Chapter 17

• "I got it." He guides Sophia into the office door and turns his head back to whoever is there. "Call my brother and tell him I have Sophia here, not to come back until security tells him it's safe. Let him know what's going on." He sounds way more in control of his emotions than she is, and she sinks into his hold.
• "Yes, sir," Dee replies, and her voice fades away with the office noises as his door swings shut and they're inside in the silence of his space. Suddenly cocooned in peace and tranquility that's so very rare between them.
• "Take this off and sit." He shrugs Sophia out of her jacket and maneuvers her onto his couch, making her feel even more pathetic for flaking out like this and losing her composure over something that others would deem as nothing. She doesn't know why it's hit her so bad. Maybe because she was never hit as a kid, and she's never come up against violence this way.