"Can we pretend I didn't say that?” declan x sophie
Sophie had never thought this day would come.
People died all the time in their line of work, yes. It’s what came with the territory. No one was ever truly safe from the Grim Reaper’s far-reaching grasp.
But her father?
Her father, who had been almost immortal in her eyes. A paragon. A god.
Her father was dead. And it was the Morettis that killed him.
Sophie was a whirlwind rushing through her apartment and gathering any and everything she could get her hands on. Maybe the last time fucking Jack Donovan and her Nanny had been able to lure her back to Boston, but not this time… She wouldn’t let them talk her down this time. She didn’t have to answer to them anymore.
Who was left for her to disappoint anymore if she didn’t?
“Sophie…”
The voice that called out from her doorway was distant. Sophie wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t want to hear it or if it was just the rage still roaring in her ears dulling everything but the screaming in her own head. Either way, she ignored the voice, shoving another pair of handguns into her duffel bag as she called over her shoulder.
“Get the fuck out of my bloody apartment, Byrnes, before I shoot you my damn self!”
She barely heard the Irishman’s sigh as he dropped his jacket over one of her chairs and wandered into the bedroom Sophie was currently tearing to pieces as she packed her murder bag.
“Will ye now? I’d love to see how you handled that. Thought all that rage was used more for Donovan or the Morettis, I’m flattered that you’ve turned it my way finally.” He said as he leaned against the doorframe and smirked over at Sophie who turned to him with hard eyes.
“I’m not fucking around, Declan. They killed my mother, now they killed my father, and I’ve got a sneaking suspicion they have something to do with the disappearance of my brother. The Morettis are the sole bane of my life and I will not rest until they are all six feet under the ground.”
“So, you’re planning on going in there, guns a-blazing, by yourself. Just you. Against all the Moretti guards, not to mention the Morettis themselves who are all pretty adept at fighting from what I’ve heard tell…” The man raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. “And you think that’s a solid plan of attack? Aye, go on, then. And where would you like me to send the condolence card to Albert Mooney, again?”
Sophie paused for a moment or two, feeling herself shaking with the unbridled rage that had been building inside of her since the moment she’d seen her father lying cold and empty on the floor. All of it piling higher and higher as Declan, the one person she’d hoped would understand, stood there and mocked her pain. It was too much. All of it was too much.
“I’m going to New York. And I am going to kill every single Moretti I place my eyes upon. I don’t need your approval. I never asked for it or your opinions.” Her voice was dead and hollow as she zipped up her bag and hoisted it over her shoulder. Those crystalline eyes Saoirse had once called Fey settled upon Declan as she began to walk towards her front door, bumping his shoulder as she shoved past him. “I don’t know why you’re even here making such a fuss anyway. It’s not like you have any sort of reason to.”
Suddenly, though, a hand snapped out and stopped Sophie dead in her tracks. Declan pulled her back towards him, his jaw set and his gaze aflame as he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her once.
“Now you listen to me, Miss High-And-Mighty Connoghan. Aye, maybe ye do have good reason to go out there seeking vengeance. I’m not sayin’ you don’t. But I’m not about to let you go out there and get yourself killed either!” His gaze flickered over her face as Sophie opened her mouth to begin to speak. “No, no no. I’m the one talking now, Sophie Connoghan… And I’m not about to let the girl I love get herself killed because she’s being a damn idiot!”
Sophie stilled then, feeling the anger draining out of her in an instant. Declan seemed to be having the same problem as she watched his face turn white as a sheet. He cleared his throat deeply and slowly let go of her shoulders.
“Ah, Can—Can ye possibly forget I said that?”
For a moment or two silence lay between the two as Sophie examined his face, wondering if this too was part of the whole scheme to get her to stay. But it was awkwardness written all over his body. Not deception. He shifted from side to side, running a hand through his hair and looking up to the ceiling as if asking for guidance from some sort of higher power.
He’d meant it…
He’d actually meant it.
A thunk sounded through the empty apartment as Sophie dropped her duffel bag to the floor. A grin trailed itself across her face, lighting it up in a way that it hadn’t been for days and days as she lifted an teasing eyebrow.
“No… I think I’m going to hold that one over you for the rest of your life, Declan Byrnes.”
With that, Sophie stepped towards the love of her life, gently took his face in her hands and—finally—kissed him full on the lips as thoroughly as she’d been dreaming of doing since the first moment she laid eyes on him ten long years ago.
