Chapter 2: 2


    She always made him feel anxious when she was like this, so many scenarios running through his


    head of what could happen to her, and his inner body twisting the tango of uptight anxiety. Sophie was


    naive at the best of times, but drunk, she waspletely oblivious to danger, considering her past, and


    seemed to have a knack for attracting it.


    “I’m sorry … Arry?” She started to sob, and he just felt worse. He hadn’t even yelled at her this time, so


    he had no idea why she was crying. He had stopped yelling at her months ago when he realized it no


    longer had any effect on her behavior, and he hated Sophie crying; it made him feel like a shitty human


    being when those hurt doe eyes hit him, right in the stomach.


    He had seen enough of her tears over the years in connection to what her sick perverted father had


    done to her and that’s all he saw now. That vulnerable broken face, racked with scars and pain from a


    childhood that could have destroyed her. Arrick stiffened as that stab of rage spiked inside like a fiery


    hot spear.


    Whenever he thought of that asshole he wanted to kill him; the fact he could take someone as innocent


    and sweet as her and ruthlessly abuse her for years made him want to rip the guy’s spine out and ram


    it down his throat. He was fiercely protective of her, knowing everything he knew, being there for every


    therapy appointment and tearful outpouring when she needed to talk.


    Sophie had let him in in ways that no one else had been allowed, and the depth of her dark


    confessions ripped his soul out repeatedly, at the misery she endured. Listening to it almost ended him,


    so he had no idea how she ever endured it and stayed sane. He vowed long ago that he would always


    protect her, that he would destroy any guy who dared to every hands on her against her will again,


    and it was an oath he would uphold for an eternity.


    Sophie was his warrior! Despite all of it, she had risen through the memories like an invincible me,


    and she had blossomed despite that asshole. He had never known anyone as strong as her; pride


    washing through him at her achievement as he thought of how much she overcame in a bid to move


    on. Arrick inhaled heavily, calming his outward persona as affection for her reigned supreme.


    “Come on, Sophs. Don’t. You know I can’t handle it when you cry. I’ll be there in twenty minutes or less.


    Go, be a good girl and get back in the club for me.” He could make out the noise of the street around


    her and the tell-tale shake of her voice that she was shivering. Frowning hard again, at something else


    she was doing to herself with zero care for her own wellbeing-, and it just angered him crazily. She had


    probablye out without a jacket again, wearing something way too short and skimpy, and not giving


    a crap that it waste in the season and exposure was something that could kill her.


    The girl needed constant supervision. Her love of current fashion irritated him when trends were all


    skimp and skin. Right now, women were wearing less and less, and he hated that Sophie followed the


    trend of leaving little to the imagination. She was aplete fashion addict; clothes were her life, even


    when they were barely scraps of fabric on her.


    She had a body that attracted eyes, long legs, and a perfect petite frame with curves that even


    someone like him couldn’t ignore. She was growing up way too fast and seemed to hit puberty from the


    second he met her. No matter how hard he had tried to not see the changes and ignore how much she


    was bing a head turner, he had to admit, Sophie was irresistible to most men. He could only


    imagine how many sleazy perverts had been scoping her out already.


    “Okay … I’ll be at the back, in the booths lying down.” She sniffed some more, gaining control again,


    and he cursed internally, frustration biting hard and stilling him from snapping. Biting down to curb the


    urge to yell at her as anger bristled.


    “Don’t lie down near the back, stay up front.” He ground out through gritted teeth, fighting to sound


    normal and cool. He knew only too well what kind of men preyed on young girls like her in the shadows


    at the back of Randy’s club. It was a ce he used to frequent with Jake, his older brother, a long time


    ago, and hadpletely gone downhill in recent years with the clientele bing seedier. The crew


    Sophie hung around with seemed to favor it, despite both Arrick and Jake telling her repeatedly to steer


    clear, and it only made him tten metal to the floor in a bid to get there faster, his pulse quickening. He


    didn’t care if he got a ticket; he couldn’t stand the thought of her passing out in a dark corner of a club


    that was notorious for women being assaulted.


