Page 17 of Heartless (Scathing Hearts #1)

Sienna

Ready for the day, I was just out of my bedroom when Camila knocked on my door. When I swung it open, my smile died. Silas was standing there.

I blinked fast. “Oh. Hi, Silas.”

His hands were deep in the pockets of his jeans, and his gaze locked onto mine. “Sienna, can we talk for a minute?”

I stepped back in invitation, but he did the same, so I followed him to the family room, and we sat side by side on the sofa.

Shifting to face me, he said, “I’m here to say I’m sorry for how things went down.”

Not sure about what exactly he was referring to because even though things had settled into a kind of neutral state, a lot had ‘gone down’, I just watched him.

His jaw clenched. “I apologize for the terror we put you through and how much we hurt you. That was wrong. We’ve been fucking monsters, and I’m sorry.”

The remorse in his expression seemed genuine. “Did you really make a bet on how long it’d take me to fall in love with Jake?”

After a slow exhale, he dipped his chin. When he straightened up, the answer was in his darkened gaze, and my bruised heart convulsed.

“And I’m fucking sorry for that too.”

Tears swelled at the back of my throat. After a deep breath, I asked, “What did you wager?”

The dark blue of his eyes locked on mine for tense seconds. “A bottle of bourbon.”

My heart was worth a bottle of bourbon. That was oddly devastating. “Was it expensive?”

Why did I ask that? Nothing, absolutely nothing was worth... doing this to me. Again, the answer had carved all over Silas’s face, and his very clenched jaw jerked.

“And I guess Jake won?”

His chest rose and fell slowly as he nodded. “Sienna, what we did only shows us as the motherfucking dicks we are, but nothing will ever justify how much we hurt you.”

My gaze dropped to my lap, and I tried to swallow the knot forming in my throat. “What Jake did was... cruel.”

His low voice was quiet. “It fucking was.”

“And you... were there.”

“Yeah,” he said in a clipped tone.

I touched my chest to soothe the sorrow lodged there. Then I blew out a long breath and steeled my back. He was willing to talk, and I had questions I was too scared to ask the man who’d taken a hatchet to my heart.

“All my things have been moved here. How long will you wait for Nigel to respond to the blackm...To your request?”

Jake’s much kinder friend’s tone was earnest. “I don’t know. But Sienna, I promise we won’t keep you here for long. And you have no reason to trust me, but I give you my word I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Scrutinizing his steadfast gaze, I tilted my chin up and exhaled a slow breath.

The bare truth was, as a lifelong seeker and embracer of the silver lining, I was near-incapable of holding grudges in the face of heartfelt contrition.

It was going to take time for me to forgive my own stupidity. But him, I could forgive.

“Thank you, Silas.”

“Least I can do.”

“Sia, lunch,” Camila called from the hallway.

I liked her nickname for me. No one had ever called me that.

As he got to his feet, my gaze tracked him. I had more questions, and I was also curious about Silas, who seemed to be observing the world with a perpetual smirk.

“Have you had lunch?”

His brows arched almost comically before the corner of his mouth hitched. “I could eat.”

“Would you like to stay for lunch if I promise not to bore you with my stuff?”

I was joking—kind of—but Silas’s lips were not even twitching as he sat back down beside me.

“People who call you boring are either fucktards, envious, just plain fucking assholes, or a mix of all of the above. I can’t say I understand what writing is about, and I’ve never met a writer.

But if you want to talk about it, I’ll try to learn a thing or two.

” He proffered his hand, palm up. “Deal?”

I curled my fingers around his. “Deal.”

When we entered the mouth-watering smelling kitchen, Camila, who was setting a dish on the table, smiled.

“I made my roast chicken.”

****

Jake

On my way home, my cell rang. Morrison was calling again. Third time this week. He’d also left several messages at my office, but Zook hadn’t gotten back to us yet. You’ll wait. Motherfucker.

Earlier this morning, my cell had alerted me that Sile had opened the gate. The last time he’d been at the house was the day we’d brought Sienna in, but should she be scared to be alone with one of the assholes who’d terrorized her, Cam would be there.

When I parked, Sile’s truck was still in the driveway, but Cam’s car was gone. I trusted my brother with my life, but I never wanted to see those silent tears full of pain again.

The TV was on in the family room. I stepped in to find Sienna curled up in the corner of the sectional, facing me, and giggling with Sile, who had his back to me.

His feet were crossed on the coffee table, and a half empty beer bottle was dangling between his fingers.

He was laughing, and his whole attention was on her.

On the TV screen, a young woman covered in blood was screaming and running through some forest.

With her body still shaking with laughter, she said, “See? What did—?”

