14 Months 08: February

"I'm guessing you're a long-lost brother too," Sophie said quietly looking at the driver of the van as Zander continued to rage into his phone.

"Tom," he said as if that explained everything and glanced down at her. He did a double-take, his eyes going wide. "Fuck, it's you!"

"Someone better tell me why I have that effect on all of the brother's soon. I'm starting to get a complex," Sophie laughed nervously.

"You don't know?" he asked, turning back to the road as if suddenly remembering he was driving.

"Is that a trick question? Know what exactly?" she asked her curiosity about to boil over. "I think Roo and Bear were the only ones not to scowl or frown at me or swear when I met them, aside of Ash who I don't think knows how to frown or scowl. Having said that, Ash had just abducted me from Darius and Roo and Bear were placing bets on how long Ash would live at the time, so that may have been why they didn't react the way you just did," she shrugged, and Tom burst out with a big belly laugh.

"Okay from the beginning tell me everything and then I promise I will tell you why we all get a shock when we see you," Tom said, trying to hold back his laughter.

"God, it's such a long story," Sophie sagged. "Is that the only way you will tell me?"

"Okay just give me the highlights then, I've been out of the country for a while, so I know nothing about what's been going on. I only got Zanders messages this morning when I let people know I lost my phone on my trip and had a new number." Tom explained and heard the cute woman beside him take a large breath before starting her story. He stopped her every so often to ask a question about the Jazz club and Mimi and then the incident at the ball that by the time she got around to meeting Jack and his reaction to her he was in stitches again laughing at the way she told her side of events with so much sassy humour that he couldn't help but fall in love with her himself just a little bit.

"So that brings you here to meeting me and attending the Gala tonight," he said, wrapping it up for her.

"Well there's the stuff that happened at the airport and Mr Grumpy Pants here shouting into his phone again," she sighed as her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out seeing Darius's name flash on her screen. "Speaking of the original Mr Grumpy Pants," she put the phone to ear. "I'm okay," she said before he could say anything to her. "Yes, Zander is with me. Yes, your brother Tom is driving."

"Mr Grumpy Pants indeed," Tom chuckled loving the way she spoke about and to his brothers. "Put him on speaker for me, please?" He waited as she told Darius and pushed the button. "D, it's all good man, we're headed out of the city to my place to make a plan," Tom said upon hearing Darius's temper in his curse.

"Where the fucking hell have you been no one could get hold of you about tonight," Darius said barely restraining his temper.

"Indonesia, got back this morning. New phone, no biggy, I'm here now, and I got the hot girl," he chuckled. "Zander seems to have lost what was left of his mind, but what else is new." He laughed again as Zander scowled at him, but when he looked at Sophie, she had gone pale, and her breathing was a little erratic. "It's all under control, man, take a chill pill. I get why she calls you Mr Grumpy Pants now," he laughed again. "No wonder she's scared with the way you two are acting. She looks like she's about to jump out of the car and make a break for it."

"Not again," Sophie whispered her brain rolling over everything that had gone wrong since meeting Darius. She had been living her own life, and now, she couldn't breathe. She felt so smothered by people who claimed to care for her. She needed space. She had ruined things again with that man at the airport. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to run, needed to run and get away from all of these people and their secrets and their feelings. She had no idea what she had done wrong this time, but both Darius and Zander were furious and frightening to her right then. She had no idea where she was or where this man, Tom, was taking her and Zander hadn't even looked at her since forcing her into the car.

"Fuck, Sophie," Darius said reining in his temper again and trying his best to calm her over the phone. "Sophie answer me, please... Tom pull over and let her out. She needs to walk in the sun for a bit to calm down. Pullover, Zander will know what to do," Darius gave rapid instructions, and Zander swore ending the call he was on.

"I got it," he growled, trying to tamp down the rage and fear he felt after the incident at the airport. He scooped Sophie into his arms and held her in his lap as Tom pulled off the main road into a thicket of trees. "I'm so sorry, Beautiful. This isn't because of anything you've done. You're safe with me, always." As soon as the car came to a stop, he opened his door and let her slide from his lap prepared to chase her if she ran. "Fuck," he grumbled again and ran his hand through his hair as he stepped out, giving her space now that he could see she wouldn't run. He watched as she stepped out from the shade of the trees and tilted her face up to the sun, taking a large breath and sitting right there uncaring that she was on the edge of the road. Tom was still speaking to Darius and Zander went to sit beside Sophie without touching her until she was ready.

