Chapter 2 - This time there was none of the restraint he had shown aboard the yacht.
Sophia responded.
Antonio backed her against the edge of the pool and told her to stop him if she did not want what was happening.
She could not.
He warned her to be certain. Once they crossed that boundary, there would be no return to the paper marriage and no pretense that they were strangers bound only by a contract.
Sophia made her decision.
“I’m sure.”
They did not make it back to the bedroom.
Later, wrapped in towels on the terrace, Sophia rested against Antonio and asked what happened now.
“Now you truly become my wife.”
That meant standing beside him publicly and privately, accepting his protection, his name, and his resources.
It also meant accepting certain realities concerning his business.
Sophia still wanted to know why he had changed the terms of their relationship so suddenly.
Antonio’s expression altered.
“Get dressed. There’s something I need to show you.”
He led her downstairs to a reinforced door protected by his fingerprint and a code.
Behind it was a command center.
Screens displayed security feeds, international news, and financial information. 2 suited men left at Antonio’s gesture.
“This is where I conduct my real business. Away from prying eyes and listening devices.”
He activated a recording.
Sophia recognized the corridor immediately.
Her father’s rehabilitation facility.
The timestamp was from 3 days earlier.
A figure wearing medical scrubs entered her father’s room.
“Who is that?”
“An assassin. Sent to eliminate your father as a message to me.”
Sophia’s hand flew to her mouth.
Her father was safe. Antonio’s men had intercepted the killer before anything happened.
The man responsible was Alexander Volkov, a rival attempting to take Antonio’s territories and business relationships.
Now Volkov had turned his attention to Antonio’s wife.
Antonio admitted the truth.
Despite every effort to appear indifferent, someone had noticed how he looked at Sophia, how carefully he controlled every aspect of her life, and how completely he separated her from his criminal business.
Volkov understood that Sophia was precious to him.
He had identified her as Antonio’s weakness.
Antonio agreed that he was right.
He had brought Sophia to the island partly because he had stopped pretending he did not want her and partly because the island was the safest place he possessed.
She would remain there until Volkov was no longer a threat.
Sophia understood what that could mean.
“This is insane. This whole situation. 3 months ago, I was a normal person with a normal life. Now I’m the wife of a mafia boss, hidden away on a private island, targeted by rival killers.”
“This is my life, Sophia. And now it’s yours too.”
She reminded him that she had never asked for any of it.
Antonio reminded her that she had signed the marriage papers, accepted his protection for her family, taken his name, and, earlier that day, chosen him again with open eyes.
Sophia had no answer.
He promised to keep her safe regardless of cost.
“No one touches what’s mine.”
“I’m not a possession.”
“No.”
Antonio touched her cheek.
“You’re much more dangerous than that. You’re the one thing in this world that could bring me to my knees.”
Before Sophia could respond, Marco entered.
Volkov’s men had been spotted in Antigua asking questions about Vendetta.
Antonio immediately ordered increased security, doubled patrols, and absolute control over all approaching vessels.
Their honeymoon had become something else.
Antonio kissed Sophia with fierce urgency.
“Stay in the house. Do not leave for any reason. Do not trust anyone except Mariana and Marco.”
He promised that once Volkov was dealt with, they would begin their life properly.
No paper marriage.
No pretense.
Sophia watched him leave and understood with frightening clarity that she had fallen in love with Antonio Russo.
Hours passed.
Night settled over the island.
Antonio had left with Marco and most of the security team. Sophia remained in the master suite while Mariana brought food she could barely touch.
Antonio always prevailed, Mariana assured her.
But the worry in the woman’s face betrayed her.
Later, Sophia noticed a flash of light on the water.
Then another.
She tried the tablet.
No one answered.
A soft thud came from downstairs.
Sophia turned off the lights.
Footsteps climbed toward the master suite.
They were not Antonio’s measured steps.
They belonged to someone trying not to be heard.
Sophia retreated into the bathroom and locked the heavy door.
Men entered the bedroom.
One ordered the other to search the closet.
Sophia climbed onto the vanity and began struggling with the high window.
The bathroom handle moved.
“Mrs. Russo?”
A man addressed her from outside.
They knew she was there.
They claimed they did not intend to harm her. Alexander Volkov merely wanted to speak with her.
Sophia continued working on the window latch.
They began breaking down the door.
The latch finally opened.
Outside was a narrow ledge and, approximately 15 ft away, the roof of a lower section of the house.
The bathroom door began splintering.
Sophia squeezed through the window.
The ledge was barely wide enough for her feet.
She moved sideways against the wall.
The door crashed open behind her.
A man appeared at the window.
Sophia jumped.
For an instant she was airborne.
Then she struck the lower roof, rolled painfully across the shingles, and stopped against a chimney.
She forced herself up.
A drainpipe offered a route to the ground.
Sophia climbed down and ran toward the jungle.
Darkness swallowed her.
Branches cut her face and arms. Roots caught her bare feet. Flashlights moved behind her as men searched.
Eventually the voices faded.
Sophia found a stream and followed the sound to a small waterfall and clear pool.
She drank and forced herself to think.
