Page 81 of Claimed By the Enemy

“Dom-”

“Sophie, look at me.” I wait until her eyes meet mine. “We’re going to figure this out. All of it. And our child is going to grow up safe and loved and free from all the poison that’s been destroying our families for sixteen years.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I have something to fight for now that’s bigger than revenge or family honor or any of the other bullshit that’s been driving this war.”

“What’s that?”

“You. Our baby. Our future.” I lean down to kiss her forehead. “And I’m not going to let anyone take that away from me.”

Sophie’s eyes fill with tears again, but this time they look like tears of relief instead of fear.

“I love you,” she whispers.

“I love you, too. Both of you.”

“Dom? Can we keep this between us for now? The pregnancy, I mean. Until we figure out what to do about Uncle Enzo?”

“Of course. Whatever you need.”

“I just… I can’t handle Uncle Enzo knowing about this. Not until we find a way to end this safely.”

“I understand.”

And I do understand. Because now the stakes have changed completely. It’s not just about Sophie and me anymore. It’s about protecting an innocent life that didn’t ask to be born into this war.

Which means I need to end this conflict once and for all.

Before our child pays the price for our families’ sins.

Chapter Nineteen

Dom

“You’re an idiot.”

Raff’s voice cuts through the quiet of my office, where I’ve been sitting for the past hour, staring at the door Sophie walked through. Replaying her confession, her tears, the way she looked at me when she said she loved me.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’re an idiot.” Raff drops into the chair across from my desk, the same one Sophie occupied when she tore her life apart to save mine. “Sophie just gave you everything,Dom. Everything. And you’re sitting here looking like someone died.”

“I’m thinking.”

“About what? How to mess this up?”

I lean back in my chair, exhaustion settling into my bones. “About how to keep her alive. Uncle Enzo isn’t going to just disappear because Sophie chose me over him.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Well, while you’re figuring that out, maybe you should consider showing Sophie that she made the right choice.”

“What do you mean?”

Raff leans forward, his expression serious. “Dom, I watched that woman confess to lying about everything she’s ever told you. I watched her admit that she was trained to destroy you, that her uncle wants you dead, that she’s been living a double life for months.”