The Rules of The Game
Sofia's POV
I ripped the photograph in half.
"Hey!" Cassian lunged forward, but it was too late. The pieces of the photo fluttered to the floor like broken promises.
"That was evidence," he said, looking genuinely upset for the first time since I'd met him.
"That was garbage," I shot back, even though my hands were shaking. "Some blurry picture doesn't prove anything about my father."
The truth was, the photograph had terrified me. It showed my dad standing next to a safe, holding something small and silver in his hands. His face was clear in the picture, and he looked... guilty. Like he knew he was doing something wrong.
But I couldn't let them see how scared I was.
"Sofia," Rafe said gently, kneeling down to pick up the torn pieces. "We have security camera footage too. Hours of it. Your father breaking into places, stealing documents, meeting with dangerous people."
"I don't want to see it."
"You need to understand what you're dealing with," Nikos said coldly. "This isn't a game. People have died for less than what your father took."
"What exactly did he take?" I demanded. "You keep talking about files and documents, but what was actually in them?"
The four men looked at each other again. I was getting tired of their silent conversations.
"Information," Luca said finally. "Names, addresses, bank account numbers. The kind of information that could destroy lives."
"Or make someone very rich," Cassian added.
I sat down hard on the bed, my legs giving out. "And you think my father hid this information somewhere?"
"We know he did," Rafe said. "The question is where."
"I already told you, I don't know anything about—"
"Which brings us to the rules," Cassian interrupted, pulling out a piece of paper from his jacket. "Since you're going to be staying with us for a while, we need to establish some boundaries."
"I'm not staying anywhere. I'm going home."
"Rule number one," he continued, ignoring me. "You don't leave this house without permission. Ever."
"Rule number two," Nikos said, "you don't try to contact anyone from your old life. No phone calls, no messages, no carrier pigeons."
"Rule number three," Luca added with that dangerous smile, "you cooperate with us when we ask questions about your father."
"And rule number four," Rafe finished, "you follow all the other rules, or things get unpleasant."
I stared at them in disbelief. "You're seriously giving me a list of prison rules?"
"Think of it more like house rules," Luca said cheerfully.
"I think of it like kidnapping."
"In return," Cassian said, "you'll have everything you need. Good food, comfortable clothes, books to read. We're not monsters, Sofia."
"Could have fooled me."
Rafe stepped forward, and his voice was surprisingly kind. "I know this is hard. But we're trying to keep you safe while we figure this out."
"Safe from what? You keep saying people want to kill me, but why? If I don't know where these files are, what's the point of hurting me?"
"Because," Nikos said bluntly, "some people think torture might help you remember things you've forgotten."
The blood drained from my face. "Torture?"
"The Volkov family specializes in creative questioning techniques," Cassian explained. "They believe everyone knows more than they think they do."
"And the Chen Syndicate," Luca added, "well, they just enjoy causing pain."
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling cold. "How do I know you won't torture me too?"
"Because we need you functional," Rafe said. "Can't answer questions if you're too hurt to think clearly."
"That's not very comforting."
"It's honest," Nikos said with a shrug.
I stood up and walked to the door again, testing the handle even though I knew it was locked. "How long do I have to stay here?"
"Until we find what we're looking for," Cassian said.
"And if we never find it?"
"We'll find it," he said confidently. "Your father was smart, but he wasn't smarter than me."
"Modest too," I muttered.
Luca laughed. "I like her spirit."
"Her spirit won't help us locate stolen files," Nikos pointed out.
"Maybe not," Rafe said, "but breaking her spirit won't help either."
I turned around to look at them. "Are you arguing about me?"
"We're discussing strategy," Cassian said smoothly.
"Sounds like arguing to me."
And it did sound like arguing. Even though they were all on the same side, I could sense tension between them. Like they didn't agree on how to handle me.
Cassian wanted to treat me like a business problem to solve. Nikos seemed to think I was a waste of time. Luca acted like this was all some kind of fun game. And Rafe... Rafe kept looking at me like he felt bad about the whole situation.
"Well," I said, "while you're discussing your strategy, I'm going to take a nap. All this kidnapping and threatening has made me tired."
"Actually," Cassian said, "we need to move you to a different room."
"Why?"
"This room isn't secure enough," Nikos explained. "Too close to the outer walls."
"What does that mean?"
"It means," Rafe said quietly, "that someone could break in through the walls if they really wanted to get to you."
My heart started beating faster. "Is someone trying to break in?"
"Not yet," Luca said. "But it's better to be safe."
They led me down a long hallway to another room. This one was smaller but still fancy, with thick walls and a door that looked like it could stop a tank.
"Your new home," Cassian said, gesturing around the room.
"It looks like a bunker."
"That's because it is a bunker," Nikos said unemotionally.
"Great. Now I'm in an underground prison."
"Think of it as a very exclusive hotel," Luca suggested.
"Do hotel guests usually get locked in their rooms?"
"The really important ones do," he said with a wink.
After they left, I tried to settle into my new prison. There were more books on the shelves, and someone had brought me a sandwich and a glass of milk. The sandwich was actually pretty good, which annoyed me. I didn't want to like anything about this place.
I was reading a mystery novel when I heard voices in the hallway outside my room. The walls were thick, but not thick enough to block out everything.
"—can't keep her here forever," someone was saying. It sounded like Rafe.
"Why not?" That was definitely Nikos. "She's safe, she's fed, she's not complaining too much."
"Because it's not right," Rafe replied. "She's innocent in all this."
"Innocent or not," Cassian's voice joined the conversation, "she's our best lead to finding those files."
"What if she really doesn't know anything?" Luca asked.
"Then we're all in trouble," Cassian said grimly.
I crept closer to the door, pressing my ear against the cold metal.
"Speaking of trouble," Nikos said, his voice dropping lower, "we got word from our contacts. The Moretti family knows we have her."
My blood turned to ice.
"How?" Rafe demanded.
"Does it matter?" Cassian asked. "What matters is they want her."
"When?" Luca asked.
"Tonight," Nikos said simply. "They're coming tonight."