Page 68 of Fierce Secrets

"This day just gets crazier and crazier," Sof stated as she slid into the backseat with me.

"Sof, I'm so sorry?—"

"Don't you dare blame yourself," she cut me off, squeezing my hand as the car jerked into motion. "This was bound to happen sooner or later, though I always thought it'd be because of my family's mess, not yours."

"Gotta love crime families, right?" I said dryly, and she scoffed.

"Any idea who’s after Meredith?" Sof asked Roman, but he shook his head.

"No idea yet, Leo's working on it. We just got the intel and had to move you both right away."

"Great. Guess I'll need to move no matter what now," Sof said with a sigh, but offered me a reassuring smile. "I was getting tired of having that yard maintained anyway. I think I'll go with an apartment next."

I knew she was only trying to make me feel less guilty. She loved that house. She'd bought it as soon as she'd finished college, and I'd even helped her repaint rooms and modernize it, since she loved doing her own little renos when she could.

So many years, so many memories, and now she'd have to flush it away. All because of me.

"Hey, like I said, this isn't your fault. Don't you dare start blaming yourself, Meredith." She squeezed my hand again, giving me a firm look.

"If we weren't friends?—"

"Oh shush, I'd never want to change that. It's just a house. A home is made from the people in it, and you're there more often than not. You're the important one in my life, not some bricks and wood." She shut me down quickly, and I smiled, squeezing her hand back.

"Thank you."

CHAPTER 24

MEREDITH

The villa appeared through the trees after over an hour on the road, leaving the city behind us, its stone facade a stark contrast to Sofia's modern mansion. Gray was already waiting outside, pacing.

He rushed down the stairs to the car, hugging me as I stepped out.

"You okay?" He pulled back, glancing over me and nodding at Sof.

"I'm fine."

"You're not, we both know that. We've had quite a day, haven't we?" He offered me that warm, brotherly smile that always made things better.

"You have no idea," I muttered as we headed inside.

"Actually, Roman told me. You planning to jet off to Mexico yet?" he joked, but I could see the unease in his eyes. His fear of actually losing me.

"I'm not that quick to run. So what's going on?" I asked as we moved through the villa, dropping the quick reassurance but not wanting to address it any further.

The villa was definitely a safe-house, sparsely decorated with no homely feel. At least it was furnished and pristine.

"The blackmailer called again," Gray said as soon as he sunk onto the couch, although he was glancing at the windows. "Upped his demands, made more threats." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "Then we learned a rival family is making moves against us. Just what we need on top of that."

So my call to Andrew had pushed him to up his demands. Great, that was entirely my fault. I shot Sof a look, but she was frowning at Gray.

"Which family?" Sofia's voice was sharp.

"Not the Savocas," Roman assured her as he joined us in the living area. "The Malatestas." He turned to focus on Gray. "The perimeter is secure, we've got a team out there, and security feeds are all up and running well."

"Thank you." Gray nodded, and Roman strode back outside while I moved to sit by my brother. Whatever my issues were with him, we'd get through it. Right now, he needed me, and considering all he'd done for me, even if it was hard to accept, I owed him some comfort.

Sofia's perfectly shaped brows drew together. "Why? I thought they had an alliance with the Donati family."

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