    “I’m tired, I need to lie down.” She slurred again, all tears gone, and he could recognize the noise of the


    club approaching as though she was walking back inside. Arrick’s panic rose in his throat at her


    completeck of any sense in this, heart hammering and dodging cars on the road as he drove a little


    erratically.


    “You can sleep in my car, Sophie. I’m warning you. Stay out near the front where I can find you, and on


    your feet. I’m almost halfway. Do not lie down!” He was stern; his tone less controlled and huskier at


    the thought of anything happening to her, praying to God she listened tonight. Trying to keep his


    temper because he knew she could be a boiling pot of childishness like this, and thest thing he


    needed was her telling him to fuck off and disappearing on him. She had a habit of up and running


    when she couldn’t deal with something, and it had spurred her to leave home months ago.


    Sophie sighed dramatically and then was obscured by the sudden thumping noise of the music


    surrounding her before it was disconnected. The club had an awful signal inside and he had just lost


    her as she went back to the dance floor.


    Shit.


    Arrick flinched with the cold pulse that ran through him, anxiety, and fear colliding with every worst-case


    scenario in his head. He tried her cell again quickly, but got nothing but her answer machine, cursing


    out loud this time.


    He would lecture her when he got there, shake the shit out of her. No doubt he’d have to carry her out


    likest weekend and this time he was sitting her down for a serious heart-to-heart. He was done with


    whatever this was. Done with the drunken calls, putting herself in constant danger, the argumentative


    stroppy behavior and difficult attitude ofte. He understood that her past sometimes meant she was


    hard to handle, even at her best she had always been hard to handle, but thistely was beyond a joke.


    His nerves couldn’t take much more of this and his rtionship with Natasha was falling to pieces


    because of it.


    Tonight, she wasing home with him and sobering up to get the third degree. Enough was enough,


    and if anyone could get through to her and convince her to go home to her family, then it was him. He


    had been avoiding this conflict for too long and he couldn’t avoid it anymore; that stubborn mindset


    hitting him hard that he wasn’t going to keep going through this anxiety over her safety anymore. The


    agony.


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    She had up and left home a few months before, after a heated fight concerning her drunken lifestyle;


    another night he scraped her off a sidewalk and taken her back from the city to the Hamptons. Her


    family had lost all control by then, and Arrick had been the only one left she still clung to in any way. He


    had been treating her with kid gloves ever since, in fear she would cut him loose too, and that had been


    his biggest mistake. He had listened to Natasha over his own gut; he should have trusted that he had


    always known how to handle Sophie and not gone for the softly, softly approach at her bidding.


    Natasha only knew the bare facts and nothing more, she only saw Sophie as a broken child and had


    convinced him to go against his own reasoning in every way. Arrick should never have listened, he


    knew her better than anyone. She needed his stern side back.


    Sophie needed real help and understanding, someone to reel her in a little before she got herself into a


    situation that only ended badly. Arrick knew, that despite Natasha’s feelings on the matter, that the only


    person with a chance of pulling his girl back out of whatever this was and bringing back some of the girl


    he missed crazily, was him. His way.


    Sophie and he had a bond like no other, and even though the past months had seen them changing


    towards each other, he knew his girl was still in there somewhere, and he needed to find her again. For


    his own sanity, as well as hers, as all of this was slowly killing him. He hated seeing her messed up and


    unhappy, and he knew he had to do something before he lost her too. Despite always calling on him,


    he felt like he had been losing her for a long time and was the root of his stress for months now. The


    possible stomach ulcer too.


    Arrick picked up his cell phone and scrolled to his most recent calls, hitting Natasha’s name,ying it


    back down in the console, eyes glued to the road, frowning. He hated driving in mid-town traffic past


    eight p.m.; the hustle and bustle of people hitting the nightlife always made it a headache to


    navigate.