For His Pleasure

62

I was in tears all through the car ride, which felt like forever. Mr Capra Sr had arrived at the hospital right as we had left, the hospital one owned by Capra Corp right at the centre of the city.

Ben had tried to tell me it was too dangerous to come along, but his words were going in one ear and out the other.

"He doesn't need surgery, I won't go into detail, but..." Ben began, hand finding my thigh in hopes of comforting me.

"Drive faster," I raised my shaky voice, finding the driver's eyes through the rearview mirror. With a small nod, he did.

"It was one of Winston's snipers," Ben continued, "he failed at his attempt."

I shook my head, blocking him out and wiping the underneaths of my eyes. My heart was racing, disgusted and terrified that this could have happened. My greatest fear was losing him, the only father figure I had ever had, and each scare made me feel panicked and physically ill.

Billy had been with Mr Capra Sr in their home, drinking afternoon tea in the back garden, which was built to resemble Versailles'. In such a serene and beautiful environment, a shot had been fired from an unknown location, hitting Mr Capra Sr on his upper arm. Ben had increased security guards there as well, but even they wouldn't have been able to prevent a shot from a sniper.

I was too panicked to find comfort in the fact that he was not in need of surgery and at the hospital to get the bullet removed and stay for monitoring.

"Sofia, look at me."

I looked over at him, sniffling and still wiping the tears away.

"I'm scared," I breathed, shaking my head to myself.

"Breathe," he unbuckled his seatbelt and moved to sit in the middle, right next to me. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, enabling me to lean against him.

"Everything will be okay, trust me," he kissed the side of my head, thumb gently drawing circles on my upper arm.

"Retract the statement," I decided, still shaking, "about the removal of the succession line. Please. Your father could be dead right now."

If Winston Horan believed Capra Corp would stay in the family, he wouldn't view it as weak and see opportunities in stealing it for himself. Even with Ben quite literally running the whole world, a situation like this proved there were vulnerabilities. Mr Capra Sr, Ben or I could not be expected to live in hiding forever.

"I can't do that."

I pulled away from him and shot him a glare, but all he did was sigh and shake his head, "you have to. This has to end."

"Who'll he target then? Now he's only after me and poking at me through the people I care about," he explained slowly, "if it's my child who were to take over on paper, as the most likely mother, you'd be a target too."

I hated the thought that then entered my mind. For years I had worked for a company that used violence to rule but I had turned a blind eye to it, knowing I wasn't a violent person yet still apart of their operations as the seducer. Now the fear and anger inside me from the possibility of never being able to speak to Mr Capra Sr again made me want to see Winston Horan dead. This conflicting thought made me cry more.

"I have everything under control," Ben tried again, but I looked out of the window and away from him as a sign for him to shut up.

I knew he had gone through a lot these past weeks and had finally reached some sort of viable plan which included Tony that had now brightened his mood. I knew it wasn't my place to know the details, but I hated going by simply placing my trust in him. I felt out of control in a situation where the people I loved were in danger too.