“Maybe because it’s a stupid name?” Alejandra frowned.
“Better than having to list all our last names, smart ass,” Carlos snarled from her side. Their bickering was in the background as she kept looking back at the contract that she had read at least seven times and then sent it to her younger sister, who had somehow gone from a snotty, annoying kid to a full-blown lawyer. They were five years apart, but Gabriella already had a family, a stable job at a law firm in Milan, and was, without a doubt, more successful than her.
“I need help figuring out if putting myself into this mess is the right choice,” Sofia explained in Spanish.
It was the common language of the group, but sometimes she and her family peppered in Italian words, becausecazzowould always sound better thancoñoin her head.
“If the mess you’re referring to is this handsome man...” her mother held up her phone, displaying a photo of Ilias from some old magazine shoot in which he showed off those abs she had shamelessly reacted to just a couple of days before. “If I were younger, I would totally go for it.”
“Porca troia, mamma!” Gabriella and Sofia gagged in unison.
“Your mother’s not wrong,” Marina, Alejandra and Carlos’ mother, chimed in, earning a synchronized gag from her kids.
“Can we just talk about the important thing?” Sofia muttered, seated on her couch with the phone propped on the coffee table. Her laptop lay open beside it, the contract still on screen.
“The 200k deal or the possibility of fucking a surfer?” Gabriella quipped.
“Believe me, it’s no different than an accountant,” Alejandra added.
“Can we please be serious for one fucking second?” Sofia snapped, and everyone went quiet. “This is my career on the line, again. Do I do this ridiculous PR stunt, take the 200k, and fake enjoying Ilias’ presence—”
“He’s not that bad,” Alejandra mumbled.
“¡Calla! You’re the reason I’m in this mess. Let me finish.”
Alejandra motioned for her to go on, the only available hand raised in surrender.
“Or do I say no, keep my integrity, and walk away from the money?”
“Sofia, you always had a very high moral compass,” her father said gently, appearing behind Gabriella. His face was tired, and her heart clenched. Another voice tugged at the back of her mind:You should be there with him, not kilometers away.
Then her sister barged in, just her forehead in the frame. “That integrity led her straight into that shitshow with her ex-boyfriend.”
Their father pushed Gabriella away.
“But in this case, I think taking the money and dealing with a guy that, according to your best friend, is sweet, funny, and genuinely decent... I’d consider it. It’s not like you’re selling your soul to the devil.”
“Then why does it feel like it?” Sofia whispered, burying her face in her hands to keep them from seeing how shaken she was.
“Take the 200k, Sofi,” Alejandra said. “Ilias will be a gentleman. He has matured in the past couple of years. I can vouch for him. He went through therapy, he’s a business man himself. You two could share insights. Sure, he can be cocky, but it could be worse, like Antonio said.”
“Well, mature and Ilias in the same sentence is not something I’d thought I’d hear from you,” Carlos muttered off screen.
Sofia groaned, slumping even more into the couch and hugging a pillow. Who should she believe? Alejandra cheering for Ilias or Carlos just muttering in the background? The thing is—it was a lot of money, and Salacia would benefit immensely from it. She shouldn’t have to get money from her personal account, like she had done for the past four months, and probably breathe. Yet, she felt dirty.
“Sofia,” her mother said gently. “This has nothing to do with Thomas or Neptune. This is a new chapter of your life, one whereyoudecide whether to take the money or not. ¿Entendido, hija?”
Sofia buried her face in the pillow, her chin trembling as she sniffed. Her mother was right. This time, the choice was hers. Not Thomas’. Not anyone else’s. They had given her the chance to choose, and she wasn’t going to waste it just because Thomas had left scars she still carried.
“Okay, fine. I’ll take the money,” she blurted out. “Gosh, I hate you, Ale. Why did you suggest this?”
“Because I love you and I’m thinking about your best interests. Plus,I’m sure you’ll thank me later.”
Her best friend dared to waggle her eyebrows, like she was in the mood to joke about it. Sofia just growled and rolled her eyes.
“Well, is this amazingMoGoLoRoreunion over?” Carlos asked.
“Yes, you can go back to listening to whatever flamenco artist you had playing in the car,” Sofia said with a tired smile. “Thanks, everyone. You’ve been... enlightening.”
