Chapter 22: Chapter 20

Sophia’s POV

I had no idea what was going on.

The man who picked me up in the kitchen refused to let go of me. I was really scared at first, but then I relaxed so much that I even ended up falling asleep on his shoulder. I had no idea how and when that happened. One second we were walking through the house and the other we were in a car driving somewhere.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Lucas said, giving me a small smile.

I furrowed my eyebrows a little and lifted my head. I looked at the man who was holding me. I was sitting on his lap in the back of a car. Lucas was next to us. Elijah was next to Lucas. Alexander was driving and the other angry man was sitting in the passenger seat,

The man who was holding me had an angry look on his face. He leaned in and kissed my forehead.

“Are you okay, baby?” Alexander asked me. “Do you want me to pull over and take you? Someone else can drive.”

“Didn’t I tell you to fuck off, Alexander?” the man who was holding me said as he placed his hand on the back of my head and pulled me to him. “I am not letting her go.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“I don’t give a shit about that, William,” Alexander said angrily. “I am thinking about her and what she wants. If she is not comfortable with you, I am taking her away.”

I could feel the man who was holding me tense up.

“Are you okay, honey?” Elijah asked me. “Do you need one of us to take you?”

I was a bit scared of the man who was holding me, but I could tell that he wouldn't hurt me. I could tell that he needed me.

“I am okay,” I said quietly and the man breathed out in relief.

Elijah smiled at me. “Okay, honey. We are here if you need us.”

I leaned my head back on the angry man’s shoulder and he wrapped his arms around me. He didn’t say anything, but he kissed my temple and leaned his head on mine.

“Where are we going?” I asked quietly.

Lucas looked at me and sighed. He had a worried expression on his face.

“We are going to the airport, baby,” Alexander said. “We are going to my house in Aspen.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and lifted my head. Why?

“There is a man who is after you, Sophia,” the man in the passenger seat said. “We need to hide you.”

My heart raced and my eyes widened. Everyone else gasped loudly.

“What the fuck, Damien?!” Lucas screamed. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

The man looked back and tightened his jaw.

“She deserves to know the truth,” he said, glaring at Lucas. “You were just going to lie to her. I wasn’t.”

I appreciated him telling me the truth, but I wanted an explanation.

A man was after me? Who? Was it James? Oh, God, no. Not him. Not again.

Well, I wasn’t going to let that happen anyway. I would kill myself before he could touch me again.

“Is it James?” I asked, my voice trembling.

The man who was holding me tightened his arms around me.

“No, baby,” Alexander said. “It’s not James. He will never come near you again. I promise”

“No one will ever come near you again,” Lucas said as he took my hand in his. “We won’t let anything happen to you, Sophia.”

If it wasn’t James who was it then? Who was the man who wanted to hurt me? Why? What did I do? I barely left that basement my entire life. I never hurt anyone and I would gladly apologize if I did.

“Who is he?” I asked, my voice trembling. “What did I do to him?”

The man who was holding me kissed the top of my head.

“You did nothing wrong, baby,” Alexander said and I could hear the sadness in his voice. “He is after you because of us, not because of something you did.”

I furrowed my eyebrows.

“We are rich and influential people, honey,” Elijah said softly. “Unfortunately our jobs come with a lot of enemies.”

“Some of them are willing to stoop so low and hurt our family,” Lucas added with a sigh.

“You are special to him, baby,” Alexander continued. “You are related to two richest families in our city and he knows that if he takes you, he would have control over us. He would have a lot of power because of that.”

I was confused again.

Why didn’t they leave me with James and Elizabeth then? No one knew I existed when I was with them. No one would threaten me if they left me there.

But maybe this was the way they would get rid of me. Maybe they were taking me to that man. Maybe we weren’t going to the airport.

I tensed and my breathing picked up. Lucas tightened his hold on my hand.

“What’s wrong, cutie?” he asked. “Please talk to us.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at my lap.

“Why didn’t you leave me with them?” I asked. “No one knew about me while I was there.”

The man who was holding me tensed up again.

“He knew, baby,” Alexander said quietly. “The first threat came the same day we sent our men to bring you home to us.”

“We should have taken you home sooner,” Lucas mumbled and I looked up at him. “We should have known that bastard was hurting you.”

Lucas looked in front of himself and clenched his fists.

“We are terrible brothers,” he mumbled and my heart clenched painfully.

They weren’t terrible. They’d done more for me in those few days since I’d been with them than anyone else ever did.

“No one will ever hurt you again,” Elijah said, reaching over Lucas and caressing my cheek. “We will make sure of that, honey. We will do everything to protect you.”

Elijah smiled at me, but I saw sadness in his eyes.

The car stopped and I looked through the window.

We were parked next to a huge airplane.

My eyes widened and a wave of nervousness washed over me. I’d never been on an airplane before.

The man who was holding me pressed me back to him and opened the door. He stepped out of the car, holding me close to him. He placed a hand on my head and made me lean my head on his shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he kissed my temple.

I was a bit sleepy again. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“Sleep, my Sunshine,” I heard someone say before I drifted off to sleep.