When she spotted me, her shoulders stiffened, and her laughter died. She sat up and dropped her gaze somewhere between my throat and my chest.

Sile glanced over his shoulder. “Jake.”

“Sile.”

Sienna touched his arm. “Maybe we can watch another one next time?”

“Sure, sweetie, but you’ve got to know, you’ve ruined horror movies for me.”

Grinning, she uncurled her shapely legs and got onto her bare feet. He followed suit.

With a soft smile, she said, “Thank you for today, Silas.”

“Anytime, sweetie. Thank you.”

His arms opened, and she blinked at him before looping hers around him.

How the fuck did that happen after one fucking day together?

She rounded the back of the couch, giving me a wide berth on her way to her quarters, and I slid my hands in my pockets.

“Hey, Sienna.”

“Hi, Jake.”

When the door of her quarters eased shut behind her, Sile sat back down.

I lowered onto the armchair. “You broke in with her.”

“She likes horror movies, and her commentary is the funniest clean shit I heard in a while.” He took a swig of his beer.

“I apologized. She’s forgiving. And I like the girl.

She asked about the bet. Told her what you won.

She asked when we were going to set her free.

Told her the truth.” He reached for the remote and switched the channel to ESPN.

“You’re pissed.”

His eyes slid to mine. “If anyone had said that shit to Bianc or Cam, I’d make it my mission to give them what they deserve after I’d broken every one of their teeth. I wish I’d fucking realized how far gone you were in that shit with Morrison. But that’s on me.”

“Won’t happen again, Sile.”

“No, it fucking won’t, brother.”

While we watched the screen in silence, my cell beeped. After reading the text, I got up. “Zook got news.”

Five minutes later, we were on our way to my truck to get some fucking answers.

****

I veered into the underground parking of the low rising loft located in the north of the city.

In the converted freight elevator, Sile dropped his head. “Until the brink breaks.”

“Until it breaks, brother.”

After hoisting the upper part of the metal doors, we headed for the main room where Zook, settled in an armchair, waved us in.

Sile lowered himself onto the arm of the couch nearer the door with his arms crossed over his chest, and I sat in the armchair across from Zook.

My old mentor was swirling the ice in his tumbler full of Woodford Reserve bourbon, his drink of choice. One I’d adopted years ago. While pouring some bourbon in my glass, I glanced at the file on the wide coffee table between us.

Zook had given up his part in the crime family, and for reasons he’d never disclosed, they’d let him. But they were still family, and that meant everything to these guys.

He grunted. “Edo’s men reported the girl is at your house in the woods. What did she say about him?”

“Whatever he has in mind, he hasn’t shared it with her. But he wants her back.”

His jaw hardened. “He’s known she was his since she was fifteen. Had copies of her school reports and her mother’s medical records. Every fucking thing.” He shook his head. “The fucking rat let his girl struggle for years.”

When his gaze dropped to the circling ice cubes in his tumbler, I glanced at Sile, whose shoulders held as much tension as mine.

The man nicknamed ‘sugar’ because his amiable facade belied a cunning intelligence gulped down the rest of his drink and leaned back. “Morrison’s dying.”

The hairs on the back of my neck rose.

“He’s contacted anyone carrying his DNA.

He needs a lung and a liver transplant, and a living donor is his best option.

Without it, he won’t see the end of Summer.

He has a rare blood type that none of his kids share.

The first thing he did after he approached Sienna was to take her for a DNA test. And he hit the fucking jackpot. The kid’s a perfect match.”

“Fucking motherfucking fuck,” Sile grunted.

Zook continued. “They called a priest for Carlo, and Edo’s on the warpath.

They’re already making sure Morrison doesn’t find a match or buy a miracle donor.

” He slammed the glass on the table. “If Carlo dies, Edo will use the girl as a weapon. Keep her close and get what you need from Morrison but do it fast.”

I jerked my chin to the table between us. “The file?”

“She was born in Hillingdon, England. They moved to the States when she was five. She’s a writer, and one of the youngest to be offered a prestigious writing Fellowship at an ivy league university. She got a job to help take care of her mama instead.” His sigh was heavy. “Reminds me of my Bianca.”

Zook got to his feet, signaling the end of the meeting. Sile and I got up, and I grabbed the file.

While Sile shook Zook’s hand, he said, “She’s sweet, loves horror movies, and talks through them. Funny as all fuck.”

“Good.”

On the drive back to my house, I stopped in the parking lot of an electronic store.

Sile glanced through the windshield. “Retail therapy?”

“She needs a TV in her room.”

He shook his head. “Yep, that’s exactly what she needs.”

I knew it fucking wasn’t, but it would bring her a little joy.