towards each other than she could remember happening. Ever.
They fought for so long, she didn’t think it would end, and they wouldn’t go to another part of the house. She didn’t learn anything new about why she was possibly in danger, either.
She did learn she was a mistake.
Dumber than dirt.
A waste of air.
All her mother’s words, of course. Nothing she hadn’t been told a thousand times before. Nothing that hurt any less each time she heard it. Her father did his best to ignore her mom. She didn’t expect the man to defend her. There was no defending against anything Mother said, but just once, she wished he had.
He’d changed over the past few years, became colder, harder. There was an edge to his temper that never used to be there. He was always kind to Sophia growing up, now though, it was as though he’d become robotic.
Living at home had become a burden she didn’t think she wanted anymore. Unfortunately, with having no experience in anything, it wasn’t like leaving was exactly an option, either. But she had to figure out something. She couldn’t keep going through the same insults and fights.
Her mother was getting more vicious with her words, and there was something in her eyes. Almost as though she was a missile just waiting to go off. The woman had never been kind, not that Sophia could remember, anyway; however, the last few months she had been as explosive as dynamite, and that scared her. She wouldn’t put anything past the older woman. Not anymore.
Climbing from bed, she went straight to her small en suite, going through a quick shower. While blow drying her hair, an incoming text had her phone buzzing across her nightstand. Only four people had her number. Her parents, Lorraine, and now Braxton. Since she knew Braxton was probably downstairs waiting on her to wake up, she didn’t think it was him. Her parents never bothered to text—usually, they just yelled for her, expecting her to come running like an obedient lap dog. She didn’t think Lorraine had ever texted her. She just called, preferring to speak instead of waiting on an answer.
Confused as to who it could be, she slowly walked over to the device, nervous about who would be on the other end. All the secrecy behind her father’s suspicions were playing with her mind.
Grabbing the phone as it vibrated again, she nearly jumped out of her skin. The displayed message made her wish she could.
Frozen in place, fear coursing through her veins, she read the message over and over until the words began to blur together.
Soon, my pretty Sophia, you’ll be mine.
The words themselves weren’t so scary, it was the intent behind the words she feared. Maybe it was someone she knew, or perhaps it was someone trying to prank her. With so many what ifs and possibilities, she had no idea what to do. How to proceed.
The phone vibrated in her hand again and made her jump and drop it, bouncing it right under the bed. Slowly bending down, she dreaded reading the new message.
Device in hand, she kept one hand over the screen as she stood to sit on the edge of her bed. Unhurriedly, she uncovered the screen.
Her screams rent the air as black dots clouded her vision.
Don’t look so scared, sweet Sophia, it won’t hurt.
Braxton came crashing through her room, face hard as stone, gun in hand, ready to blast away her tormentor. Too bad he couldn’t do anything.
“Sophia?” he questioned, his eyes searching the room.
Holding out her phone with a shaking hand, she waited as he took it. The change in him was immediate. On guard, pissed off, and ready to kill. His eyes swore vengeance.
“What’s happening, Braxton?” She had to know. She couldn’t be left in the dark anymore.