“Aldo?” she called flinging the door open. Maybe he could fix this for her. Help her figure it out.

But it wasn’t Aldo. It was a wild-eyed Sophie who brushed past her, pushing a to-go coffee into Gloria’s hands.

“We need to brainstorm,” she said, hustling into the apartment.

Disappointment pushed Gloria further into her shame spiral. There was no reason Aldo would be showing up on her doorstep. Not with the ultimatum she’d given him. She’d done this to herself, pulling her head and heart back into a protective shell. Now, not only was she not happy, she was fucking miserable.

If this is what safe felt like, it was total crap.

“Brainstorm what?” she asked with zero enthusiasm.

But Sophie was too far gone in her plotting drama to notice.

She unwound a scarf from her neck and dropped her coat over the back of the dining chair before dramatically flopping down on Gloria’s couch.

“How to get Luke and Harper back together,” she announced. “I schemed them together in the first place, and now my services are desperately needed again.”

“I don’t think I’m the right person to be scheming with,” Gloria said, sitting down next to Sophie and hugging a pillow to her chest.

Sophie stared at her for a long beat. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! You, too? What the hell is wrong with you people? Are you running against my brother for mayor of Chickenshitville?”

“How do you know it was me?” Gloria asked.

“You have that ‘I made a huge mistake’ look written all over your puppy dog eyes,” Sophie said, pointing a finger in her face. “And for the fucking record, you did make a huge mistake if you’re telling me that you and Aldo broke up.”

“Well, we did. Not that it’s any of your business,” Gloria said primly.

“Don’t get all fussy with me. I should take that coffee back,” she said, eyeing Gloria’s cup.

“I will slap the daylights out of you if you try.”

But instead of laughing, Sophie stood up. “Is Aldo okay? Or are you just like my brother and pretending you never knew the man?”

“Aldo is going to be fine.” She thought of the look on his face when she’d walked out. The hurt. The utter agony. She closed her eyes. “This is the only way he’s not going to get hurt in the long run.”

“I’m going to hurt you in the short run, Gloria. I don’t even feel bad about threatening an abuse victim with more violence. That’s how mad you’re making me.”

“Sophie, not everyone is as strong as you are. Okay?” Gloria said wearily. “Not everyone is lucky enough to know who they are, what they want, and how to get it. Some of us are damaged and won’t ever be fixed.”