Page 68 of Creed

“None discovered so far,” Massimo confirms, looking as disconcerted by our father’s health as the rest of us do. “Only the connection with Ortez, but we’ll keep digging.”

“We have no dealings with the Garcia Cartel; there's no animosity between our families.” Marco frowns. “It makes no sense that Creed's rival would be working with the Garcia's against us.”

“The link with the cartel could be a coincidence?” Andro suggests.

Sophie's father, Geraldo Ortez, is a long-standing Garcia Cartel sicario and is involved in things like assassinations, kidnappings, and extortion. I understand why her mother and grandparents worked so hard to keep her father out of her life.

“It may be a coincidence, but we can’t discount it,”Papárasps. The coughing has ceased now, but I bring him more water. He pats my hand.

“Could Sophie be a plant?” Vito asks.

I whirl toward Vito, about to launch at him, but Andro slams his hands on my chest. His fingers dig into my chest, and he grunts, holding me back as I charge like a bull.

My protective instincts and rage at the possibility of Sophie being in the crosshairs of easily the deadliest man in our family. It makes me want to snarl for Vito’s blood, even though he’s my fucking brother.

Massimo joins Andro to hold me back as my top lip curls to bare my teeth. “Calm, brother,” Massimo says in a quiet, steady voice.

Vito holds up his hands. “I know it’s a cunt thing to ask Creed, but we need to examine that possibility.”

I jerk away from Massimo and Andro, getting myself and my rage under control. My heart pounds thinking of Sophie in any danger, even though I know Vito wouldn’t act—not without our father’s order, at least. “Iapproached her at the industry mixer. My name wasn’t on the attendee list;Papá’swas.”

“And she’s too fucking sweet and innocent to be a plant,” Andro argues on Sophie’s behalf, which makes me love my cousin more than I already do.

I ease my fighting posture and straighten the cuffs of my shirt. Today’s cufflinks are bronzite gemstones I’d gotten custom-made into cufflinks because they’re the perfect blend of bronze and copper, reminding me of my angel. “She isn’t a plant,Papá.”

I direct my comment to him because, as the Don, he’s the one I need to ultimately convince that Sophie isn’t a threat to our family.

He regards me closely and nods, trusting my intuition, which lowers my tension.

“Okay, so Triple S—”

“Triple S?” I frown at Vito.

He smirks. “From the pictures of her, I have to agree with Andro that she’s sweet as all fuck. She’s also stunning.” He bites his lip, laughing again at my possessive glare. “We’ve determined she’s smart. So maybe it’s Sweet Sage Sophie. Or Sweet Sexy Sophie. We could substitute any number of adjectives for the second S: sensational, sumptuous, strong, scintillating, scrumptious, sin-fully good…”

“Okay, I get your fucking point.” I glower at him.

“Thank Jesus, fuck. I was running out of S-adjectives.” Vito laughs but turns serious. “Okay, so Triple S isn’t a plant. But this all means what for her, baby brother?”

My hand scrapes over my face. “I don’t know.”

Over the past two months, Sophie has kept her walls up and me out, even though we talk every day, sometimes more than once. As hellish as the recent two months have been, they don’t hold a candle to the level of hell the previous two months had been when she froze me out entirely.

And we’ve been able to get to know each other without sex complicating things.

Our hearts had instantly tangled together, seeking and finding their other half. I had fallen fast and hard for her. We had rushed into the physical relationship—not that I was complaining or wishing differently—however, these two months allowed us to get to know each other better. Which had allowed that love to grow deeper roots and burrow so thoroughly into my soul that there was no way to extract her. I’d vow celibacy and forsake any other relationship if I had to, because there would never be any other woman for me.

This complication with her cunt of a father and that slimy cockroach Morales—although, I don’t know entirely what it would bring for implications—is just another blip we’ll work through.

Massimo places his big hand on my shoulder. “Can you walk away from her to keep her safe?”

Walk away from her? Never.

But… could Sophie end up in danger because of me?

This is the dreaded question.

Morales has become increasingly unhinged and determined when trying to strike at me. If he figures out Sophie’s connection to me, he’ll use his connections to Ortez to get to her; I’m certain of it. But there’s no reality where I can truly walk away from Sophie. I need to protect her at all costs.

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