"Can I have my phone please?" she asked quietly, and Zander signalled to Tom to bring it over. Sophie looked down at it and realised Darius was still on the line. She felt a tear run down her cheek, and she took a shuddering breath. "I think it's time we all admitted that this is a failure. Mimi is gone, Darius almost died, Zander got detained by airport security, and I keep messing up with Stella and Parker and even the stupid theme for the fun run. I mean," she choked on a sob. "It's over. I need to call Byron and let you have your lives back instead of all this drama."

"No!" Both men said simultaneously, and Zander snatched her phone from her hand without giving any thought to taking away her lifeline to the outside world. "Sophie, no. None of this is your fault, and we told you what would happen if you called Byron. The council will lock you in a safe house until they get to the bottom of the Frankie Calabrese mystery. They will trap you there. You are safer with us than anywhere else at the moment. You can trust us, I promise. We won't let anything happen to you. None of this is your fault, and no one blames you especially not Darius or me."

"Sophie, I'm getting on a plane. Promise me you will stay with Zander until I get there. Please, Angel," Darius pleaded. "Promise me," he begged again.

"Don't come," Sophie whispered through a sob she had tried to stifle. "I promise to stay with Zander until we come home tomorrow. Don't fly and risk hurting your throat any more than you already have for me. It will only make me feel worse and more determined to go," she admitted. "If something happened to you while you travelled, I'd never forgive myself or you." She took a shuddering breath. "I'll be good. I'll go to the gala and come home before I call him."

"Sophie, you can't call Byron. If you truly want to leave, we will help you, but you can't make that call. You will only be putting yourself in more danger if you do," Zander said knowing what he was saying went against so many Alliance rules but if she needed a way out, he would help her not imprison her.

"You'd do that?" Sophie frowned.

"If you can convince me that is honestly what you want," Zander looked into her beautiful green eyes wondering if he truly could help her escape knowing he would never see her again.

Tom had watched and heard it all. He hadn't understood what was happening, but he got the general gist from the story he had told her about her life since joining the game and that there was much more going than she knew, and more than he knew thanks to his recent trip. They both needed answers, and he was going to make sure that this girl knew what lurked in the shadows and what weapons she had at her disposal. It was time for a meeting of the Blackjack Thirteen, and he was just evil enough to make them all pay attention and get their asses to a rendezvous point. Pulling on his laid back surfer dude persona again, he walked towards where they sat on the side of the road.

"Come on, pretty girl. I'll at least rescue you from those two idiots. When we get home, I'll tell you that truth I promised you," he smiled easily. "It's not far now, only ten minutes max."

*****

"Okay, pretty girl, I'm going to tell you a story and then you will know why we all get a shock when we see you for the first time," Tom said quietly as he sat with her on the couch and Zander paced around the dining room where he could see them while he talked on his phone. It had taken Zander a long time to be convinced that he could leave Sophie's side even for a few minutes to change their arrangements for the Gala Event that night.

"Once upon a time there was a little boy called Jag. When he was twelve, some bad men came into his house one night and killed his Mum and Dad. When his Dad fell, Jag picked up the gun he dropped and aimed it at the man who had shot him. The man laughed at the little boy and so Jag shot him. He was only twelve, so he barely nicked him, but the man was so enraged he grabbed the boy and took him with them. The boy spent weeks locked in a room being abused every day and night until one day the door opened, and an Angel all dressed in white flew into his room instead of a man coming to violate him and the door closed. You with me so far? I don't need to fill in the sordid details of that abuse for you?"

"No, I got it. Been there done that, got the t-shirt, when my parents died, but it was years not weeks of abuse," she sighed, ignoring the stunned look on his face.

