CHAPTER NINETEEN

A bout twenty large males and Sofia stood in the spacious garage. Lance wanted to punch every single one of them whenever they glanced her way. Clearly, it was written all over his face because Craig had given him the side-eye about four million times.

Lance knew he should have stopped last night, but it had been impossible. Their passion was palpable. It didn’t mean he was going to lose his head and spill royal secrets, but was he going to keep his lips off her?

No.

And Craig could shove his no dick rule up his damn ass. He didn’t control his cock.

Today was D-day. Sofia’s breakout.

Stefano had been inside the castle the day before, so it wasn’t a huge stretch for the vampires who worked there to believe Sofia had found a way out. He could have easily snuck her in a bunch of C-4. Seemed legit enough, so they had run with that.

Now they needed Stefano to believe it.

Only the twenty males in the room, plus the Moretti inner circle, knew of the plan. So, unless they really had a traitor among them—and honestly, all signs pointed that way—Russo would be told, via the very active vampire rumor mill, Sofia had escaped by leading her guard to believe she was in love with him.

Familiar much?

Lance had cringed, but it had merit. When she had blushed and looked at him through her long lashes, the memory of their night before filling his mind, he had dropped it.

Soon, a team was going to blow one of the walls in her cell. Chaos would reign, and then she would be gone. In reality, Sofia was standing next to him. A team would transport her to her apartment, which was already surrounded by Moretti soldiers. Covert, of course.

Then they would wait.

Lance leaned an inch closer to Sofia, and she glanced at him. He wanted to pull her into his arms and suck her damn lips until they were rosy red, like yesterday. God, she had tasted amazing.

“De Luca!” Craig growled.

His eyes sparkled at Sofia, and while she didn’t react, the sparkle in her own eyes told him she knew what he’d been thinking.

He smiled.

“Yes, sir?” he said, slowly turning to Craig.

Keys flew toward his face. His hand quickly whipped up to catch them. “You’re driving. Get your girl in the car and get ready to go.”

Hand on the small of her back, he guided Sofia toward the vehicle.

“It’s not a fucking date, get going!” Craig yelled.

“Jesus,” Kurt groaned. “Was he always this hormonal?”

“Heard that.”

Lance lifted Sofia into the SUV and smirked. “Okay, sweetheart?” he whispered, even though he knew the other vamps would hear.

She nodded. “Yup. Terrified, but I’m okay. Just don’t leave me, okay?”

“Never,” he promised, closing the door and racing around to the driver’s seat. He sat with one leg out, waiting for the go-ahead.

“Detonation in ten,” Brayden said, staring at a tablet in his hand. Craig stood to his right. They both eyed Lance, and he nodded.

“Marcus, get ready,” Craig ordered.

Marcus gave the thumbs-up and prepared to teleport to the outside of Sofia’s room. He’d be the first to go in and “witness” Sofia’s escape.

“Kurt?”

“In position,” Kurt replied from the back of the vehicle. He was going with them and would be in charge of the covert team securing the scene as Sofia entered her apartment on her own. It had to look legit. Stefano was a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid. Lance would be focused on her every move and act if he needed to.

He’d been clear. Her safety was paramount. She wasn’t a trained spy. If Russo tried to swoop in and take her, it was game over. While there hadn’t been a clear agreement on that, no one had completely disagreed with him either. He hated gray areas, especially in war. And this was war.

“And here we go. Three, two, one,” Brayden started. Then, “Denotation successful.”

The last two words were unnecessary, as they all heard the explosion echo through the enormous castle.

“Go!” Craig ordered, pointing to him.

Marcus teleported, vanishing as planned. Lance slammed the door and pushed his foot on the pedal, driving the black SUV out of the garage and off the property while chaos reigned behind them.

“Yeehaw!” Kurt cried, and Lance couldn’t help but grin. As they sped out the gates of the Moretti property, he glanced at Sofia, who was gripping the seat like her life depended on it.

The irony wasn’t lost on him.

Twenty minutes later, they reached Sofia’s apartment building and parked down the road. As Kurt did his thing, Lance helped her out of the SUV and handed her a small backpack. They had covered her face and overalls in black powder to appear disheveled to anyone watching her.

He gripped her face anxiously.

“Okay, I’ll head up and open the door to the balcony so you can teleport up there and get inside.”

He nodded. “Just go straight there, okay? As we planned. If anything happens, I want you to scream, but I’m going to keep my eyes on you until the last moment.”

Once she was inside the building, they wouldn’t have visibility of her. Eventually, they would get vampires inside to infiltrate the cameras, but tonight, it had been too risky. They’d had to move fast, and so it was what it was.

“Got it,” she said bravely, glancing around.

“You’ve got this,” Lance encouraged, placing his hands on her hips. Thing was, he was pretty sure he didn’t look as confident as his words sounded. His jaw was tight and his eyes felt wild.

“Okay.”

As she started to turn, he pulled her back to him, and his lips landed on hers.

“You’re mine to protect and I take my responsibilities very seriously,” he growled. “Now go.”

TEN MINUTES LATER, Sofia stepped into her apartment.

Her return had been completely uneventful.

The human concierge at the desk had been happy to see her and asked how her holiday had been, an assumption on his behalf she didn’t correct. They’d laughed at how she’d lost her keys and not wanted to return from her island holiday before he’d provided her with a spare set.

She stepped into the elevator and headed to the twenty-seventh floor, then Sofia was back in her apartment as if nothing had changed.

Except everything had.

Now she was free. Or at least nearly free.

Sofia dropped her bag on the kitchen counter, letting out a sigh. She wanted to get this over with so she could start her new life.

Unfortunately, it would mean a male she loved believing she was a traitor.