Page 25 of Heartless (Scathing Hearts #1)

Jake

Mixed feminine chuckles welcomed me into the house.

I headed to the family room where Bianc and Cam were on the sectional with their arms round each other’s and their heads thrown back in laughter.

On the other corner of the couch, Sienna was giggling with her forehead nestled in the crook of Sile’s neck and her hand on his chest.

Bianca whipped her head up. “Jake!”

Jumping to her feet, she ran the short distance between us with her arms wide open. I caught her flying body against my chest and kissed her cheek. “Hey, trouble.”

Back on her feet, she clamped her hands around my face. “My Jake. I missed you, babe.”

Cam got up and started toward the hallway. “We’ve been waiting for you for dinner. Let’s go.”

“Cam, you good?”

Smiling over her shoulder, she nodded. “Bianca cooked.”

Bianc shifted to my side. “I’ve met Sienna. She’s quite wonderful, Jake.”

“Yes, she is.”

Sienna’s face flushed. She leaned into Sile, who got up and pulled her to her feet. Once in the kitchen where the table had been set, Bianc took Sienna’s hand and sat her beside her. Sile and Cam were across from them while I grabbed the chair at the head of the table.

Near the end of the meal, after catching us up on her jet-setting life, Bianc turned to Sienna.

“Cara, how many forlorn hearts have you left behind when you came here to hide from

the world?”

Sienna bit on her bottom lip and dipped her chin in her neck. “None.”

Bianc rolled her eyes. “Dio! Are the men blind to beauty here?”

“Some,” Sile muttered.

I contained my urge to flip him off amidst the women’s chuckles.

“Not a single one?” Cam asked. When Sienna shook her head, she winked. “You’ve probably been oblivious to it, Sia.”

A little smile bloomed across her flushed face, “Maybe.”

Bianc grinned. “Cami’s right. All you have to do is stand there, and they’ll flock to you. And not only the men.”

Sienna giggled. “That part is easy, I guess.” Then her tone quieted. “But dating takes more than time and energy.”

Bianc tilted her head to the side and touched her cheek. “Dating also takes heart.”

“Yes. It does,” she whispered.

At the shift of tone, I leaned in. We all did.

Bianc’s eyes softened. “Caring for your mama took all of yours, didn’t it?”

Sienna covered Bianc’s hand with her own and nodded.

“I’ve lost mine when I was fourteen. Was she a good mama?”

Tears slid down her cheeks, and her voice trembled. “The best.”

The women’s heads touched. “The best ones leave us too early. I’m sorry you’ve lost your mama, cara.”

“I’m sorry you’ve lost yours, Bianca,” she murmured back.

My throat got tight. Cam’s breath hitched, and Sile cleared his throat.

After swiping her fingertips over Sienna’s cheek, she said, “Do you want pistachio gelato?”

A wet giggle escaped from the beautiful girl born with a broken heart. “Yes, please.”

With a grin, Bianc sat back. “You should come with me to Florence when I go back. What do you think, cara?”

Sienna’s jewel-colored gaze widened. “I’d love that.”

I clenched my fist around my beer bottle.

“That’s a good idea,” Cam chimed in. My bastard brother just smirked.

Not a fucking chance. Not when I’d just started uncovering the wealth of warmth and kindness hiding behind those beautiful eyes. “No.”

“Jake,” Bianc and Sienna protested at the same time.

Bianc frowned. “Jake, she’ll be farther away from him, and no one will touch her if she stays with me. You know Zio Edo wouldn’t let—”

“Sienna’s staying here.”

“Why? Hidden here or hidden there makes no difference. And in Florence, we’ll—”

“Bianc, she’s staying here.”

Sienna sat back and her voice cut through Bianc’s stubborn stand-off. “Camila, Silas, you can see me, sitting here, right?”

Sile and Cam chuckled.

While my opinionated surrogate baby sister kept glowering, Sienna touched her hand, bringing Bianc’s attention to her. “When are you leaving?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’m going to visit some friends in New York, then I’ll see. Why?”

Her tone soothed. “Bianca, I definitely want to visit you, but not because I’m hiding. Once the situation here is back to not-crazy, I promise I’ll get a passport and I’ll be knocking on your door.”

“You’re going to love Florence. I’ll take you to Rome, and we’ll go shopping in Milan.”

“Oh, I’d love that.”

“Let’s have gelato in front of the fire,” Cam decided.

Amid the grating of chairs against tiles, Sile said, “I’ll get the fire started. Can I have my

gelato with Cool Whip?”

“If you do, I’ll throw you in the fire,” Bianc snapped, which made Sienna giggle.

Sile winked. “I’d like to see you try, sweetheart.”

****

Hours later, music was flowing through the speakers. The playlist wasn’t to my tastes, but Sienna, who had again sat beside Sile, was bopping her head.

Bianc had obviously taken to Sienna, who returned the sentiment. I’d promised to be there for her, but I understood now how much she needed good women around her. She felt safe. It showed in the careless way she laughed, and how often she did it.

When Bianc sprung on her feet and started to dance, Cam followed while Sienna remained by Sile’s side. Her teeth dug into her curved, pillowy bottom lip while Bianc and Cam hopped from one leg to the other in rhythm with the song. Bianc threw her hand out to Sienna.

