THE CHRISTMAS WE DIVORCED.

Between Love and Lies

Sophia's POV

"Are you seriously trying to tell me you did not plan this?" Sharper than I had intended, my voice broke through the tight hush covering Adrian's personal security room. The wall monitors showed the destruction below, the lobby now teeming with police and emergency responders. The masked attackers were gone, and I was left staring at the man who always seemed to pull me into anarchy.

Adrian stood a few steps away, his broad shoulders stiff, his hands resting on the rear of a chair as though he was holding himself back from screaming. His green eyes turned to me, and for a second I saw something raw and unprotected there—something perilously near to remorse.

He responded smoothly, "I didn't plan this," but his voice sounded strained. "Do you really think I would let you fall into the middle of something like this?"

"Then show me what I need to know!" I insisted, frustratedly flinging my hands. "Explain why people are driving vehicles into buildings, why they keep chanting my name, and why I'm the focus of some twisted vengeance against you!"!"

He inhaled loudly, ran a hand through his black hair, and for a minute he looked nearly as confused as I felt. Then his face grew stiffer, the sensitivity replaced by that nasty mask of control he wore constantly. Sophia, it's complicated. cannot—"

I stopped him off, snapping, "don't you dare tell me you can't." "You have lied to me enough for one lifetime. You have to start communicating if you want me to trust you—hell, if you want me to stay alive. now.

His jaw clenched, and for a second I assumed he would dismiss me as he always did. Then he caught me off guard.

Finally, his voice quiet and deliberate, "You're not a target by accident," he murmured. "They are after me, thus you are targeted. Because they understand you are the only thing I cannot afford to lose.

The words take out the wind from me like a strike to the belly. Opening my lips to reply, nothing came out. How ought I to handle that? Knowing I was only another piece on his chessboard—his vulnerability, his liability—how was I meant to feel?

My voice quivering, "You don't get to say that," I said. " Not following all you have done. You cannot act as though you care now, Adrian."

"I've always cared," he murmured, his voice cutting. "You suppose I wanted this? You believe I wanted you pulled into my world? Sophia, I tried to keep you out of it. I made an effort to shield you.

"You lied to me?" I turned back, my chest getting tight. "By letting you play hero while I stayed in the dark? Even now, do you really know what you have done to me?

He moved in front of me, his eyes flashing with a force that sent my heart pounding. "I know exactly what I've done to you," he added, his voice softer now but no less forceful. "And if I could go back, I would. But right now none of it counts. What counts is maintaining your life.

The room went quiet, his words weighty hanging between us. For all he had gone through, I wanted to yell, weep, and slap him. But one of the displays flickering caught both of our attention before I could speak another thing.

The penthouse's outside showed on the screen—a sleek black automobile parked just outside the construction. The driver's window slid down and my heart dropped to see someone in a mask. Holding up a placard in huge, threatening letters, the man said, "You have until midnight."

"What the dickens does that mean?" My voice just above a whisper, I asked.

Adrian gave no response. His palms curled into fists as his jaw tightened and he fixed his gaze on the television. The wheels were whirling in his thoughts, the computations and backup plans real-time playing out. But no strategy he was developing would be sufficient to untangle the knot of anxiety wriggling in my gut.

I pressed, getting closer to Adrian. "what does it mean?"

At last, his voice dark, he continued, "It means they're escalating." "They want me by midnight to provide something—or someone. And should I not... He drifted off, then looked at me.

Blood went to freeze in me. "You believe they are looking for me."

He didn't reply, but he spoke a lot. Shaking my head, I retreated a step back and felt the whole weight of the matter.

"No," I responded with great conviction. "No, not at all like this. Adrian, I signed nothing for this. I disagreed about being your collateral damage.

You're not collateral, he replied sternly, staring directly at me. "You are the reason I am retaliating."

Then tell me the truth, please! I cried and yelled. "Stop running behind your damn walls and tell me what's really going on!"

Adrian hesitated, his expression conflicted. But the room rang with breaking glass before he could answer. We both stopped, staring across the room at the smashed window.

Outside, a sleek black drone hung with menacing red light flashing. Beside it was a little gadget that began to beep.

"Make it down!" Just as the gadget exploded, Adrian yelled, grabbed my arm and dragged me to the ground. Shards of glass and trash flew in every direction as the explosion shook the room. My pulse thumping as the boomerang in my ears, I hung to Adrian.

Adrian was already on his feet, his revolver in hand, looking about the room for any other dangers as the dust fell. Though his motions were fast and exact, I could see the strain in his jaw—the barely suppressed anger boiling under the surface.

