Page 42 of Undercover Hacker

The shot to the leg was nothing. The shot that clipped my bulletproof vest and traveled upward, hitting my lung, was bad. The doctor said I coded twice on the table. That made me realize I need to live each day to the fullest. Every thought that went through my head was about Sophie. I wanted nothing more than to spend my life with her.

“The Director of the CIA was rogue. Zack would’ve called me in on the case sooner or later. I’m mad the fucker is in the wind.” When the gunfire started, Sanchez had used Sophie as a shield. Nobody was able to get to him in time. Brock traced his steps, but the man escaped the country.

Zack held a press conference denouncing the Director of the CIA. Sanchez was put on the most-wanted list. Every branch of the government was looking for him.

“Why is it so hard for you to take help from others? I wanted to help you, Sophie.”

“You have one of the most well-known families in the world. My parents were murdered, and I spend my time hacking. To top it off, the man I thought was helping me was the one that killed my family.”

I reached over, ignoring the pain in my chest, to run a finger across Sophie’s cheek, wiping the tears away. At my touch, she started to cry harder.

“Will you have dinner with me when I get out of here?”

She looked into my eyes, astonished. “Why?”

Reaching for her hand, I squeezed. “Because we have something special. I told you on the tarmac I wanted more.”

“I came today to thank you. You deserve someone that can give you everything.” She reached up to wipe the tears away. “I can’t do that.”

She kept saying she couldn’t give me everything. But, I didn’t need everything. She was perfect the way she was.

“I only need you. Explain to me what you think I need.” I was getting frustrated talking in circles with her.

Sophie jumped from her seat. “I can’t have kids. The bullet that was meant for my mom—I jumped in front of it. It hit my ovaries. They said I will never be able to have kids.”

The sob that broke through Sophie was gut-wrenching. I couldn’t handle her being so upset.

“Sophie, come here.” I pointed to the side of the bed. When she got close, I reached out to pull her closer.

“Kids are a discussion for a long way down the road. If we decide to have them, we can adopt.”

Sophie needed someone to protect her and let her know she was enough.

* * *

Sophie

It hurt too bad to talk about. Having the choice of having your own kids taken away was hard to deal with. Dr. Roseline, my therapist when I was a kid, said that when I found the right man, he wouldn’t care that I couldn’t have kids. Her words were echoing through my mind. No matter how many times I heard the words, it didn’t change the hurt.

“You say that now, but you don’t know.” I stepped back, distancing myself from his touch. It was hard to concentrate when he had his hands on me.

The longer I stayed, the harder this goodbye would be.

“Don’t do it,” he pleaded.

“What?”

It was easy to say that now. I was falling in love with him. When he wakes up one day and wants his own kid, I will be devastated when he walks out the door. I had lost my family and sister for years. I had revenge to fall back on, then. I didn’t have to grieve my family.

It was going to be gut-wrenching to walk away right now. If we spent much more time together, I didn’t know if I would ever be able to recover.

“Bye.”

“Don’t do it, Sophie. Don’t walk away from what we have.”

What we had would always be in my heart. No one would ever get in there again. I couldn’t go through this. “We have nothing.”

Anger flashed in Zane’s eyes. He pounded his fist on the bed. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. Stop running from us.”

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