I squeeze her a little tight at the thought and she sighs into my neck.
After our little discussion at the club, I had my men do a thorough background check on Ryan Lafayette. I knew everything about the man, including his favorite place to shit. I also became aware that Sofia wasn’t the first woman he abused. It started in his teens and continued until Sofia. Unfortunately, it probably didn’t end with her. My sources say that while he was actively searching for Sofia, he had taken on another woman.
What concerns me most is the fact that none of the accusations were ever taken seriously. My men spoke to most of the women and each one said that they attempted to report the abuse, but the police wouldn’t take the report. One said they took the report, but then just gave it to him.
There were two who we couldn’t contact. One died under suspicious circumstances while the other vanished in thin air. Her family is still searching for her.
I lean down and kiss Sofia on the head. Ryan is a dangerous man with a badge. He thinks he is invincible. He just better hope he doesn’t end up here. I have no qualms about making him disappear.
A while later, Lorenzo comes out. He is covered in blood and he looks like someone put him through the wringer.
Sofia fell asleep earlier. I feel her steady heartbeat and even breaths. I glance up to Lo.
“Let me take her up to my room, then we can talk.”
He nods.
I gently scoot forward on the chair and life Sofia in my arms. I take her to my room and lie her down under my comforter. She turns and looks at me with puffy red eyes.
“Go back to sleep, Tesoro. I will be right here.”
She gives me a small smile then burrows into the bed. I wait for her breaths to even back out before I slip from the room. I head downstairs and still find everyone in the meeting room. Mia has found a shirt that looks suspiciously like one of Lorenzo’s. I go to greet our family doctor.
“Dr. Fields. Sorry to call you out so late.”
She shakes my hand.
“No problem, although I don’t think you needed me. This young lady did an amazing job stitching him up. She was right. There doesn’t seem to be any internal bleeding. I gave him an IV with fluids and antibiotics to starve off any infections. Once he leaves, he can take one every eight hours.” She shoves a bottle of pills into my hand. “They are for pain so if he doesn’t need it, he shouldn’t take it. He will need some rehab that you can do here at home and his wound will need to be monitored closely. Mia said she could do it. If you have any other problems call me.”
“Thank you.”
Gio steps up and hands the woman an envelope. She nods then leaves. Gio then turns and goes to pick Matteo up, who is knocked out.
“I am going to go get him settled in a guest room.”
“I will go with you.”
Mia walks over and grabs the pills from my hands as she follows Gio out of the room. I shut the door behind her and turn to Lo.
“What in the fuck happened, Lo?”
I run my hands through my hair.
“I don’t know, Bash. The guy wasn’t aiming towards Sof. He specifically aimed and shot at Matteo then he attempted to shoot at me. I think he got hit though. I found blood at the end of the alley. I pressed my pocket silk to it and Tyler is going to come get it to test it and see if he comes up in any systems.”
“So, you shot him and didn’t kill him?”
“Fuck no. Sofia shot him! You should have seen her in that alley. Your woman is badass! She had her gun out even before I did. She isn’t a very good shot, but she did hit him. I didn’t start shooting until I got in front of her. By then, she had already hit him so he was already around the corner.”
The pride in his voice is evident. Sofia has impressed him and gained his trust and loyalty. I understood that feeling of pride. I was feeling it myself. She took care of herself like she said she could. Would he have targeted her without my guys there? Am I putting her in more danger?
I pull her gun out of my waistband.
“Get rid of this. She will need a new gun. If she hit him, we can’t have any trace of this gun linked to her.”
He nods.
“What are we going to do about her security detail?”
