Lorenzo’s finger hovers over the buttons. “Well? Which one?”
I look at Sophia one last time, memorizing every detail of her face.
The way her black hair falls across her shoulders.
The blue of her eyes.
The curve of her lips.
The strength in her expression even now, even facing death.
“I choose?—”
“Time’s up.” Lorenzo’s smile turns vicious. “But you know what? I’ve changed my mind. Why should you get to choose at all?”
His thumb moves toward both buttons, and I see my entire world about to end.
The timer on both vests suddenly illuminates, red numbers counting down from sixty.
60
59
58
25
SOPHIA
The numbers on my vest blur as I stare at them through tears.
57
56
My father’s voice echoes in my memory, so clear it’s like he’s standing beside me.
I’m seven years old again, sitting at our kitchen table while he shows me a tangle of colored wires.
“It’s like a puzzle, baby girl,” Dad says, his rough hands gentle as he guides my small fingers. “See? Red wire, blue wire, green wire. But you only need to find the right one.”
“Which one, Daddy?”
“The one that doesn’t belong. The one that’s just for show.” He grins at me, and I don’t understand why we’re playing this game, why he looks so serious despite his smile. “Remember this, Sophia. Someday it might save your life.”
I thought we were playing. I thought it was just another one of Dad’s weird games.
But he was preparing me for this exact moment.
45
44
43
My hands shake as I examine the vest more closely, forcing myself to focus past the panic.
Lorenzo’s mocking laughter filles the old Moretti house as he leaves us behind, his men clearing out. Guns no longer trained on him, Mikhail rushes to me, dropping to his knees as he works to free me.
