Page 103 of Heartless

My breath caught.“What is it?”

He strode in and tossed it on the counter.“The deed to my land.”

I would have laughed at the timing if the rip in my chest hadn’t burned my throat.Pushing my hip onto the side of the island to steady my legs, I mustered a smile from the part of me that was happy for him.“I’m happy for you, Jake.”

Unsure of how to interpret the intensity of his gaze and his silence.I rolled my shoulders back.“I’m going to pack.”

****

Jake

In two steps I was onto her.“Why?”

Sienna’s little frown was followed by a nervous swipe of her tongue on her upper lip.

“You have what you wanted, so I can go home.That was the plan, right?”

Plans fucking change.

I tucked a curl of her hair behind her ear.“Stay here, baby.”

“Jake, I need to go back to my life.”

Keeping my tone gentle, I pulled her close.“What about what’s happening between us?”

She frowned.“I don’t need to be here for us to have sex.”

When she leaned back, I brushed the back of my fingers on the silky skin of her cheek.“You’re safe here.”

“But I can’t stay here forever, and I need to see how I fare in the real world.”She heaved a deep breath.“The situation with Nigel and Edo is...complicated, so we should probably talk about that.”

I pecked her head.“I’m going to make some calls then we’ll eat and talk.”

“All right.I’m going to take a quick shower.”

She was going to wash us off her skin.Fuck that.“I don’t want you to wash us off.”

“It’s still my day, Jake,” she said quietly.

She needed this, and we needed to talk.“Go, kitten.”

After she’d cleared the kitchen, I pulled my cell out of my pocket.My first call was to Sile.

“Yo, brother.Bianc talked.How’s the honeymoon?”

Fucking interrupted.“Morrison sent the deed.”

“Fucking pleased, brother.”After a pause, he said, “When you’re done celebrating with Sienna, come by the bar.”

I moved to the window.“I’m gonna call Zook.I’ll call you tomorrow.”

When I got Zook in my ear, after congratulating me, he said, “The Family has intercepted three attempts the whoreson made at procuring himself organs.”

“We’re going back to the city.I need her protected.I also need the house insurance to come through.”

“Edo will have her watched.”

Different from being protected but no one would be able to touch her.“That works.”