Page 12 of Defy

My throat burned, and the impulse to run to him, throw myself into his arms, pushed at me. I wanted to feel his touch, to know I was safe.

He clenched his fists as if he felt the same pull. He took a step in my direction but paused.

“He must have deep connections and knows the right people to bribe to get you out of here, Morelli. The way the DA was throwing everything at you, even God above wouldn’t have been able to get you out.”

I ignored the guard’s snide comment but couldn’t forget what Oliana or Lucian said about Damon.

Lucian warned me away from him countless times, and I’d refused to listen.

Damon was mine. No matter what he was, I accepted him.

I strode toward the clerk at the desk, who pushed papers in my direction. She pointed to the spots where I needed to sign, never bothering to speak to me.

She huffed when I refused to take the pen she offered and picked up the papers to read them.

If she took me for a dummy, she needed to be corrected.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Damon’s smirk.

My hands shook when I read the full details of the bail agreement.

On my behalf, Damon agreed to pay fifteen million dollars. I would stay in the Manhattan area until my official arraignment, and under no circumstances was I allowed to leave the country. Damon took responsibility for me, my whereabouts, and all my actions or risked the money offered for my release.

Had he lost his mind?

I turned to him.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Sign the papers,” he ordered with a scowl and added.

“What if I don’t agree to these terms?”

His eyes narrowed, and I thought of my mom locked under my father’s control. Their relationship was its own prison, and now, with this bail, was I signing up for the same thing?

He looked at me like he could read my mind. “Sign the papers. Come home.”

A shiver slid down my spine, and for the first time since before this horrible ordeal began, I allowed the unfettered desire I felt for this man to uncoil deep inside me.

I scrolled my name on the places indicated, and after a few more exit procedures, I was allowed through to the side where Damon waited.

Instead of pulling me into his arms as I expected, he set a hand on my lower back and guided me out.

“Let’s go home, My Sophia. We need to have a long chat.”

Chapter Three

Damon

I stared down at Sophia as she squared her shoulders, and we prepared to leave the sign-out room for the precinct lockup. I expected some response to my statement about the two of us having a long chat, but she remained quiet.

Right now it seemed as if she braced herself for a papz to jump out from some corner to take her picture or bombard her with a dozen questions.

Not a fucking chance with me around.

When she’d stepped out from the holding area, she clenched her fists, and irritation marred her features as if she willed herself not to turn around and clock someone.

Then, surprise lit her gaze as our eyes connected. And if I wasn’t mistaken, her annoyance switched to longing.

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