Page 20 of Heartless (Scathing Hearts #1)

Chapter Seventeen—It’s just a cold

Jake

Cam and Sienna had moved to the kitchen. As soon as Sile and I walked back in. Sienna, standing with her back to the sink and her arms wrapped around herself, tipped her frown up to Sile.

“Those two men with the bodyguards, they’re the... they’re dangerous, aren’t they?”

“Yes. But you’re safe, sweetie.”

At Sile’s response, she let out a trembling breath while looking at her socked feet. “So, I guess the rumors of super-rich Jake Rhodes with ties to the mafia hold some truth after all.”

My brother and I shared a quick glance before he said, “Our only ties are through Lenny. We’re not part of them.”

Blinking slowly at him, she whispered, “Oh.”

Cam edged closer to her. She’d mothered Sienna before, but like us, hearing how she’d thrived through a life that had thrown its first punch before she’d been born, had heightened her protective instincts.

Sienna, who’d just been ordered by a mafia boss to let the only parent she had left to die, was clutching the side of her cardigan tight around her body. Because she still had that fucking fever.

She slid too-bright eyes to me. “You always tell the hard truths. Tell me.”

I couldn’t blame her for thinking I wouldn’t blink at hurting her again. But fuck, she looked like she was about to keel over.

Nearing the women, I made my tone gentle. “Sienna, have a seat.”

Her back shot straight. “Just tell me, Jake.”

“Your father—”

“Nigel Morrison is my genitor. I’m Caitlin Winslow’s daughter.”

Damn fucking right.

“You’re his third illegitimate child we know of. You’ve met one, the other woman lives in Greece, and Morrison has known about you since you were fifteen.”

She flinched so hard that Cam’s hand shot out toward her. Her big eyes got wet again, and her quivering lips moved, but no sound came out.

Forcing my body still because I fucking knew I was the last person she’d want close, my tone softened further. “Sienna—”

“Fifteen?” she whispered.

A single tear rolled down her cheek, and I hadn’t thought it possible, but my hatred for Morrison deepened.

There was a tremor in her voice. “How long have you known of Nigel’s intentions?”

“Zook... Lenny told us last night.”

“So, that’s why you’ve been nice to me,” she breathed out.

I took that punch in the gut, and my fists clenched.

Cam shot a frowning glance at me and touched Sienna’s shoulder. “We all care about you, Sia.”

“That’s all I am to him.” Her voice broke. “Spare body parts.”

“Oh, honey,” Cam murmured.

I shoved my hands in my pockets to refrain from holding her and telling her everything would be okay.

Her chin tipped up. “What did Nigel steal from you?”

“The deed to my family’s land.”

“I see.” She cleared her throat. “What did you tell Nigel?”

“That I’d use our relationship to keep you away from him until I get the deed back.”

The pain of betrayal in her eyes hit me in the chest.

“Has he given it back?”

“No. But he’s been calling.”

“Oh.”

She was fucking swaying. She needed rest. She needed a break from everything life had put her through. From the motherfucker. From me.

“Sienna, are you sick?”

Her brows snapped together. “It’s just a cold.”

When I neared her, her shoulders went up, and I stopped. “I mean, your heart.”

At that, she shook her head. “My heart’s fine."

Cam touched Sienna’s shoulder. “You should rest and take it easy. No more reading under the moonlight. I’m going to make sure you eat the right things. From now on, it’s decaf for you, and you should exercise at least for one hour a day, but nothing too—”

Sienna shifted to face her. “I’m fine, Camila.

My mom was extremely diligent with all of that when I was growing up.

” When Cam grunted, she added, “I can count the number of times I had alcohol. I never smoked, never took drugs. I dance in my room most mornings, so I get plenty of exercise. Since we’ve moved to the US, all I have to do is a yearly checkup. ”

Reading the lingering worry in Cam’s face, her already quiet tone placated. “I’m not going to drop from a heart attack. And I’d never do it, because what’s the point, but if I wanted, I could probably run a marathon. I’m fine, I promise.”

Cam’s mouth was still pinched, but I knew she was relieved. I was.

I needed to make sure. “When’s your next checkup?”

“Nigel will be... gone by then.”

“When Sienna?”

“November,” she said to my chest.

Cam’s motherly instincts were still raging. “Sienna, it’s easy now because you’re only twenty-three, but—”

“I’m twenty-four.”

That stopped Cam in her tracks. “What?”

