Chapter 14. The Uncle

Ethan moved away.

He was across the room before I could say a word, his hand out telling me to keep the call going. He pulled out his phone. Typed fast. I watched him send a message to someone on his team. Tracing the call I thought. I kept the phone to my ear.

"You went quiet, " the voice said. Still calm. "That is okay. I will wait. I have been waiting a long time."

"Who are you? " I said. Even though I already knew.

"You know who I am Sofia. Grace told you. Ethan told you. I think even your mom told you by now. In her way."

His voice was not like I had imagined. I had thought he would sound scary.. He sounded normal. Like a man on a business call.

That made him scarier. Not less.

"What do you want? " I said.

"The thing I have always wanted, " he said. "What belongs to me. Half of what my dad built. Half of what my brother has had for thirty years while I was left with nothing."

"So go to court, " I said. "If the original ‘will’exists, use it. Why all of this? Why Daven? Why me?"

A pause. Then something that sounded like a laugh.

"Because your dad made that option impossible a time ago, " he said. "He has spent thirty years making sure the right people were paid and the right doors were closed. The legal way was blocked before I even tried it. So I found another way."

"By using me " I said.

"By using what was available to me " he said. "I want you to understand something, Sofia. I do not hate you. I have nothing against you personally. You were the easiest way into your dads world."

The easiest way in.

I had spent my life being quiet. Being easy. Being the one who trusted and smiled and never caused problems.. This man had looked at me from far away and seen that and decided I was the perfect way in.

"What do you want from this call? " I said. My voice was steadier than I expected.

"I want to make you an offer, " he said. "Walk away from Ethan Voss. Take your mom. Go home. Convince your dad to settle this and give me what the original ‘will’ grants me. And everything stops. The documents disappear. The threats disappear. Your family keeps the half and everyone moves on."

I looked at Ethan. He was watching my face reading every reaction still.

". If I say no " I said.

"Then I stop being patient, " he said. The warmth in his voice did not change. That was the part. "I have been patient Sofia, You do not want to see what I look like when I am not."

The line went dead.

I lowered the phone.

Ethan was already on his phone to his team.

"Did you trace it? " I asked when he hung up.

"The call went through four countries, " he said. "We got an area. Not an exact location. He is good at this."

I sat down.

He offered me a way out. Walk away from Ethan. Go home. Convince my dad to give him half.. Everything stops.

Simple. Clean. Quiet.

Absolutely not an option.

"He thinks I will take the deal, " I said.

"He thinks you are still the woman who stood at the altar and waited, " Ethan said. "The woman who says yes to keep the peace. The woman who makes herself small so others are comfortable."

I looked at him.

"He does not know you, " Ethan said quietly.

Something moved through me when he said that.. Quiet and not convenient.

I looked away.

"We need to tell my dad, " I said. "Before my uncle moves again. My dad needs to know everything."

"Agreed " Ethan said. "I will arrange it for tomorrow morning."

Tomorrow morning.

Which meant tonight we were still here. In this apartment. With my mom and Grace in one room and Daven down the hall and Ethan standing three feet from me looking at me like he was working hard not to say something.

"You should sleep, " he said finally.

"I will not sleep, " I said.

"I know, " he said. ". You should try."

He turned toward the room.

"Ethan."

He stopped.

"The contract " I said. "The three months. We are almost at the end of it. What happens when it runs out?"

He stood with his back to me for a moment.

Then he turned enough to look at me over his shoulder.

"Go to sleep, Sofia, " he said softly.

He walked out.

I sat in that room alone. Stared at the wall.

The contract was over.

Neither of us had answered the question.

Down the hall I heard a door open and close.

Then voices..Low and Urgent.

Ethan and Someone else’s.

I stood up. Moved quietly toward the hallway.

Heard Daven say:

"There is something. Something I did not tell any of you. About Sofia. About why her uncle wants her, not just the company."