She crossed her arms. "You said you wouldn't make decisions for me anymore."
"This isn't about control,” Dante said.
"It's about keeping you alive,” Rocco added.
"It's about getting Sofia out,” Lark said. She stepped closer to them. "I'm the one Keller wants." She looked at Rocco. "I'm the only one who can distract them." She turned to Dante. "And while they're looking at me, you go get your sister.”
Dante hated the plan because it could work. He could tell that Rocco hated it too. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck before finally speaking. "We change one thing,” Rocco said.
Lark waited. "You don't go in alone." She looked from one man to the other as Rocco continued. "If one of us walks through that gate, all three of us walk through it.” He smiled faintly.
Dante nodded without hesitation. "We're done leaving each other behind." Lark felt tears sting her eyes. She'd spent her whole life being someone's bargaining chip. She was always someone's possession, but now, she had two men standing beside her. They weren’t trying to protect her from her owndecisions. They were trying to make sure she never had to face them alone.
She smiled. "Together?"
Dante took her hand. "Together."
Rocco covered both of their hands with his own. "Always." A twig snapped somewhere behind them, and the three of them spun in unison, with their weapons raised.
A young woman stumbled from the trees, barefoot and terrified. Her clothes were torn, and fresh bruises covered her arms. The moment she saw Dante, she burst into tears. "Dante."
His heart stopped. "Sofia." She threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably as he held her for the first time in three years.
"I knew you'd come," she whispered against his shoulder. "I never stopped waiting."
Dante closed his eyes as emotions threatened to overwhelm him. "I've got you." He held her tighter. "I've got you."
Sofia pulled back just enough to look at him, her face streaked with tears. "They're moving the others." Every trace of relief vanished from her face. “They loaded me into the truck already, but when the guard turned his back, I slipped out and headed for the woods. I overheard Keller’s men talking earlier about you escaping with Santos’s daughter and another man. It gave me hope that I could do the same, and well, here I am.”
“I guess you’re the reason why the guards are stationed outside of the mission then,” Rocco said. “You’re just like your brother.”
"Are there others back there?” Lark asked.
Sophia looked toward the mission. "There are twenty-three prisoners left." Her voice trembled. "Keller is loading them onto trucks." She grabbed Dante's jacket with desperate hands. "If we don't stop him tonight, they’ll disappear forever.”
Sofia wouldn't let go of his hand. Dante held her just as tightly, afraid that if he loosened his grip for even a second, she'd disappear all over again. She was shaking but had stopped crying. "I'm here," he whispered. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."
She laughed weakly against his chest. "I don't even remember what it feels like not to be afraid." His heart ached for his sister. She'd been twenty when Keller took her, and now she was twenty-three. Three birthdays, three Christmases, and three years he'd never get back.
He pulled away just enough to look at her. Dark circles shadowed her hazel eyes. Her cheeks were thinner than he remembered, and an ugly scar disappeared beneath the collar of her oversized sweatshirt. Someone had hurt his little sister. Rage settled deep in his chest—the kind that made men dangerous.
"They didn't break you," he said quietly.
Sofia managed the smallest smile. "They tried."
Lark knelt beside her. "Hi." Sofia looked at her for the first time, and recognition flickered almost immediately.
"You're Santos’s daughter—Lark."
"You know me?" Lark asked.
"Keller talked about you,” Sophia said.
Every muscle in Dante's body tensed. "What did he say?"
Sofia looked down at the ground. "That everything depended on finding Rafael Santos's daughter."
Lark's expression hardened. "Shit."