Her expression brought a smile into Sienna’s voice. “I’m twenty-four.”

Cam’s head twitched, and she whipped her narrowed eyes at me. “You said she was twenty-three.”

“My birthday was on the third... um...Last month.”

Fuck.

Cam gasped. “The day you came here?”

Sile let out a clipped ‘fuck’ while Sienna nodded.

My name was rightfully being chiseled into a stone in Hell.

Cam glared at me and Sile before turning her attention to Sienna. “As soon as you’re feeling better, we’re going to celebrate your birthday. What do you want to eat? Anything you want, and I’ll make it.”

Sienna bit on her bottom lip. “Can we just order junk food?”

“Of course, sweet girl. And we can have a spa day.” She cupped Sienna’s cheek. “What do you think?”

“Am I invited? Not for the spa shit. Just the junk food,” Sile said.

Sienna nodded with a soft giggle but before she could reply, Cam touched the back of her hand on Sienna’s forehead.

“You’re burning up again. I’ll get you a bottle of ibuprofen for your room.”

“Thank you, Camila.”

While Cam headed toward the other side of the kitchen to grab the pills, Sile pulled her to him, and she wrapped her arms around him.

He cupped the back of her head and pecked her crown. “It’s going to be okay. Just get better, okay?”

“Okay,” she mumbled against his chest.

After Sienna had taken a couple of pills and drunk a glass of water, I pocketed the pills and scooped her up in my arms.

On a small gasp, she hooked her hand around the side of my neck. “Jake, I can walk to my room. I’m fine, I—”

I started toward her quarters. “I’m faster.”

“It’s just a cold,” she whispered, but she did it nuzzling the crook of my shoulder, and I tightened my hold.

Once under the covers, she rolled to her side, facing me.

I crouched by the bed. “Get some rest, sweetheart.”

Her head jerked back on the pillow. “Don’t call me that,” she rasped. “You called me that all the time when you pretended to like me... Don’t call me that. Please.”

“Okay, baby. Sleep now.”

She closed her eyes, and I waited until her breath deepened.

I brushed a curl of her hair off her cheek. All the signs had been there. Right in front of my fucking face. She was an innocent with an unguarded, beautiful heart. And I’d made her cry rivers of silent tears.

When I exited her bedroom, Cam and Sile were in the family room, standing side-by-side by the bay window.

Cam got in my face. “You couldn’t let her have one freaking day of joy on the first birthday after her mother died?”

“I know, Cam. I fucking know.”

She blew out a breath and shook her head before turning to Sile. “What do we do now?”

“She’s got us now. I say we start doing right by her,” he replied.

When she’d been scared, Sienna had asked for him. “She looks to you when she’s scared.”

His brow cocked. “Yep.”

Cam whirled toward the window. “Shit, it’s raining. I’d better get home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

****

Sienna

As Camila glided onto the smooth, blueish grey granite stones of the pool edge, carrying a tray loaded with bowls of cut fruit, cheese, bread, and olives, I sat up and made some room on the long rectangular table.

It’d taken a whole week, but my cold was finally gone. So when Camila had suggested lunch by the pool, I’d enthusiastically agreed.

This morning, while I’d been waiting for my coffee to brew, her face had tilted slightly to the side. “You’ve just missed Jake.”

I hadn’t missed him. I’d waited in my quarters until I’d heard the front door closing.

He’d been friendlier, which made him even more devastatingly handsome.

He’d smiled and chatted with me while I’d been having breakfast. Gently tilting my chin up when I’d reverted to talk to his chest. But I still couldn’t stay in the same room as him for too long, and the change in him stressed me out because every time, my heart had raced.

Then, the words I would never forget had made it shrivel back into my chest.

The weather was perfect. After Camila and I had cleaned up the kitchen, I’d changed into my brand-new black, high neck one piece suit with gold seams I’d paired with a short, black crocheted matching cover up.

Camila pointed at my notepad on the side table of the daybed. “Are you working on anything?”

I still hadn’t written a single word since Mom’s funeral. What if I’d lost my ability to write? To hide the pinch in my chest she’d unknowingly poked at, I popped the last piece of pineapple into my mouth and leaned back against the wide armchair. “Not at the moment.”

Camila snatched the empty bowl. “I’ll get you more before I go home to study.”

She’d enrolled in a business night school program.

“Thank you, Camila.”

