12. Kyle
12
KYLE
“I went to Nick Morris’s clinic this morning.” Mom’s gaze flits between me and Terry from the couch where, for once, she has a cup of creamy, sweetened coffee in front of her. “He isn’t there.”
“Okay, Mom. Firstly, what the hell were you thinking?”
When I discovered Nick’s identity, my initial reaction was that he was coming after his half-brothers. Jealousy maybe? He has his own clinic, a lot of his clients are wealthy women, and while he doesn’t move in celebrity circles, his reputation means that his income will keep him in regular Caribbean cruises and skiing vacations.
But it doesn’t compare to the Murray fortune. So, I convinced myself that this wasn’t about Mom. If, however, he’s looking for a way in and Sienna isn’t playing ball, Mom might be next on his list of targets, and that’s another risk I’m not prepared to take.
“I needed to see it for myself.” Mom raises her coffee to her lips, a distraction from what she knows is coming.
“See what?”
“Him. Caelan’s son.”
My chest tightens. I didn’t need to use my inhaler while I was in Ireland. I’ve not been back for two weeks, and already I feel that restriction in my lungs, as though they shrunk in the wash.
I glance at Terry. His expression is unfathomable, but his eyes register a mixture of emotions: fear, surprise, resignation. Guilt blossoms inside my chest, adding a little extra strain to my wheezing airways; I should never have asked her to meet me for lunch. If I’d kept her away from Nick, she’d have been blissfully unaware of my half-brother’s existence.
“How did you know?”
“There was something in his eyes. Something cold.” She’s looking straight through me to the past, to memories of the man we’ve spent our lives protecting her from. “I knew that he looked familiar, but I couldn’t attach a name to the face. It was the feeling in here—” she places a hand over her tummy “—that jogged my memory. That sickly sense of foreboding that something bad was coming.”
She blinks, snapping herself out of her painful reverie.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
I slide my inhaler from my pocket—I’ve carried it with me ever since my last asthma attack when Sienna was abducted by Olivia Dragonetti and Ivan Petrov—and place it between my lips. I suck in a deep breath and hold it in my lungs.
“I understand why you didn’t tell me, but it wasn’t your secret to keep, Kyle. Or yours, Ter.” She faces my stepfather. “How can I protect myself when I don’t have all the information?”
“We thought it was for the best.” Terry rubs his jawline with one hand. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you. I made that promise when I met you, and I’ve never let you down, have I?”
“No,” Mom concedes. “But this is different. This is personal. That man is here for one reason, and it isn’t to reduce women’s breast sizes.”
“Mom, we don’t think that this is about you,” I say.
“How many meetings have you had without me?” Her eyes narrow.
“One.” One too many, I realize now. “We think that he’s using Sienna to get to me.”
She finishes her coffee and grimaces; all my life, she has added too much cream to her coffee because it’s too bitter and then doesn’t drink it because it cools too quickly.
“From his disappearing act,” she continues, “I’d say that he’s already gotten what he needs from Sienna.”
“Did you speak to anyone at the clinic?”
“Uh-huh. They said he’s taking some leave to deal with a family crisis.” She pauses. “That’s professional-speak forhe’s lying low until he’s ready to make his next move.”
“We just need to figure out what that is,” Terry says.
“Well…” Mom stands. “While you’re figuring it out, I’m going to get my daughter as far away from here as possible.”
One glance at Terry tells me that he knew nothing about this decision either. “Where are you going?”
“Ireland.” Mom’s shoulders slump. “I don’t want to split the family up for Christmas, but we made a pact to keep Emily out of the family business, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Moira.” Terry steps closer and folds her hands in his. “I can’t protect you both when you’re on another continent.”
“You won’t need to, Tel. Where we’re going, no one will ever find us.”
“But—”
“It’s final,” Mom snaps. “You take care of my boys, and I’ll take care of our daughter.”
My phone vibrates then with a message from Seamus. She’s on the move .
I message him straight back: You know what to do .
“What is it?” Mom asks.
“Sienna has just left her father’s apartment in Queens. I wanted her to stay here, but she’s too stubborn to listen.” I’m already heading for the door.
“Kyle.” Mom’s voice halts me. “Maybe Queens is the best place for her right now. While she’s with her father, she’s removed from whatever is going on with Caelan’s son.”
The only problem with that is I don’t trust her father either.
Sienna doesn’t question why I’m at the gallery. She closes the door behind me, turns the key in the lock, and I follow her into her office.
Nothing has been moved. The gallery is still clean and fresh and bright, but something oppressive is hanging in the space above our heads, casting a whole new light over the vibrant artwork. Twilight has come early, and it isn’t going anywhere.
Not until I make this situation with Nick Morris go away.
When she turns to face me, her eyelids are heavy, her face ghastly pale.
“Talk to me, Sienna.” I try to hide the dismay at her tired appearance from my voice. I’m clambering over precarious rocks here, an obstacle placed between us by a man who has now disappeared off the face of the earth.
“I doubt I can tell you anything you don’t already know.” She fills the coffee machine, and hovers next to it, waiting for the aroma to fill the room.
“You stayed in Queens last night, With your father.”
“Ha! You’re not even going to pretend you’re not having me followed.”
“You left the Wraith in a hurry. I was worried about you.”
“So, Seamus has been sitting outside my father’s apartment all night?” Her voice has lost the accusatory edge.
