Dante's POV

The elevator doors hadn't even closed before Sofia was screaming.

"I hate you! I hate this! I hate everything!" Her voice bounced off the metal walls like bullets.

I stood perfectly still, watching the floor numbers light up. Twenty. Nineteen. Eighteen. Her anger didn't bother me. I'd heard worse from men begging for their lives.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sofia demanded.

"Every word," I said calmly.

"Then say something!"

"Like what?"

"Like you're sorry for ruining my life!"

I turned to look at her. Sofia's face was red, and tears sparkled in her dark eyes. She looked younger than twenty-four. More like a child having a fit because someone took away her favorite toy.

"Your life was already ruined," I said. "I'm just here to make sure you keep it."

The elevator jerked to a stop on the fifteenth floor. The doors opened, but nobody got on. Smart move. Sofia looked ready to punch someone.

"My life was fine before you showed up," she said.

"Your life was a lie before I showed up."

That shut her up for about three seconds.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The elevator dinged for the garage level. I stepped out, and Sofia followed, still talking.

"I asked you a question, Dante. What did you mean my life was a lie?"

I led her to my car, a black sedan that looked normal but could outrun most police cars. I opened the passenger door and waited.

"Get in."

"Not until you answer me."

I sighed and leaned against the car. "You think you've been living a regular life, right? Going shopping, meeting friends, doing whatever you want?"

"Yes."

"Wrong. For the past year, you've had three different bodyguards watching you from a distance. You never saw them because they were good at hiding. Every restaurant you ate at was checked first. Every store you visited was cleared by our people. Every friend you met was investigated."

Sofia's mouth dropped open.

"Your father's been protecting you since you turned eighteen. The only difference now is that you know about it."

Sofia stared at me like I'd just told her the sky was purple. "You're lying."

"Am I? Remember that coffee shop on Madison Street? The one you love so much? Why do you think there's always a table open for you by the window?"

Her face went pale. "Because... because I'm lucky?"

"Because your father owns the building. The whole block, actually."

I opened the car door wider. "Get in. We need to get you home."

Sofia didn't move. "What else?"

"What else what?"

"What else has been fake in my life?"

I could have lied. Could have told her everything else was real. But lies get people killed, and my job was keeping Sofia alive.

"Your college roommate Elena? She used to be a police officer. Your father hired her to watch you. Your neighbor Mrs. Peterson? She's one of our people too. Even your doctor works for us."

Each word hit Sofia like a slap. She grabbed the car door to keep from falling.

"Elena is my best friend," she whispered.

"Elena is very good at her job."

"But she... we talk about everything. She knows all my secrets."

"Which is exactly what your father pays her to do."

Sofia's legs gave out. She sat down hard on the garage floor, right there next to my car. Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

For a second, something twisted in my chest. Something that felt almost like guilt. But I pushed it away. Feeling sorry for targets was how bodyguards got their clients killed.

"Hey," I said, crouching down next to her. "You can cry later. Right now, we need to move."

"Why?" Sofia looked up at me with wet eyes. "What's the rush?"

That's when I heard it. The quiet sound of footsteps on concrete. Someone was coming down the stairs instead of using the elevator. Someone who didn't want to be heard.

I grabbed Sofia's arm and pulled her to her feet. "Because Vincent's men found us."

"What? How?"

"I don't know, but we need to go. Now."

I pushed Sofia into the car and slammed her door. As I ran around to the driver's side, I saw them. Three men in dark clothes, moving fast toward us. They had guns.

I jumped behind the wheel and started the engine. The first bullet hit my back window as we peeled out of the parking space.

"Get down!" I yelled at Sofia.

She ducked below the dashboard as more gunshots exploded around us. I drove straight at the garage exit, not caring about the metal gate that was supposed to stop us. It crumpled like paper under my car's reinforced front end.

We burst onto the street in a shower of sparks and broken metal. I spun the wheel hard left, tires screaming against the pavement.

"Are they following us?" Sofia asked from the floor.

I checked the mirrors. A black van was coming up the garage ramp behind us.

"Yeah. Hold on."

I pressed the gas pedal to the floor. We shot forward like a rocket, weaving between cars and running red lights. The van stayed right behind us, trying to ram us from the side.

"Dante!" Sofia screamed as another car missed us by inches.

"I've got this," I said, though I wasn't completely sure that was true.

We took a corner so fast the car went up on two wheels. Sofia grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin.

"Please don't let them kill me," she whispered.

Something about the way she said it made that weird feeling come back in my chest. She wasn't angry anymore. Just scared. Really, really scared.

"I won't," I said, and meant it more than I'd meant anything in years.

The van tried to pull up next to us. I could see the passenger window rolling down. A gun barrel poked out.

I yanked the steering wheel hard right, slamming my car into the van's side. Metal screamed against metal. The van skidded sideways and crashed into a line of parked cars.

But before I could feel relieved, I saw something that made my blood freeze.

Another van. Coming straight at us from the opposite direction.

And behind that van, two more black cars.

Vincent Romano hadn't sent three men to kill Sofia.

He'd sent an army.

"Dante," Sofia said, following my gaze. "There are too many of them."

I looked at her sitting next to me, trust and terror mixing in her dark eyes. She was counting on me to save her. Her father was counting on me. Hell, I was counting on me.

But for the first time in ten years of doing this job, I wasn't sure I could win.

The cars were getting closer. In about thirty seconds, we'd be surrounded with nowhere to run.

That's when I made a decision that would change everything.

"Sofia," I said, reaching into my jacket. "I need you to take this."

I pulled out a second gun and handed it to her. Her eyes went wide.

"I don't know how to use that!"

"Point and pull the trigger. That's all you need to know."

The enemy cars were almost on us now. I could see the faces of the men inside them. Cold faces. Killer faces.

"What's happening?" Sofia asked, her voice shaking.

I looked at her one more time, memorizing her face. Just in case.

"Something I should have told you back in your father's office," I said. "Something that changes everything."

"What?"

The first van was only fifty feet away now. I could see the driver's grin.

"I'm not just here to protect you from Vincent Romano," I said quietly. "I'm here to protect you from the truth about what really happened to your mother."

Sofia's face went white as snow. "What are you talking about? My mother died in a car accident."

"No," I said as the enemy cars closed in around us. "She didn't."