"Shit, seriously?" he asked and then regretted it when she turned her sad eyes up at him. "On with the story," he shook himself. "So anyway, this angel was trapped in there with him, but he felt safe because anytime the door opened the angel fought with the men and they left him alone. She fed him and gave him water and tended to his broken body as best she could. It could have been hours or days, but one day, there was shouting and large thumping as if someone had dropped something heavy over and over again and Jag and his angel curled up in a ball against the corner of the room. When the door opened, the Angel gasped and flew from the bed to the man standing there. She didn't forget the boy though and went back to him picking him up and handing him to the man so they could leave the house."

"So, she saved him, that's good," Sophie said, wishing that someone had come to save her.

"Yes, she and the man dropped him at a hospital emergency department. She made him promise to become a good man and to help others just like she had helped him. Then she kissed him and flew away before the hospital staff found him leaning against the door barely able to stand, let alone push it open. While he recovered his story became known to people who did help kids like him, and he was offered the opportunity to change his life for good. After his promise to the Angel he grabbed it with both hands and took a scholarship to a special school where he met twelve other boys the same age who were destined to be his brothers," Tom finished his story.

"Alright, so Jag went to school with Darius and Zander, and I am assuming you and the others," Sophie said.

"Correct. I see that Darius had told you how the lucky or unlucky depending on your point of view, six came to be part of the Alliance. What you might not know is that the rest of us, the other seven are all still tied to the Alliance in different ways. We don't know the inner workings per se, but we all have our roles and a lot more freedom than the six do," he acknowledged.

"You still haven't explained what this has to do with me," she said.

"I'm getting there, but you need the background information first. Now, where was I?" Tom asked rhetorically. "School, okay. The thirteen bonded and stuck together as a pack, Jayce made sure of that. He was like a marine. Even when we flunked out of the Alliance mentorship, we still retained our basic scholarships, and Jayce made sure no one was ostracised from the group no matter whether they were in or out of the extra mentorship program. When we were about fourteen or so and just discovering girls were good for more than just looking at, you know every boy's discovery of porn and the amazing uses for his dick," he chuckled. "Jag began to tell us about his angel and that no other girl could compare. He was obsessed by the angel that had saved him. He rarely looked at porn while the rest of us were jerking off so much it was a wonder our dicks didn't fall off."

Sophie gave a giggled at his hand movements as he told her about being stuck with the big group of boys when all they wanted to do was meet girls and do rude things to them.

"As I said, Jag was obsessed. "He started drawing and came up with the perfect woman. He sketched her continuously. He was a fucking awesome artist. He said that if we ever found her in the porn we watched, he would take a look until then he was happy with his memories of his angel and their shared time together. He encouraged us all to consider the women we knew and if there was a fantasy girl out there for us too, that we should wait for. It was all a bit of a joke but one by one he sat with us and asked about what it was we found sexy about women. Then he drew the ultimate fantasy woman for our thirteen from all of those sketches. Then he put them all in an album and made copies for everyone to keep including the sketch of the ultimate girl. A few months after that he created a painting of this fantasy girl which still hangs in our headquarters," he explained as he looked at her as if it all should make sense now, but she looked back blankly.

"I have the album, we all do. Darius would have one somewhere in his house," Tom said as he went to a cabinet underneath a glass display case and removed an album with a decorative leather cover.

"I think I saw Zander looking at that," she frowned as he placed it on the coffee table in front of her.

"You did," Zander acknowledged, and Sophie jumped not realising he had finished his calls and was listening to their conversation.

"You never showed it to me," she accused.

"You never asked, and as you were Darius's, it wasn't my place to tell you what I thought. Tom has always done what he wants when he wants, regardless of whose toes he treads on, we've given up trying to stop him these days," Zander said unapologetically.

"Have a look through, I'm gonna grab a drink, you want one?" he asked.

"Cold water, if you have it," she nodded and ran her hand over the cover showing an ace and a Jack of spades within an ornate oval frame burned into the leather.

Sophie opened the album expecting the simple sketches of a typical fourteen-year-old boy. She was surprised to find the artwork of someone she would have thought a professional. Pages and pages of faces, hair, halos, wings and body parts, particularly breasts, were joined together by portraits staggered throughout the book. She found it fascinating as she flipped through the book slowly. Until she got to the final pages where she gasped and froze her hands stilling on each page until she could force herself to turn each one. It was her, but it wasn't at the same time. It could be, but it was wrong in some ways. It wasn't until she got the final portrait that her breath caught and she looked up at Zander and Tom who stood together talking quietly and watching her.

