Page 111 of Lash

"You're not ever gonna be Sophiaagain. That's what I’ve come to realize since we talked last, on that boat." Scarlett must be referring to a conversation I know nothing about. "I am not Maria again. I'm not Scarlett anymore either. I may take up the name Maria again, once I take the brand, but it'll be…" she shrugs, shakes her head. "A bit of both, I guess."

Inez nods, sighing. "You're not wrong, of course." She peers out the window for a moment, frowning. "I think…I think Lorenzo and I have some…unfinished business to attend to before I can go there. Before I can see Sophia in myself."

A long silent moment passes between us three women.

"And before that can happen," Inez says, "Rafael Sousa must die."

Scarlett rests her hand on Inez's knee. "And forthatto happen,youneed to heal."

Inez's eyes blaze. "Fuck that. He won't rest and neither will I. I'm not going to just go back home to the club and act like things are back to normal when Lorenzo is in some safe house and Rafael is out there plotting my death—all of our deaths."

Our conversation has caught the attention of the men, and Solomon leaves the couch he was lounging on and enters the room, leaning against the doorway with a mug in his hands.

"But we can't just hang around Brazil waiting for him to show up, either," he says. "We have no fucking clue where he might've gone."

Inez rubs the bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb, sighing. "Yes, yes, you are right. We have to find him. Or bait him into finding us."

Chance stands in the doorway next to Solomon, resting a thick forearm on Solomon's shoulder. "And not for nothin', boss, but some of us, like Sol, here, have been on the go for fuckin'weeks. This whole goddamn shitshow started when Sol went missing, it just…blew up into something a fuckuva lot bigger than any of us expected. We aren't saying give up and go home, but…maybe go home and catch our breath. See our ladies, reassure them we're all alive and in one piece. Regroup and come up with a plan."

Inez nods. "You are right, the both of you." Her eyes harden. "But I do dearly wish we could destroy his compound before we leave Brazil. He is dangerous all the time, and while I recognize that angering him might be foolish, I think to destroy that place would infuriate him to a degree that he might start making mistakes."

Solomon grins, sliding his cell from his pocket and dialing a number. He puts it on speaker and moves to perch on the edge of the bed next to Inez. It rings twice.

"Sí, Solomon?" Lorenzo's voice says after a couple of burbling rings.

"Hey, bud, you're on speaker with the whole gang," Sol says.

"Hello, everyone." His voice drops. "Sophia,meu amor.”

Inez winces. "Ren."

He just chuckles. "Still shy about it, eh? No worries. I will be bold enough about our love for us both."

"Ren," she starts, and her tone suggests a scolding to come.

He interrupts. "I know, I know. It's okay,amor. I understand." A sharp, short sigh. "So. What do you need? Your flight leaves in a few hours—I have a driver from the embassy coming to pick you up soon."

"We were wondering if you had any favors left in your pocket," Sol says. "Big ones."

Lorenzo sighs. "I have leveraged most of my connections and resources, unfortunately. I could maybe start owing someone favors, I suppose. What is it you need?"

Inez takes the phone. "I want to blow up his house, Ren. We burned down the other estate, and now I want to destroy his. I want him to know it was me."

Lorenzo whistles low. "That is a big ask,amor."

"I know."

He clicks his tongue, a thoughtful noise. "Hmmm. It would need to be done off-book and in a way that does not put those who do the destroying at his mercy." Another musing click of his tongue. "It would be simplest to drop a bomb on it, of course. But a flight and munitions of that sort…it is a big expenditure. Hard to write that off."

"I do not care how it is done, Ren. All I care is that it sends a message that he is not untouchable. Drop a bomb, send a team to blow it up or set it on fire, what-the-fuck-ever." Her voice drops, becoming vicious and intense. "He must suffer before I kill him, Ren. You know the monster he is."

"I do."

"If you could see me, what he did to me…"

Lorenzo's voice is thick and shuddery with emotion. "Be glad I cannot. I would drop everything and hunt him down."

"I know, I know." She sighs. "I need you where you are, Ren. Protecting my—protecting Little Lorenzo."