Page 73 of Defy

“What do you mean no one spotted anyone with Sophia’s description leave the building?” I clutched my phone to my ear, wanting to pull the idiot guard through the receiver and shake him. “Check all the feeds around the building and report back.”

Hanging up, I paced my living room.

If I hadn’t woken up from thirst a little past four thirty in the morning, I wouldn’t have known Sophia wasn’t in the penthouse.

I assumed she’d gotten up to grab something in the kitchen. Then, I quickly realized I was the only person in my apartment.

At first, worry coursed through me, but when I saw Sophia’s purse and favorite sneakers missing, I knew she’d left of her own volition.

Where the fuck had she gone? And in the middle of the damn night?

What if something happened to her? The killer was still at large and may decide to come after her. Couldn’t she understand her safety was on the line?

She drove me near to insanity.

I ran a frustrated hand through my hair and then paused to look out the windows at the city and night sky.

She expected my unquestioning trust and then pulled shit like this. How the fuck was this ever going to work?

Was I doomed to impossible relationships?

I never lied about who I was or the capacity of what I could give to a woman.

Even knowing where I stood, Maria wanted things from me I couldn’t give her, ultimately leading to her decision to take her own life.

It wasn’t until Sophia that I knew any of the things Maria begged me for existed. The emotions, the desire, pushed at every part of my mind, leaving me helpless, overwhelmed, and definitely pissed off.

Maybe this was my punishment for not being what Maria needed.

No matter how much I wanted to shower Sophia with everything, she refused to budge an inch.

Perhaps this time, I was the one taking on Maria’s role. I wanted things Sophia couldn’t give me, so she kept secrets from me.

Then again, she was a Morelli. Keeping secrets was something taught to them from birth. Lucian had a PhD in it, and from how things were looking, I’d say she wasn’t far behind.

From my periphery, the bar came into view, reminding me of my childhood, and I couldn’t help but snort.

I wasn’t any better. Secrets were the Pierce family’s lock and trade. Although we’d mastered securing every emotion under a wall of cool indifference and only allowing our moods to show through under the strictest circumstances.

When expressing feelings, the Morellis were a tsunami unleashing all its force on whatever object was in the way. Most people knew where they stood with the family. There was no hiding it.

We were also a product of our upbringing. For all of Bryant Morelli’s faults, the one thing he wasn’t known for was being a drunk. When it came to anger, rage, and abuse, he was a grand champion, just like my asshole father William Pierce.

However, William had one up on good old Bryant. Bill was a raging drunk. However, no one outside of the walls of the historic Pierce mansion would ever know it.

From an early age, I learned that tempering my mood kept the family monster away. My monster being my very own father.

William Pierce taught me more than enough lessons on protecting those weaker than me. He’d used his size, strength, and wealth to control my mother and sister. And it wasn’t until an unfortunate incident that my siblings and I finally found ourselves rid of the bastard. But it wasn’t until after we’d lost our mother under suspicious conditions. The fucker told us her health had failed, but I knew better, even if I couldn’t prove otherwise.

That was more than likely where my drive to protect Sophia originated. Life’s circumstances and my father’s power prevented me from keeping my mother safe. I’d be damned if I let another woman I loved fall victim to the assholes of the world.

Except with Sophia, she refused to give one microscopic inch when it came to protecting her.

The irrational part of me wanted to lock her in this place, shackle her to my bed, and use every means in my arsenal to overwhelm her with sadistic pleasure to gain the information I wanted. She’d cry beautiful tears, come like a siren, and hate me in the end, but in the end, I’d be able to prove her innocence.

Clenching my teeth, I pushed those thoughts away. Losing her wasn’t an option.

A creak sounded from the far end of the penthouse, and I immediately rushed in that direction. I should have guessed. She used the maintenance access and stairwell to make her way to the elevators near the health club.

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