Chapter 8 - The Unwanted Guardian
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Sophia didn't call the police. The police couldn't stop the Russo family, and involving law enforcement would only accelerate Dante’s timeline.
She swept up the broken glass with trembling hands, taped a heavy plastic sheet over the shattered window, and packed her laptop into her leather tote bag. She needed to get to her apartment, pack a bag, and figure out a strategy.
But when she opened the front door of her gallery, she nearly collided with a wall of solid muscle.
Marcus, Adrian’s towering head of security, stood on the sidewalk, blocking her exit. The deep scar running down the left side of his face twisted as he frowned down at her.
“Move, Marcus,” Sophia ordered, trying to step around him.
Marcus smoothly sidestepped, blocking her path again. “I can't do that, Miss Bennett. Mr. Moretti sent me. You are coming with me.”
“I am not going anywhere with you, and I am certainly not going to see Adrian,” Sophia snapped, her patience entirely evaporated.
“You aren't going to see Adrian,” Marcus replied, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. “He is currently in a sit-down with the Russo family trying to de-escalate the situation. But he gave me strict orders. Dante Russo is actively hunting you. My job is to keep you breathing until Adrian negotiates a truce.”
“I don't need his protection.”
Marcus reached out, his massive hand gently but firmly gripping her upper arm. “With all due respect, Sophia, a rock through a window is just a courtesy warning. The next thing coming through your window will be a sniper’s bullet. Get in the car.”
Sophia looked past Marcus and saw the familiar black armored SUV idling at the curb. She looked down the street, feeling the terrifying weight of unseen eyes watching her from the shadows of Chelsea. She had no security, no weapon, and no immediate plan.
Reluctantly, she let Marcus guide her to the vehicle.
The doors locked with a heavy, definitive thud the moment she slid into the backseat. Marcus got into the driver’s side, throwing the SUV into gear.
“Where are we going?” Sophia asked, clutching her tote bag tightly to her chest.
“A safe house in upstate New York. Off the books,” Marcus answered, his eyes constantly scanning the rearview mirrors.
Sophia sat in silence as the city skyline faded behind them, replaced by the dark, winding roads of the Hudson Valley. She was furious at being caged, furious at Adrian for dragging her into this nightmare, but her mind was spinning with a dangerous realization.
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Marcus was Adrian’s most trusted man. He knew everything about the Moretti operations. If she was going to be locked in a safe house with him, she wasn't going to spend the time cowering.
She was going to use him.