I slouched back as Camila ambled toward the house. Minutes later, she was back out. She was empty-handed, but it was her expression that made me sit up.

By the time she’d reached the daybed, I was sliding my toes in my flip flops.

She grabbed my hand. “Your genitor and his wife are here with the police. They want to talk to you.”

Why would Kimberly be here? And more importantly, did she know of her husband’s intentions? Did Joel know too? But those would be considerations for later. Right now, Nigel was in Jake’s house with the police.

My heartbeat quickened. “We should call Jake, he—”

“He’s here with Silas.” Her voice lowered as she gripped my hands. “Sia, I know the whole thing with Jake was messy, but we want to keep you safe, and—”

I pecked her cheek. “Trust me, okay?”

We hurried across the house. Jake and Silas were standing side by side in the hallway a few feet from the front door with their backs to us. Their wide shoulders walled off the path farther into the house, and tension electrified the atmosphere.

I squeezed Camila’s fingers, who released my hand as we approached them. Nigel’s head slanted right into the space between Jake and Silas’s aggressive stances.

He pointed at me. “There she is. It’s her, Detective. This is my daughter.” You mean your personal organ bank. When he inched forward, Jake and Silas’s bodies moved to close the gap between them, sending a message even Nigel couldn’t misinterpret.

My feigned surprise sounded almost genuine. “Nigel?”

Jake and Silas shifted sideways, which gave me a clear view of Nigel standing next to Gabby.

Not Kimberly. That made more sense, in one way, and angered me in another.

Of course, Gabby would be part of whatever that was.

Those two people were living in a microcosmos where the beyond privileged had their own rules, which, from what I’d seen so far, had consisted of having their own way without any regard for anyone else’s feelings.

Nigel craned his neck up while Gabby, who was dressed in a white mini summer dress and red high open-toed heels, couldn’t quite hide her triumphant sneer. They were beside a uniformed officer and behind the detective, a brunette wearing a black pant suit, and sporting a short bob.

Jake’s hands were deep in the pockets of his jeans, and his jaw was tight, but his expression was undecipherable.

Silas, who had his arms crossed over his chest, just looked ticked off as hell.

While Camila stopped next to Silas, anger squeezed my chest, so my voice was placid as I closed the distance between me and the small group.

“Hi, Silas.”

He winked at me. “Hi, sweetie.”

When I turned toward Jake, his gaze burned into mine. Hoping he’d play along, I smiled at him. “You’re home.”

His brow hitched before his lips twitched. He reached for me, hooked his arm around my waist, and plastered me to him.

I rolled on my toes and curled my arms around his neck. “Hey, honey.”

The gravel of his voice skittered over my lips.

“Hey, baby.” His mouth met mine, and I closed my eyes under the soft touch.

When he slanted his head, mine instinctively tilted the other way.

The tip of his tongue cajoled the inside of my upper lip, and I shivered.

Jake’s hold tightened, and our tongues touched.

The kiss was short, but it made its point.

He drew back, and for a couple of seconds, I only saw him.

Then, he tucked me to his side, and with our arms around each other, we shifted toward our audience.

“Nigel, what are you doing here?”

Gabby’s mouth tightened. She hated being ignored. A sentiment I knew was borne out of insecurity, but she decided to be a mean bitch, so that’s what she’d get.

The sheer animosity in Nigel’s glower drove me deeper into Jake’s body. Again, he pointed at me, but his words were directed at the detective. “Detective, stop this. You can clearly see she’s being coerced.”

The woman’s mouth tightened. “She’s in a bathing suit, being kissed.” Her tone sharpened. “You led me to believe she was underage.”

Nigel hmphed. “All you need to be concerned about is that his man has taken advantage of her fragile mental state. Her best friend here has witnessed it. He manipulated her into this. This is kidnapping. Arrest him.”

Jesus. Seriously?

The female detective glared at him. “Mr. Morrison, Mr. Rhodes has kindly allowed us on his property, but another peep out of you, and I’ll ask my officer to escort you to your car. Is that clear?”

The policeman at Gabby’s side hid his laughter under a cough. When odious Nigel clamped his mouth shut, the detective twisted back toward us.

“Ms. Winslow, I’m Detective Novak—”

“Sienna, please call me Sienna.”

After a slight nod, she continued. “Sienna, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty-four.”

The woman’s jaw clenched. “Mr. Morrison claims you’ve been held by Mr. Rhodes against your will, and his claims are supported by Ms. Ashford.”