I didn't want to think about it. So I didn't. I sat down on the bed, with documents surrounding me, while I worked on my laptop. Karrion had tried his possible best to get through to me since last night when I found Leo, but I didn't want to listen to him. I also didn't want to be confined in a space with him, which is why I refused to get on the plane to Italy. He tried to talk me into it, then he tried forcing me, then he switched to begging. None of them worked. He even got Sion to beg me, but my mind was set. I had no interest in going anywhere with him.
"It's not safe here right now Sofia!" He had screamed a million times.
"Then make it safe." I had also replied calmly a couple of times. When he lost all will to argue with me, he started working on doing what I said. So, he has been in meetings all morning. Every now and then, I would hear him screaming his lungs out, but I didn't care. He needed to apologise for lying to me.
I continued working until I got hungry. I went down to grab a snack, but then I overheard a conversation. Two of Karrion's men were taking a break, and they were standing in the next hallway talking. Normally, I would mind my business and pass. But not when I hear Karrion's name being mentioned.
"Look, the Boss is wasting valuable time trying to negotiate with the Russians. Xavier Kross is back. And as soon as the war for control starts with Andrei, we're going to be sitting ducks."
"She said she's not getting on the plane with him. What is he supposed to do?"
"He has tons of these private planes. He puts her in one, and simply takes the other." I'm not going anywhere. "Besides, we wouldn't be in this situation if he hadn't gone soft." What?! Karrion?! Soft?
"Honestly. He used to be somebody." He is somebody. They should wait until I tell him about this. Then they'll see that he hasn't gone soft.
"At this point, I'm starting to think that his father had it right when he told him that women were nothing but weights." Excuse me?! "He should've just taken what he wanted from this one too. Instead of moving her in here and making her think that she can call the shots." Wow.
The other one laughed heartily. "I'm starting to find it difficult to take orders from someone who takes orders from a traitor. She basically betrayed her country for what? A man she had had sex with once?"
"As fucked up as all this is, I gotta give it to the Boss. He has always had an eye for the good things of life. Have you seen the state of her body?" Then they laughed again. I felt....livid!
"I was on Boss' personal detail yesterday. You had to hear the sounds coming out of that bedroom. That woman definitely satisfies him in there. At a point, I wished it was me getting all that." Ewwwww...come on!
"But that said, Andrei approached me about the offer...I'm thinking of taking it." Wait...I leaned in to hear more of their conversation.
"Shhh!" The other said in hushed tones. "Are you trying to get us both killed?! We don't mention that name in here! Or the offer! Besides, Andrei said that we wouldn't need to be cowering by the end of the day. It would all be sorted out. Come on, let's head out for routine checks. Break is basically up." They went the other way, and I stood there shocked. These men were traitors! And they called me a traitor?! I knew these men. They were always on Karrion's personal detail. How could they do this to him?!
I made my way to his office, where he was having his meetings for the day. I didn't even knock, I just waltzed in there. As soon as the doors opened, all eyes turned to me. I didn't care. But when his eyes met mine, I saw fury. He was angry..at me.
"Everyone out." Every single person left the room. As Sion got up to leave, he stopped him. Sion quietly sat back on his seat, and said nothing. Karrion was seated comfortably in his seat, sipping his drink. "What do you want now? My head? Sion's head?" I guess being an asshole is still in vogue.
"I'm not here to fight. I just need to talk to you. You're not safe here." He laughed like I was Chris Rock. Again, Sion said nothing. "Karrion, I'm serious."
"Really? Because I've been cracking jokes when I told you the security situation here! If you had stopped acting like a child hours ago, we would've been in Italy by now!"
"Karrion..." Sion started saying. But Karrion raised his hand and he kept quiet.
"Karrion, I get that you're upset. But this isn't about that." He gulped his drink down and got up. He wore his coat, and started wearing his gloves.
"Sophie, whatever this is, has to wait. I have another meeting, since you so rudely interrupted this one."
"Can you stop being a dick and just listen to me?!" He was shocked. But, he said nothing. "Two of your men have received some sort of offer from Andrei. Something is going down today. YOU ARE NOT SAFE!" There was no shock on his face. Nothing at all. He knew...bloody hell, he knew. "You knew..."
