Page 21 of Glass Rose
“Never claimed otherwise.”
“They worked three jobs each to put me through undergrad. When I got the scholarship for my PhD, my dad cried. That’s why I took the job. The money… they’re getting older and?—”
“I get it.” I cut her off before she spirals further. “Family’s important.”
“Do you have family?”
“No.” It’s not a lie.
She waits for more, but I keep my focus on the road.
“Everyone has someone,” she persists, voice gentler now. “Before all this.”
I could tell her about the guys from my unit, the ones I consider more family than the blood relatives who never understood me. People I’d die for. People who might think I’m already dead after fourteen months.
But I don’t.
Not because I don’t trust Sofia, but because I don’t trust Alex. And Sofia’s the type who’d share information, thinking it might help, not realizing it could get people killed.
Her smile fades as we turn onto a tree-lined street of modest single-family homes. “Third house on the left. The blue one with the?—”
“Porch swing.”
The house sits dark and silent, with no lights visible from any window.
Her heartbeat thunders in my ears—too fast, too loud. “Maybe they’re asleep.”
I park behind the house, engine idling. “Stay here.”
“No.” She unbuckles her seatbelt. “They’re my parents.”
“Which is exactly why you should?—”
“Don’t.” Her eyes harden, something fierce breaking through the fear. “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t handle.”
I recognize that look. Saw it in the mirror every day formonths while they tried to break me. Determination wrapped around terror, holding it at bay.
“Fine.” I kill the engine. “But you stay behind me. And if I say run, you fucking run. Got it?”
She nods once, jaw set.
“I mean it, Sofia. No heroics.”
“Understood.”
My hearing picks up movement inside—not the steps of people, but a persistent squelching.
“How many people should be in that house?”
“Just my parents.” Her brow furrows. “Why?”
“Any pets?”
“Gavin, what do you hear?”
SIX
SOFIA
