Page 72 of Creed

I can hear her rummaging around her dorm room.

“Don’t do anything out of the norm. Don’t pack anything. I’ll get you whatever you need. Stay outwardly calm.”

“Okay.”

“Ash,”Papásays to the Prez, still on Massimo’s speakerphone. “Tell Bane not to wear his cut or have anything that will tie him to the Havoc Guardians.”

“He’ll just be your regular, rugged Joe on a hog,” Ash rumbles over the speaker, then chuckles. “According to the picture of Sophie you sent, Massimo, he’ll be a lucky son of a bitch picking up one of the sweetest-looking little side pieces ever.”

Massimo rubs his jaw, trying not to smile at my curled lip and growl.

“Creed,” Sophie calls my full attention back to her and eases some of the possessive ire that flared.

“I’m here, angel. I'm leaving for the airport, and we’ll be wheels up,” I look at my watch, “in twenty-two minutes.”

“Okay… Where should I meet this Bane guy?”

“Where I’ve picked you up off campus before,” I say, and Andro and I get ready to leave.

“Will you stay on the line with me until I meet him?”

This isn’t her world; she wasn’t raised this way. With this potential risk hanging over her or with the possibility that she may need to drop everything and run for her life. It’s unnerving her. It would be enough to make another person freeze in terror, yet she’s calm and ready to come to me.

“I’m so fucking proud of you for being so calm and strong,” I praise and reassure her, and she sucks in a breath to steady herself. “I need to speak with my dad and brothers before I leave, though. Andro will talk to you while I do, okay?”

He takes the phone from me. “Hey, Minnie.”

I go over toPapá, Marco, and my brothers. “I’m coming with you,” Vito states.

I shake my head. “I know you have extra added to your plate because of the Czech mafia pushing in and causing shit.” I don’t know the details, but I know that much.

“Cunts,” Ash grunts over the speaker. “The fucking lot of them.”

I have to agree, especially since their main revenue source is peddling flesh and trafficking humans. “Papá,Massimo, and the family are your priority, Vito.” None of them look happy, but they know I speak the truth.

“Creed,” Ash says. “Whatever you need, the Havoc Guardians will deliver.”

“Thanks. I’m hoping Bane picking up Soph, keeping her safe, then bringing her to the plane when we land will be all that’s needed.”

“Hope’s not a plan.” Massimo frowns at me. “Creed will take whatever help he needs, Ash.”

I’m itching to bolt out of here.

“Get your woman and get your ass back here,”Papáorders me. He grabs my face with both hands. “If things don’t go as planned, though, you do whatever you damn well need to do to protect yourself.” His blue eyes water slightly, and he swallows hard. “If that girl is your heart… then you do what you need to protect her, too. We will do whatever it takes to protect her as well; she’s as good as family,figlio.”

From this moment on, whether Sophie wants it or not, she has inherited an Italian mafia family—complete with all the power, resources, and wealth necessary to ensure her safety.

I pray it’s enough.

Chapter 22

Sophie

My father is inthe city.

With Manuel Morales, a benefactor whom my grandparents and many people in my community view as a saint.

Who is a business rival of Creed.

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