"So, you all think I look like her?" Sophie asked closing the album unsure what to think about what she had seen.

"Height, body type, hair, eyes, it's pretty uncanny," Tom admitted. "Even shocked me a little, luckily I had to concentrate on the road, or I might have done or said something stupid there and then."

"Zander? Have I met Jag?" she asked when she saw him look away guiltily when she asked him directly.

"Yes," Zander nodded. "Though he pronounces and spells his name a little differently these days."

"He does?" Sophie furrowed her brow as she thought about everyone she had met. "Jack? Is Jack, Jag? He never said anything to me when we met."

"As I remember it, he was a bit speechless at the time as if he had lost his mind for a moment," he chuckled.

"I would have paid to see that," Tom chuckled with him. "A speechless Jack, an impossibility until now."

"Speak of the devil," Zander stepped into the room toward Sophie as soon as he heard the rough sound of brakes on gravel and a car door slam before the engine had even come to a stop.

"Jack is here?" Sophie asked.

"Poor little angel, they don't tell you anything, do they?" Tom gave a dry laugh as his front door flew open, and Jack stalked in looking around until he spotted Sophie on the couch sipping her water. "Come on in Jack, long time no see."

"Tom," he snarled. He looked back at Sophie, his eyes scanning over her as if to make sure she wasn't hurt in any way. His eyes fell on the album on the table. "You told her?" he accused Zander.

"I told her," Tom admitted. "And you're welcome. Now she knows why you're acting like a nutcase."

"I can explain," Jack turned to Sophie, but she cut him off.

"There's no need. Honestly, this isn't me. I admit I got caught up in the story and your beautiful art, but it's not me. I'm no angel. I don't help people. Everyone who cares about me ends up getting hurt or worse. Darius almost died because he cared enough to try and protect me. It's better that you all find that out now before I leave," Sophie said as if it was only natural that she could deny any resemblance to the angels he had drawn in the album.

"Wait! You're leaving?" Jack gaped at her. "Because of that?" He pointed at the album.

"No, Jack. Honestly, I'm flattered that anyone could think I resemble that beautiful woman, but it's not me," she drew a deep breath and looked at Zander. "We should go," she said, coming to her feet. "I promised Darius I would go to the gala tonight with you and getting the look right will take a while. If we don't head to the hotel, we'll be late, and I don't want people hurting David or Stella just because he looked after me at the ball and they think he has me." She said sadly. "Enough people are hurt because of me." The three men in the room just stared at her for a moment, no one moving so she moved toward the door and opened it. "Fuck we don't have the car. Jack, could you drive me to the hotel, please?" she asked.

"Stop. Just wait a minute," Jack said, looking between Zander and Sophie. "What the hell happened between last night and now?"

"A weasel at the airport detained me and threatened David before he realised, he had it all wrong. Now we've detained him, and the security tapes from the airport and because I didn't handle the threat as well as I could have Sophie got frightened. Which wasn't helped when Darius called and ranted at us both. She had a panic attack and decided we would all be better off if she called Byron and asked for a release from her contract which Darius talked her out of by threatening to get on a plane. So, she agreed to come to the Gala with me and return home tomorrow if he stayed where he was and rested his injury. Did I miss anything?" He asked Sophie mildly showing he was no longer angry or upset by anything that had happened.

"Well, that explains the great escape and all the swearing, at least," Tom nodded as if understanding everyone's mood when he had picked them up from the airport.

"Okay, I can fix this, just give me a minute," Jack began to pace.

"Fucking hell, is no one even listening to me anymore? There is nothing to fix! I am not your angel, fantasy woman. I'm not a good person. I'm a stripper and a prostitute. I'm being paid by your brothers to be in the stupid fucking game and pretend to be their girlfriend! I am fucking them both, at the same time! Stop trying to fix me and make me into something I'm not. I am Sophie White, not Angel or Cookie or even the stupid Frankie Calabrese woman who went missing twenty years ago and is presumed dead!" She raged at them all and walked outside, slamming the door behind her.