Tight in voice, he turned to me and questioned, "Are you okay?"

"I think so," I answered, shakily. But what the devil was that?

"A warning," he remarked with a grimace. "They're informing us they take this seriously."

"No kidding," I said, pushing myself to stand. Though my brain was whirling and my legs felt like jello, I resisted letting the terror control me. "What are our current actions?"

Adrian didn't answer right away. Rather, he walked to the broken window and peered skyward for any evidence of the intruders. His jaw set as he considered his alternatives; his face was austere.

At last he remarked, "We have two choices." "We can run or we can fight."

My heart thumping in my chest, I looked at him. "And which one do you believe will help us to survive?"

Turning to me, Adrian had green eyes ablaze with will. " Fighting is the only option," he declared. "Because if we run, they'll never stop coming."

The sound of strong footfall came from the corridor outside the penthouse before I could answer. Head turned toward the entrance, Adrian's body stiffened like a coiled spring.

With a low, deadly voice, he murmured, "They're here." Rising his rifle, he positioned himself between me and the door with purposeful swift motions.

As the footsteps got louder, nearer, my heart hammered. Then the door knob turned.

"Adrian," I said, just barely audible.

He passed me by not looking. His finger hanging above the trigger, he concentrated just on the door.

The door creaked open, and across the room a shadow dropped.

Show yourself, Adrian insisted, his voice icy and uncompromising.

But instead of a response, a familiar voice—one that made me shiver—echoed from the dark.

" misses me, Sophia?"

With his rifle pointed squarely at the doorway, Adrian's body stiffened like a coiled spring at the sound of the voice. As the individual entered the low light, my breath stopped as their features grew clearer every second.

"Elena," Adrian said, his voice low and tinged with rage.

My former friend Elena West, turned adversary, appeared at the doorway grinning slyly. She seemed as dominating as ever, dressed immaculately in a black coat, yet her eyes conveyed a gloom that made my stomach turn over.

"Well, well," she responded, her voice full of contempt. "I anticipated a more friendly greeting, Adrian. We are longtime pals, after all, not just here."

With a tight hold on the rifle, Adrian said, "Step any closer, and I'll show you just how friendly I can be."

Elena lifted her hands in imitation submission; her smile never wavered. "Let me relax, sweetie. I arrived not intending to fight. At least not yet. Her eyes turned to mine, and I felt her scrutiny weight like a physical blow. "Sophia. You seem to be looking fine. Considering the situation.

" Why are you here, Elena?" My voice was more harsh than I had meant, I asked. Though my beating heart betrayed me, I wanted to seem strong, unbroken.

"Why, to deliver a message, of course," she said deftly, her eyes glistening with hate. "I have to say, Adrian surprised me with his level of territoriality. It is quite sweet.

Adrian shot a quick "Get to the point." "What do you want?"

Ignoring Adrian's admonition, Elena's smile grew as she moved farther into the room. "Midnight," she remarked simply. "You already know the deadline; but, you do not know what will happen should you miss it." She reached inside her coat pocket, and the pistol Adrian grabbed right away.

"Careful," he said, his voice fatal.

Rolling her eyes, she added, "Oh, relax," pulling out a thin black envelope. "It's just a tiny... incentive." She threw the envelope on the table and it fell with a sinister thud. Proceed on. Open it."

Adrian paused for a second, his rifle still pointed at her, then he advanced. His jaw tightened as he reached for the envelope and tore it open. He looked inside.

'What is it?' I asked, fear pouring in my gut.

Adrian's expression clouded, his gaze flicked to Elena. Though his voice lacked its normal assurance, he added, "You're bluffing."

"Am I??" Elena purred and tilted her head. "You have till midnight, Adrian, to make decisions. Her life—that of everything you have created. Make thoughtful decisions.

Her words made me shiver, and before I could understand what was occurring Elena whirled on her heels and vanished into the corridor's darkness.

"Adrian," I murmured with a quivering voice. "What was she trying to say? In the envelope what is there?

His gaze fixed on the page in his hands, he did not reply straight away. When he did glance at me at last, his gaze combined resolve with terror.

"They know about you, Sophia," he added gently. "And they are coming for you next if I don't give them what they want by midnight."

The lights dimmed before I could reply, and the stairway outside echoed the sound of heavy feet. Adrian's head turned toward the entrance and his pistol went up once again.

"They're not waiting until midnight," he added darkly. "They already are here."