Page 48 of Grim

“You don’t need to stay anymore,” she said quietly. “He’s gone. The reason you were here is gone.”

He turned to her, eyes dark. “I need to keep you safe. The threat hasn’t gone anywhere.”

She shook her head. “No. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to shut me out and then act like you care.”

He flinched.

Sophia opened the door and stepped out, the cool night air hitting her like a slap. Gravel crunched under her shoes as she walked toward the house. Grim followed a few steps behind, silent and heavy, a shadow she couldn’t outrun.

The porch light flicked on automatically, casting a soft glow across the walkway. Sophia’s keys trembled in her hand as she unlocked the door. She stepped inside, the familiar warmth of her home wrapping around her, but it didn’t settle anything. Grim entered behind her, closing the door with a quiet click that felt too final.

She turned to face him.

“You won’t tell me anything about yourself,” she said, voice cracking. “You won’t let me in. You won’t trust me. And I’m supposed to just… what? Pretend that doesn’t hurt?”

Grim’s jaw clenched. “Sophia.”

“No,” she snapped. “You don’t get to decide what I can handle.”

He stepped closer, anger and something raw flickering in his eyes. “I’m not good. I’m not safe. I’m not for you.”

She stepped closer too, their faces inches apart, breath mingling, tension crackling like static.

“You don’t get to decide that,” she whispered.

He looked at her like she was breaking him open.

She turned away before he could see the tears.

Sophia stormed down the hallway and shut her bedroom door. She pressed her back to the door, swallowing hard, but the tears came anyway. Her hands shook as she grabbed her phone and dialed.

“Hola, mi niña,” her abuela answered.

Sophia’s voice broke. “Abuela, I don’t know what to do.”

“Ah,” Abuela sighed knowingly. “Es el hombre, ¿verdad?”

Sophia wiped her eyes. “He won’t let me in. He won’t tell me anything. He just shuts down and pushes me away.”

Her abuela’s voice softened. “Los hombres rotos aman fuerte… pero también lastiman sin querer.” Broken men love hard… but they hurt without meaning to.

Sophia sank onto her bed, tears slipping down her cheeks.

She didn’t know if Grim wanted her in his life. She knew he was broken. She was falling for him all the same, and she couldn’t tell if loving a man like that would heal him or…ruin her.

Chapter 15

Sophia

Sophia didn’t sleep.

She tried.

God, she tried.

She lay in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling as sunlight crept slowly across her walls, turning from pale gray to soft gold to warm honey. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Reyes’s face. Heard his voice. Heard that last word he whispered. Elena.

And then Grim.