You stacked the odds in your favor.
So how did I do that? At a minimum, I had to keep her dream alive of being a doctor if we were going to leave the East Coast…and maybe even the country. But more than simply having a medical degree, she wanted tohelppeople.
What could I give her to make that happen?
How about a hundred million or so? She could open her own clinic wherever in the world she wanted. It was stolen crypto, so this was practically Robin Hood giving back to the people.
What if we left the U.S. completely? After all, it was the only way we could cash in the crypto coin safely. It was also the only way for me to escape the Sartinis and Giovanni Accardo, who wasn’t going to forgive me for running off with his daughter. Would Sofia ever go for that—leaving the country? There were places in the world with no extradition treaties with the United States. We would be safe there. We only needed to find one that had a university where she could complete her medical degree and become a doctor.
As for me, I could live easy on a fraction of those stolen crypto millions. It would mean hanging up my spurs. After the past few days, I believed I could handle putting down the gun. If it meant Sofia was mine and she was happy, yeah, I could do it.
Leaving my family behind would be the hardest part. Especially if I wouldn’t be in the country to take care of my mother or back up my brothers. Everyone from the Sartini or Accardo Families who knew I was involved in this mess was dead. But I didn’t know if the cops had me as a person of interest, and I worried they would harass my family. More than that, I’d simply missed them. I loved them. Always would.
Maybe it all came down to change. Things had changed after these last few days, and there was no going back. Not for me. So was I brave enough to give up what I had for something even better? Yes, but I needed to be worthy of her. That meant not only protecting her but giving to her, putting her first, loving her enough that no sacrifice was too great.
I’d never had that with anyone, but suddenly I wanted it more than anything. I wanted to make her happy, to keep her safe, to see her smile every morning. To sit with her and watch thunderstorms while sipping whisky and listening to music. To see her realize her dreams and to stand by her side.
Once again, I stretched out on the couch. My wound was pulsing with pain, but I barely noticed. I was more excited than ever and yet more relaxed. Now that I’d made a decision, I could do everything in my power to make it happen.
Tomorrow, I would fix this. If I played my cards perfectly, Sofia would be mine again.
For that, I was willing to pay any price.
* * *
SOFIA
It was barely above freezing as we left the cabin the next morning. The sky was gray, with low clouds stretching from horizon to horizon. Small flakes of snow fluttered down here and there, randomly, not enough to be called a snowstorm. But everything had that snow hush, where sounds seemed muted.
It was as cold a silence as the one between Leon and me. I’d barely spent half a minute in his presence since waking up. The bathroom and bedroom had been my refuge. Looking at him stirred too much pain. I wanted to be numb.
The only thing I’d said to him was that I wanted to check his bandages and the wound. But he’d waved off my concern, telling me that we had more important things to worry about. I’d been so irritated and frustrated that I’d told him I didn’t care if his arm became infected and fell off. He deserved it for being a bullheaded moron.
He’d seemed to want to say something to me, but I’d retreated to the shelter of the bedroom until Leon defrosted the car and it was time to finally leave.
Now I walked ahead of him, wrapped in my big coat. I’d left everything else behind because I would no longer need it. The plan was for Leon to drop me off at Central Park with a phone so I could call my father to come get me.
Soon I would be back in my world, and Leon would be out of my life for good.
My breath trailed behind me in white clouds. Each step crunched on the inch or so of icy snow. A yawn crept up on me, and I covered my mouth. My sleep had been fitful and broken. I blamed it on the windstorm last night. And this morning, we had low, gray skies and fitful snow.
How warm was it in Aruba right now? If only I were there right now. If only I’d never learned any of this, never met Leon, and never found the USB drive in my luggage.
Leon’s footsteps stopped behind me. But I kept walking toward the car.
“Sofia,” he said. “Wait.”
I nearly continued walking and ignored him. But that would’ve been childish and beneath me. Instead, I stopped and turned to face him. I pulled up my jacket hood, put my hands in my coat pockets, and waited.
He stood only a few feet away from me. His overcoat still had that tear in the left shoulder where the bullet grazed him, and the sleeve was stained with his blood. But the coat was dark and so was the dried blood, so it was difficult to tell what it was if you didn’t already know.
I forced myself not to look at it. Not because I was squeamish but because I didn’t want to feel any sympathy for him right now.
I waited for him to explain why he wanted me to stop, but I wasn’t going to be lured into asking. Staring into those green eyes was difficult, if only because I’d felt something real for him.
But things had ended exactly as expected, hadn’t they? He’d implied it himself last night. We were too different. I was going to be a doctor and save lives. He took lives. Even if he had saved my life and protected me, that didn’t change who he was. Leon MacCarrick was a man who wanted the money on that stupid USB drive more than he wanted me. A man who wanted revenge for his brother more than he wanted a future with me. A man who would never let go of what he was, even if it left him alone.
“Last night, I thought this was going to be easy,” he admitted. “I had an entire goddamn plan.”