Following the stream directly to the sea would be obvious. Instead, she would parallel it through the jungle.
A twig snapped.
Sophia turned.
A gun was pointed directly at her.
The same man from the bathroom window stood there.
2 more emerged behind him.
The chase was over.
The men told Sophia that Antonio had been deliberately drawn to Antigua by a false threat. By the time he discovered the deception, she would be gone.
At least Antonio was alive.
Sophia threatened to scream.
No one would hear her.
The house staff had been neutralized.
Thinking of Mariana filled Sophia with guilt and fear.
With no weapon and no chance against 3 armed men, she surrendered.
They led her through the jungle to another section of the coast, where a speedboat waited with 2 additional men.
5 against 1.
Sophia was forced aboard.
The boat carried her away from Antonio’s island.
Less than 1 hour later, lights appeared ahead.
Instead of approaching Antigua’s public marina, they moved toward a secluded cove where another yacht waited.
Sophia was taken aboard and locked inside an opulent salon.
Eventually, the door opened.
Alexander Volkov entered.
He was tall and lean, with silver-streaked dark hair, pale blue eyes, and an immaculate white suit.
He apologized for his men’s methods and offered Sophia a drink.
She refused.
“If I wanted you dead, my dear, you would never have left the island.”
Sophia asked what he wanted.
Volkov claimed Antonio had stolen a flash drive containing information capable of damaging his operations. Antonio was using that information to dismantle Volkov’s business.
Sophia knew nothing about it.
Volkov believed her.
He also believed Antonio would exchange the drive for her.
He had watched Antonio closely enough to recognize the way he looked at Sophia.
The great Antonio Russo had finally revealed a weakness.
Volkov tried to exploit that knowledge further.
Antonio, he claimed, was incapable of genuine love. Sophia was merely a possession, a trophy whose value would eventually diminish.
Volkov offered her another possibility.
A place in his organization.
Protection.
Comfort.
Freedom from Antonio’s cage.
“You’re asking me to betray my husband.”
“I’m offering you a choice. More than Antonio ever gave you.”
The words struck a vulnerable place.
But Sophia remembered Antonio’s face on the terrace. His admission that she could bring him to his knees. The distance he had maintained because he feared what would happen if he stopped controlling himself.
“No.”
Volkov’s civility disappeared.
Sophia had until morning to reconsider.
By then, Antonio would have received the terms of exchange.
Volkov left.
Alone, Sophia began thinking.
Something about his explanation did not make sense.
If he merely wanted a flash drive, why try to recruit her?
Perhaps the information was more damaging than he admitted.
Perhaps Antonio had not stolen it at all.
Perhaps someone inside Volkov’s organization had provided it.
She wondered whether Antonio had brought her to the island not only to protect her, but to protect a source.
Exhaustion eventually pulled her into an uneasy sleep.
She woke to sunlight and a young man standing over her.
Antonio had responded to Volkov’s terms.
Volkov wanted her on deck.
Sophia followed.
The Russian stood at the railing.
“It seems your value to Antonio is considerable after all.”
He pointed toward the horizon.
Vendetta was approaching.
Antonio’s yacht cut rapidly through the morning water.
Volkov announced that Antonio had agreed to the exchange.
The flash drive for Sophia.
Within the hour, the transfer would take place.
Before then, Volkov wanted Sophia presentable.
To her surprise, Elena, Antonio’s chief stewardess, appeared.
Once they were alone in a guest cabin, Elena turned on the shower to conceal their conversation.
“Are you hurt?”
“Just scratches.”
Elena had not been captured.
Antonio had sent her.
It was a precaution in case something went wrong.
“He has a plan?”
Elena nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Be ready. When the time comes, stay close to me.”
She helped Sophia wash, cleaned and bandaged her scratches, and dressed her in a simple white dress chosen by Volkov.
Approximately 1 hour later, Sophia stood beside Volkov as Vendetta drew close enough for her to see Antonio clearly.
His posture was rigid.
His expression was furious.
The instant he saw Sophia, something passed between them without words.
“The drive first,” Antonio called.
“Then Sophia.”
Volkov refused.
Sophia first.
Once Antonio verified she was unharmed, Volkov would receive the drive.
A long silence followed.
Then Antonio agreed.
A narrow gangway was extended across the approximately 30 ft of water separating the yachts.
Volkov seized Sophia’s arm.
“Remember our conversation. This is your last chance to choose the winning side.”
Sophia ignored him.
Her eyes remained fixed on Antonio.
Elena joined her, ostensibly to steady her.
Together they stepped onto the gangway.
Halfway across, the morning exploded.
A helicopter appeared overhead.
Men in tactical gear descended onto both yachts.
Gunfire shattered the air.
“Now!”
Elena shoved Sophia down against the gangway as bullets passed overhead.
Sophia clung to the narrow bridge.
Through the chaos, she saw Antonio vault over Vendetta’s railing and land on the gangway.
He came toward her.
“Sophia! Come to me now!”
She stood.
20 ft separated them.
Then 15.
Then 10.
A gunshot cracked.
Pain burned through Sophia’s shoulder.
May you like
She lost her balance.
Her body fell over the side.
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