Page 111 of Ashes

Jamal would come to help. Or at least, I really hoped he did.

CHAPTER 30

JAMAL

It was almost11:00 p.m. when I finally got home. I’d picked up food for all of us on the way since I was too tired to cook anything and knowing Sienna, Kai, and Valentina, they’d probably barely eaten today.

My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t either.

I grabbed the takeout bags from the Dominican restaurant that was near the office out of the passenger seat and headed inside. As I unlocked the door, I couldn’t help the calming feeling that coming home had become.

I’d lived with Kai and Valentina for a few years now, and yet, I’d never had this sense of happiness greet me at the thought of entering my house. Yes, Kai kept me company most of the time, Valentina occasionally joining us, but having a wife,mywife to share life with was…

Nice.

For years, loneliness and anger had been my onlycompanions. All I’d wanted was to exact revenge on who’d robbed me of a childhood and a life with the love of my parents.

Meeting Sienna (although by force) skewed the only trajectory I’d come to know and she’d unknowingly changed my life for the better.

And if I wanted a future with her, I had to tell her everything and show her that everything between us was real, despite how it all started.

Tonight.I will do it tonight.

I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, then locked the door behind me. I took off my shoes and moved to the kitchen, where I dropped the bags filled with bowls oflocrio de pollo,a large salad, and a box ofmadurasonto the island.

There was an unusual stillness around the house. Kai and Valentina were still at the office, working on decrypting the last key that would allow us to find the information we needed, but I thought Sienna would be here already.

“Sienna,” I called out, but no one answered.

Unease curled around my middle and I rushed upstairs to look in our room. Silence swallowed me whole as I opened our bedroom, only to find it empty, completely untouched from when I left it this morning.

I headed for her old bedroom and gently pushed it open, finding it in the same state as ours. Empty.

She’s supposed to be home already.

I ran downstairs and went from room to room, even through Kai and Valentina’s wing, with the same undesired revelation. Sienna was nowhere to be found.

I hurried back to the living area and paused in my steps.

Was her car even out front?

I quickly unlocked the front door and looked outside, only to find our driveway empty, except for my car and Kai’s since he’d driven to work with Valentina. I then realized that her car had never been there in the first place.

I cursed myself for not paying closer attention because it wasn’t like me to not notice these things. I had been too focused on getting inside our home, on getting to her, that I hadn’t registered whether or not she was here.

My racing heart slowed for a moment, realizing that my panic had been unfounded. She might just be running late and forgot to text me. I walked back inside and pulled my phone out of my suit pocket, checking if I had any missed texts or calls from her.

There were no new ones since she’d texted me around 10:00 p.m., letting me know that she was on her way, so she should have been home by now, unless…

My heart picked up pace, battering against my rib cage as my mind sifted through thousands of horrible scenarios. I dialed her number, the ringing seeming like an endless tone. Her voicemail greeted me.

You’ve reached Sienna. I can’t answer, so please leave a message and I’ll call you as soon as I?—

I hung up and redialed her number before the message ended.

Pick up, baby. Please.

My heart dropped, panic clogging every pore of my body, and my throat tightened under a vice grip when she didn’t.