Page 138 of Heartless

“He’s one of Edo’s men.”

Letting out a shaking breath, she whispered, “What if...what if he hadn’t been there?”

I pulled her closer.“He was, baby.”

She burrowed her face in my neck, and her breath hitched.I held my Sienna until her quiet sobs and the shaking of her body lessened.Eventually, her shoulders relaxed, and mine did too.

Then, she sat up.“I’m tired of crying.I’m going to make us dinner.”

“Are you sure, baby?”

Her gaze dropped to the towel around her chest.“Can I borrow one of your t-shirts?”

I kissed her in a brief touch and got on my feet.After tagging one of my tees from the chest drawer, I slid it over her head, careful not to touch her face or jar her arm.

She rubbed her unmarred cheek on her shoulder.“It’s soft.I think I’m going to keep it.”

I liked that she wanted to keep my tee.A fucking lot.I caught her hand.“Ice and food.”

****

Sienna

The knock on the door intruded into my pre-work morning routine, and I raced to the hallway to open the door for Jake.My car was still being repaired, so he was going to drive me and pick me up from work.

I pecked his jaw.“I’ll be two minutes.”

As I pivoted toward the bathroom, he caught my hand.My smile pulled on my almost healed bruise while he drew me in his arms.His heated eyes made me roll on my toes and loop my arms around his neck.

“Good morning again,” I whispered.

I’d just left his bed less than an hour ago, hence my tardiness.When his tongue slipped in my mouth, I opened my mouth wider.The panty-melting kiss ended but Jake kept his mouth close to mine.

“You smell like dessert, baby.”

I was still recovering from our kiss, so I half-panted, “It’s the vanilla extract on my bruise.Under a ton of makeup.”

Jake’s jaw tightened.His arms did too, so I was plastered to him.It’d been a week since the cemetery incident, but his rage hadn’t receded in the slightest.

I traced my fingertips over his frowning brows.“I’ll check in with you regularly, and I’ll wait in the building until you pick me up.”

“Sienna.”

His expression sent my heart hurtling.“What?”

“Baby, have a care.If anything happens to you, it’ll fucking kill me.”

This time his kiss made my heart sing.

****

As Olly lumbered backto his desk after his fifth meeting of the day, I finished typing an email.We were preparing for the Writer’s Conference, and between meetings both external and internal, we’d barely seen each other.After grabbing my purse, I stood in front of his desk, waiting for his attention to lift from his computer screen.When they did, his grin slashed his strawberry blonde beard.

“What’s up, Sienna?”

Before I could answer, he sprang to his feet, sending his chair against the window, and I jumped back.

“What happened to your face?And don’t say it was a fucking door,” he growled.