Page 49 of Sugar Baby
“Aww,” Nico interrupts with an insincere smile. “How sweet. If either one of you gets Sophia hurt during this raid, I will gut you like a fish and then hand you to Quinn to finish off.”
“Whatever happened to working together?” Atlas asks, exasperated.
“Have youevermanaged to work with someone?” I ask in disbelief.
“Okay, well, no…I’m a leader, not a follower.”
“Not today,” I inform him. “We need to flow smoothly. This is a team effort. We are only as strong as the weakest link. Don't let that link be you.” I point to Atlas, Nico and Franco in turn. Luca will remain behind the wheel in his usual spot, ready to get us the hell out of there once we’ve rescued the princess from the tower.
And when we are back home, and she is safe and sound, I’m going to tell her that I’ve fallen in love with her and whatever the consequences are of that, I’ll take them like the badass alpha I am.
Something tells me it will be Nico and me standing side by side against the firing squad.
But so be it.
She is worth it.
ChapterThirty-One
Sugar
At some point during the long hours between finishing dinner and now, I’ve somehow ended up back in my nest. I’m curled up all comfy, with Trent’s t-shirt close to my nose, when I hear a loud bang.
I’m half awake, lying in that beautiful place between asleep and fully alert, but it makes me jump, and I sit bolt upright, clutching Trent’s t-shirt to me.
“What the fuck?” I mutter when I hear another bang.
This time I recognise it as a gunshot. It’s the same sound that the gun made when Nico shot at Enzo’s man. The sudden feeling that descends on me is one of darkness and terror. I pull my knees up, hauling the blankets up to my chin, shaking with fear. Tears pool in my eyes as I recall seeing Nico shot and bleeding out. I knew pushing it aside was risky and that it would come back to haunt me, but I’d hoped to be out of the situation first.
My hands tremble as I grip the duvet tightly, staring at the bedroom door in fear. Another bang, but this time it’s closer and not a gunshot. It sounds like a door being kicked in next door to my room.
“Sophia?”
My eyes go wide as I hear my name being shouted by a familiar voice.
“Nico?” I mutter and then skitter as far back into my nest as I can go when my door is kicked in, and my hot, Italian bodyguard, who I thought was dead on the side of the road, bursts into the room, wielding a gun and looking like a crazed man.
“Sophia!” he roars when he sees me and approaches me quickly. “We need to get you out of here.”
“Nico…” I stammer, the tears falling down my face as I see him alive and apparently well. “Nico…”
“Sophia." He lowers his tone when he sees me cowering in my nest. “Come on. We need to go.” He holds his hand out.
I shake my head. I can’t move. I’m completely frozen in place.
His attitude changes instantly. He approaches me cautiously, coming to a stop in front of me and kneeling down.
“Sophia.”
“Nico. You’re alive?”
He nods. “Of course. I’m here, Sophia.”
I let out an ugly sob and fling myself into his arms, relief flooding me that he is okay, but guilt overwhelming me that I didn’t mourn his loss when I thought he was dead.
He strokes my bare back, making a hushing noise when his hand freezes. He pushes me gently away with a frown. He takes in my naked body, and the frown turns into a full-blown rage.
“What have they done to you?” he growls fiercely.
