Chapter 9
Sophia continued.
“You maintained a relationship with Lauren for at least fourteen months.”
“You’re spying on me now?”
“Your phone was on our kitchen counter.”
“Our kitchen.”
“No.”
Sophia shook her head.
“Nothing is ours anymore.”
Anthony’s expression changed.
He abandoned outrage.
Tried charm.
“Sophia, come on.”
She almost admired the speed.
“We’ve both made mistakes.”
Dominic’s jaw flexed.
Sophia squeezed his wrist again.
Anthony stepped closer.
“You’re angry. I understand. But this man doesn’t love you.”
Dominic started to stand.
Sophia stopped him.
Anthony smiled as if he had finally found the wound.
“You think my uncle suddenly fell in love with you? He wants leverage over your father. That’s what men like us do.”
Sophia studied him.
Three years.
She had spent three years believing Anthony understood the world better because he spoke with confidence.
Now she could see confidence wasn’t knowledge.
Sometimes it was simply noise.
“Do you know the difference between you and Dominic?” she asked.
Anthony smirked.
“Please enlighten me.”
“Dominic tells me when he wants something.”
Anthony’s smile faded.
“He doesn’t make me sick and then convince me I caused the symptoms. He doesn’t humiliate me and call it honesty. He doesn’t use affection as a prize.”
She took one step toward him.
“And when he wanted me, he gave me a door and told me I could walk through it either direction.”
Dominic looked at her.
Sophia met his eyes briefly.
Then she turned back.
“You never gave me a door.”
Anthony’s face hardened.
“You were safe with me.”
“I was sedated with you.”
“You had everything.”
“I had things.”
Her voice cracked, but she did not lower it.
“Things are not love.”
Nobody interrupted.
Sophia had the floor now.
Not because a man had given it to her.
Because she had taken it.
Anthony looked around.
“You’re all really going to let her destroy the treaty?”
Vincent Caruso slowly placed the documents down.
“The treaty is not destroyed.”
Anthony blinked.
Vincent looked toward Dominic.
“The Caruso agreement was never with Anthony personally. It was with the Raineri organization.”
Anthony turned pale.
Dominic smiled without warmth.
Vincent continued.
“My daughter’s engagement was intended to symbolize trust between families.”
Sophia’s stomach tightened.
Here came the defense of the old system.
But her father surprised her.
“I believed that arrangement protected her.”
He looked at Sophia.
“I was wrong.”
She inhaled sharply.
Vincent’s voice roughened.