Above All Else: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 2) by Gemma Hart Page B

away. And keep me away.”
                  I furrowed my brows. “What do you mean?”
                  Sofia ran a hand down the length of the fence post. She smiled softly to herself, a pained expression marring her delicate features. “My people think I don’t care for them. That I don’t love them. They think I ignore them and use them. They talk about how snobbish I was right from childhood. But they didn’t realize Minister Pryto never let me participate in State events as a child. I wasn’t in public not because I thought I was too good for them but because I was usually locked in my room.” Sofia sighed.
                  “They think I avoid coming home to Loranza when in fact, Minister Pryto makes it nearly impossible for me to return. He bars my entry almost every time and only lets me in when he finds it advantageous for him. And that’s usually at an event where I’m shown in a horrible light as a spoiled rich princess who could care less what happened to her home country. If it wasn’t for Uncle Gregory, I probably never would’ve been able to go back to Loranza at all.”
                  She shook her head, as if arguing with herself internally. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I am horrible. Maybe I am spoiled. After all, all those gossip stories about me weren’t entirely made up. But I was so angry after awhile. I thought, if Minister Pryto was going to make me into such a shallow, fame-hungry whore, that’s just what I’d become. That way at least, whenever I saw the glares from my countrymen, I wouldn’t feel so w-wronged.”
                  Sofia’s voice broke on the last word and I knew her bravado was just that—bravado. She did care what her people thought of her, despite her words.
                  Just like her people misunderstood her, I had misunderstood her as well. I had just seen the sparkling shallow princess flitting about the world from one red carpet event to the next. I had never stopped to see the hollowness in her eyes or the longing in her face. She had lived her entire life with people smearing her name and punishing her for crimes she had never committed. No wonder she constantly had her guard up.
                  No wonder she was afraid.
                  The sun sank a little lower and the pink-gold light shone across her, lighting her up like an angel. I cupped her cheek gently, feeling her smooth skin against my rough and torn palm.
                  “You said that they had done everything to break down your will,” I said, meaning Minister Pryto and Lady Angstrom. “But they didn’t, did they?” Sofia’s blue eyes, rich and deep as the ocean, turned away from me. I pulled her face back up towards me. I wanted her to hear these words. I needed her to hear them.
                  “Did they?” I insisted. I looked down at possibly the bravest person I had ever met. Years of abuse and torture and coldness and still she stood up on her own two feet. How many people could say they could do that?
                  I ran a hand down her hair before swiping back down towards her cheek. “No, they could never break you. And that’s why tried so hard,” I said. “They saw that strength inside you. And it scared them. You were too strong for them to break.” I locked eyes with her. “You were too strong for them.” I emphasized the words.
                  Sofia’s eyes swept across my face before a single tear slid down her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb. She gave me a shaky smile and a half shrug.
                  “Maybe,” she said, her voice breathy and soft. “But in the end, they won.” Her lips quivered as she tried to hold back her tears.
                  I knew what she was saying. Minister Pryto was leading a successful coup and Sofia was here in Wyoming