"Sophie, maybe we should go outside and get some air." Sion said as he got up and approached me.
"You knew that there were close threats to your life and you said nothing?!"
"This conversation is over. Sion, go make sure that the men are ready." Sion left with an apologetic look. "You see Sophie, I try. I try a lot. But, when people don't listen to me, it sets me off." He wore his other gloves, and walked to where I was. With him directly in front of me, looking so angry, he was more intimidating. "Do you know why I'm so upset?"
"No."
"Because I'm not stupid. I didn't just wake up and feel like travelling back to Italy. I did my research. I knew my threats so clearly. And I made a choice. I made the choice to not start a war. I made the choice to protect you. But no! You had to throw a tantrum because you saw your abusive ex in a bad state!"
"That's not it..." I could see his anger so clearly. I felt it. I tasted it.
"Now, I have to go out there. Risk my life, and the life of my men. Just to make sure you're still protected."
"Don't do this...we can leave for Italy right now." He looked at me and then looked away. He walked towards the opened door, then stopped, never looking back at me.
"In a few hours, the manor will go into a lockdown. No one can get in or out. There'll still be electricity, WiFi, food, and staff. Ask for anything you need from any of my men and they'll get it to you." He said that and walked away.
"Karrion! Karrion!!" But he just kept on walking. I walked to one of the seats in his office and just sat down. Why did I have to be so stubborn?! This whole thing is bigger than Leo and I. Yet, I made a choice to escalate it just because of Leo!
I sat there for a while, but then I heard the opening and slamming of car doors. I rushed to the window and there they were. All suited up for war. Guns and Ammo were being loaded into cars, and so were hundreds of men. My heart broke with the knowledge that some of these men would probably not make it back. But it broke even more when I realised that Karrion could be one of those men. I was tempted to run down there and beg him to stay, but it was of no use. He wouldn't listen to me, not now.
As the cars drove out of the compound, I heard the sound of something coming down. I didn't really know what it was until I saw it. They were window shields. They came down and slowly covered the little forms of light in the office. Everywhere soon became completely dark. The lights in the manor came on like they always did in the evening time. As I walked through the rest of the manor, I realised that it was everywhere. We were on full lockdown.
I stopped in front of a glass balcony door, and reached out to open it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." One of the guards said.
"Why?"
"It's total lockdown. All the doors leading outside have electrical sensors in them. When total lockdown is activated, the door knobs act as shock protectors. So you try to open that door, you're going to get quite an amount of current flowing through you."
"So I can't open any door?"
"Just the doors leading outside. But you absolutely cannot open any windows. After it shocks you to death, an intruder alarm will go off. And believe me, you don't want to hear our intruder alarms." He laughed a bit at the last part. I nodded with a smile.
"How long does this last?"
"Usually not that long. As soon as Boss gets back, we'll disable it." I smiled and walked back to the room. I was never usually on this side. The waiting side. I was always on the field. Waiting was so uneasy. I tried to push everything but getting to work, but I couldn't. His safety was all I could think about.
*********Karrion's POV **************
"How far out are we?"
"Two minutes." I kept staring at nothing. All through the ride.
"Karrion, she's fine. The manor is on lockdown. Nobody is getting in or out." Sion said calmly.
"I know. It's just...I let her call the shots! If it were anyone else, I would've taken my men and left them behind to die. But..."
"You couldn't do that with her." I ran a hand through my hair.
"I considered it. I thought about it so hard."
"Karrion, you didn't leave because you couldn't. You love Sophie. And she loves you too."
"Well, that's the thing. I'm not particularly sure that love is what I need right now. In my line of work, I need someone I can trust, and someone who trusts me."
"She does."
"Not enough to trust me when I said we should leave."
"Boss, we're here." I looked at the driver and nodded.
"Sion, take four men in with us. The rest are to stay outside till they get orders to come in. Clear?"
"Clear. Ready?" I looked at the warehouse and opened my door.
I fixed my gloves as Sion walked behind me with the men. Everywhere was bare, except for the hole in the ceiling which gave way for the light of the moon. I stopped walking as soon as I saw him.
"Xavier." He had changed since I last saw him. He looked more authoritative. His men stood behind him firmly.
"Karrion. I haven't seen you in ages. At least not since your father killed mine."