“Come dance with us, Sia.”

Sienna joined in, and her body became the music. Her hips swayed, her shoulders rolled, and her neck arched, sending her hair swirling around her face and her shoulders. The short skirt of her dress flirted and whirled around her thighs, and I got hard.

When the song ended, she swept her hair off her flushed face.

“Cara, you have some moves,” Bianc said.

The next song came on. Sienna skipped toward the couch and opened her hand toward Sile. “Silas, dance with me.”

He got to his feet. She took his hand. They danced, and she laughed the whole time. Near the end of the song, he dipped her back over his forearm. Her body arched deep, the tips of her curls swept the floor, and she let out that throaty giggle again.

When Sile pulled her up, she lifted her happy grin to him. “Thank you, gentle sir.”

“Anytime, sweetie.”

I relaxed my jaw. The ‘sweetie’ thing was fucking grating on me.

He pecked Sienna’s curls. “I’m gonna head out. See you on Saturday.”

“Oh. Already?” The disappointed pout she directed at him was sexy as hell, and the back of my neck tightened.

“I’m going too,” Cam said.

While Sienna followed Cam and Sile out of the room, Bianc plopped herself in the corner of the couch closest to my armchair. “I like her.”

“There’s a lot to like.”

She set her bent elbow on the arm of the couch and her chin on the heel of her hand.

“I’d like to invite some of my friends on Saturday for Sia’s birthday party.

” Her tone pitched low. “Zio Lenny and my dad personally vetted every single one of my friends here, and Zio Edo has his men watching the house. It’d be good for her to be around people.

Did you know she never had a birthday party with more than two people? ”

I didn’t, but I wasn’t surprised. “How many people are we talking about?”

“Two or three. I don’t think she would be comfortable with more. What do you think?”

I’d met some of Bianc’s friends, and they’d been eccentric, as artists could be, but Bianc had good instincts with people. “It’s a good idea, Bianc.”

When Sienna glided back in, Bianc sat up and extended her open hand. “Sia, come. I have an idea for your birthday party.”

Sienna settled beside Bianc, who took her hand and shifted to face her. “What do you think if I invite some of my friends on Saturday?”

“How many people?”

“Three, max. They’re all artists, and very nice. I think you’ll like them.”

“Like a real party?” At Bianc’s nod, she looked at me. “Would that be okay, Jake?”

Her luminous gaze shot straight to my chest, and my cock hardened. “Sure, baby.”

Bianc got up, taking Sienna with her. “It’s official, my bed is calling.”

While the women hugged, I pushed on my knees. After pecking my cheek, Bianc strolled to the guest room.

Sienna shuffled on her feet and tucked one of her long curls behind her ear. “I’m going to call it a night too. Goodnight, Jake.”

“Are you tired?”

She replied with a little shrug. “How was your trip?”

“No bears, but two Garretts.”

****

Sienna

Sitting on the sofa beside Jake, I was laughing so hard that my forehead was almost touching Jake’s shoulder. He’d been telling me about his trip to Denver and ‘the Garrets.’ Two bodies, one mind, he’d said about the people who sounded like characters in a sitcom.

When I could catch my breath enough to speak, I sat up. “My God, I would love to meet them.”

Jake hooked his muscular arm over the back of the sofa behind me. “Next time I go, you can come with me.”

He was unfairly gorgeous when he was relaxed. “Really?”

His gaze dropped to my mouth. “I’ll take you anywhere you want.”

That squashed the remnants of my laughter, and my heartbeat started to jog into a danger zone. “Jake, you promised.”

I wasn’t sure he’d leaned in, but his presence was enveloping me. “What did I promise, baby?”

“You said you’ll be what I need,” I whispered.

This time, he’d definitely moved closer because his eyes were all I could see.

The graze of his fingers traveled from my temple to pause at the corner of my lips. “What do you need, kitten?”

Since my brain had stopped working, my filters had vanished. “Right now, I really want a kiss.” The sizzle of his gaze licked my skin, and our breaths flirted, but I slanted back. “But what I need is to forget those words you said because they... cripple me.”

Locked in the fervency of the moment, I gasped when Jake sat me in his lap.

His palm curved around my nape, and he gently pressed my face in the crook of his neck.

Then, he wrapped his arms around me. His skin was warm.

He smelled good, and his body was strong.

Shuffling a little, I nestled deeper against his body and exhaled slowly.

****

Jake

When Sienna nuzzled my neck, I tightened my hold and slouched back.

Eventually, her body unlaxed with sleep, and I buried my mouth in her hair.

I should put her to bed, but I liked having her like this.

Trusting, warm and soft in my arms. I brushed a light kiss on her temple, set my feet on the coffee table, and the back of my neck on the backrest.

Movement in the room pulled my attention to the side where Bianc was tiptoeing across the room.

When she clocked us, she threw a closed mouth smile at me before heading toward the kitchen.

A few minutes later, she returned with a bottle of water in her hand.

While retracing her steps back to her bedroom, she touched my shoulder.

Now she knew where I stood with the beautiful woman sleeping in my arms.