Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Sofia shrugged. “Aleksandr is old-fashioned. He doesn’t talk to me about work. The Seven Sinners don’t come near Solnyshko, and that’s where I spend most of my time. I’ve never seen that tattoo before. Except in my dreams, that is.”
“Gerard Callahan has also been identified as the body they pulled out of Lake Medina,” Colm added. “Step Callahan thinks Rogan’s father had something to do with his death.”
“Why?” Sofia asked. That seemed a strange conclusion to come to.
“Because my father, with the help of your father and Iker Florez, was trying to run the Seven Sinners out of the city at the time,” Rogan explained.
“I don’t remember any of this,” Sofia said.
Lord, she was getting a headache. Perhaps Sacha had been right. It was better if she stayed out of all this.
“You must have only been about eight,” Colm told her, moving closer.
She wished he’d sit down beside her.
Maybe pull her onto his lap.
But you can’t have any of that, Sofia.
“What if Sofia saw Gerard’s murder?” Miller asked. “What if Step Callahan is right and my mother’s disappearance is somehow connected to his father’s murder?”
“How could you have been there?” Rogan asked Sofia.
Sofia rubbed at her forehead. Was it possible? Was that dream an old memory that she’d repressed as a child?
Had she seen Gerard Callahan being murdered? By her father? And by Rogan’s father and Iker Florez?
“I don’t know. I can’t remember.” So much of it was blurry. She only got bits and pieces. And she didn’t understand why she was now dreaming so much about it.
Maybe because of Miller. Perhaps she tweaked something in your memory.
Or perhaps it was all the stress lately stirring things up.
“Why would my father have taken me?” she asked. But she did remember him putting her in a car and telling her to sleep. “And how could I have forgotten what happened for so many years?”
“You were young. Maybe you buried the memory,” Colm suggested.
Please touch me.
“But I need to know what happened,” Sofia insisted. “I can’t stand having half the story.”
“I wonder if my mom saw something they didn’t want her to see.”
“A thaisce,” Rogan said in a soft voice.
Damn. That was sweet.
She remembered Colm calling her Mo leannan.
She wanted that again.
What an idiot she’d been.
“Everyone who would know the truth is dead,” Miller said.
Right. Everything except . . .
“Except for me,” Sofia said in a quiet voice. She pushed her hands under the blanket, pressing them together anxiously.
Keep it together, Sofia.
“And I’m missing chunks. What if I can’t remember anything else? All I’ve got is these flashes of images and feelings.”
Although the nightmare had become clearer lately. Which was making it even harder for her to sleep.
Rogan sat forward. “Sofia, you can’t tell anyone what you remember.”
Sofia stared at him in bewilderment. “What about Sacha?”
“Tell your cousin, but make sure you’re completely alone,” Rogan replied. “I’ll be with you if you want. We need to tell him about tonight, anyway.”
“He’ll be furious.” Sofia chewed her lower lip. She knew she had to tell him. But she didn’t want to upset Sacha.
He was all she had.
“He should have protected you better,” Colm snarled.
“He’s in the hospital!” Sofia snapped back. No way would she sit here and listen to Colm talk badly about Sacha. “He nearly died.”
“That’s no excuse,” Colm muttered.
Sofia glared at him. What the heck did he expect Aleksandr to do from his hospital bed?
He sent her home to rest. He didn’t realize she was going to get kidnapped by her boyfriend, who was blackmailing her into a fake relationship.
Rogan cleared his throat. “Why don’t I talk to Aleksandr first? We’ll do it tomorrow.”
Sofia nodded. She wished she could let Rogan do that, but she knew she had to be the one to tell Sacha what had happened. And first thing tomorrow. “I suppose I should go home.”
Maybe she could go to a hotel.
Fuck. Where was her phone? What if someone was looking for her?
And how had Oleg gotten onto the estate grounds?
“I think it would be best if you stayed here,” Rogan countered.
“No, I’d rather go home.” Sacha wouldn’t like it if she stayed here.
“You’re staying here,” Colm growled at her.
Sofia scowled up at him. He needed to realize that he wasn’t the boss of her. “I’m going home.”
“I won’t sleep if you go home, Sofia. I’ll just spend all my time worrying about you. Please stay. For me,” Miller begged.
Sofia was silent for a long moment. Then her shoulders slumped and she nodded. “I guess I wouldn’t be able to sleep either.”
“Do you want a sleeping pill?” Colm asked her.
She shook her head, hugging herself. She hated sleeping pills; they made her feel out of control. Like she couldn’t handle things. And then the next day, she’d wake up feeling awful.
Sofia was already on a knife’s edge and didn’t want anything tipping her off that cliff.