“Not all night.”
She straightens two cups on the tray next to the machine. “What about the men who were outside my apartment? Are you still denying any knowledge of them?”
“Sienna…”
I want to take her home with me. I want to tuck her up in my bed and watch her sleep peacefully, safe in the knowledge that no harm will come to her while she’s in my care. But she isn’t ready to trust me, and so far, my attempts to gain her confidence keep backfiring.
“If they were my men, you wouldn’t have known they were there.”
Her lips twitch at the corners. “Did Seamus have anything to report back in the night?”
There’s something she isn’t telling me, but I’m conscious that I need to tread carefully. She let me into the gallery this morning. The moment she stops talking to me will be the time I start truly panicking. If she doesn’t keep me in the loop, I can’t protect her.
“Like what?” I hesitate, unsure how far to push it. “I know you got a pizza takeout.”
“Ah, but do you know what toppings and sides we got?” Finally, the smile reaches her eyes.
“You’ve got me there.” I allow my shoulders to drop just a fraction, enough to let her know that I’m still not here to put pressure on her. “I know that you picked up some clothes from home and then didn’t leave the apartment until you came here today.”
Her expression immediately turns serious again. “What about my father? Did you have him followed too?”
“I know where he was if that’s what you’re asking.”
Sienna furrows her brow. “Where?”
Okay, so either he hasn’t told her where he’s been, or she doesn’t believe him.
“He was in a casino.”
“Which one?”
“Does it matter?”
My mom said that she couldn’t protect herself and her family if she wasn’t armed with all the relevant information. But this is different. Sienna’s father is a loser with a gambling addiction. He’s easily handled. Unlike the illusionist cosmetic surgeon whose pièce de résistance is vanishing into thin air.
She inclines her head. “Did he win?”
“No.” I’m hoping she doesn’t ask me how much money he lost.
She fills the two cups with strong black coffee and hands one to me. “So, he’ll be desperate to win some money back, huh?”
“That’s how it usually goes.”
“Shall we sit down?” It isn’t really a question.
She slides the chair out from behind her desk and sits down. She rests her elbows on the desk and cups her face with both hands as though her head is too heavy to hold up.
I sit opposite her.
“What time did he get home?”
“What’s this all about, Sienna?” I don’t spell it out: she spent the night in his apartment, but she’s asking me about his movements. Something isn’t quite right.
She blows the surface of her coffee to cool it down and takes a tentative sip. “I only want to know what time he got home.” Her bloodshot eyes are all over the place, and that’s before the caffeine hits.
“Around 5 a.m.”
She chews her bottom lip so aggressively I’m worried she’ll put her teeth straight through it. “You’re sure about that?”
“Aye.”
“Did you see anyone else enter or leave the building?” Her voice trembles.
“Neighbor on the first floor went out at twelve-thirty and came back with a carrier bag filled with liquor and smoking a joint. Another neighbor left earlier in the evening to start a night shift at the hospital.”
Sienna sits upright. “How do you know this?”
“She was wearing a nurse’s uniform, and she didn’t look like she was heading to a costume party.”
She puffs up her cheeks and releases a steady breath. “That’s that then.”
“You’ll have to let me into the secret, or I can’t help you.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She strokes the side of her cup with her thumb catching a stray drop of brown liquid.
“It does to me.”
For the first time since I arrived, she looks at me properly. “I heard him come home. I couldn’t sleep, and I thought it was an intruder. But when I questioned him about it this morning, he said he was home by midnight.”
“Maybe he was confused.”
“He was drunk, you mean?”
I spread my hands. “Aye. Or maybe he felt guilty for leaving you alone all night and hoped that you didn’t hear him come in.”
“I guess…” She doesn’t sound convinced.
I feel as if I’m being torn in two. Part of me wants to sit here until I’ve convinced her to take advantage of a suite in the Wraith. While the other half of me, the half that isn’t controlled by my heart, is trusting my mom and Terry’s advice to keep her safe in Queens. For now.
“Sienna, do you feel safe with your father?” I can’t let this question go unasked.
She closes her eyes and inhales deeply. “I shouldn’t feel safe with him after what he did to my mom, but I don’t think he would hurt me. Besides, I have a curtain pole.”
“A curtain pole?”
“Long story.” Her lips quirk into a weary, lopsided smile. “I’ll keep it next to my bed.”
Her gaze holds mine, and it feels as if she has a whole lot more to say but doesn’t know where to begin.
“You know that you can call me any time.”
“I know.”
“I’m not going to pull my men, Sienna. I know you don’t like the idea of them knowing your every move, but until… Well, until I’m certain that you’re not in any danger, they’re staying.”
“You think I’m in danger?”
“I’m simply being careful.” I swallow a mouthful of coffee. “Have you heard from Nick?”
Her hands instinctively curl into fists, and I want so badly to unfurl them, kiss them all over, and ease the tension in her spine.
“Not since he… Not since he came to my apartment with flowers.” Pause. “Why?”
“No one knows where he is.”
She arches an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t know where he is.”
“He isn’t at his clinic. His assistant claims that he’s busy with family matters.”
She shakes her head vehemently, and I feel her slipping away. “Maybe he wanted a break from being followed too.”
“No, Sienna, that isn’t what this is all about.”
“What is it all about then? You can’t keep dropping cryptic hints without telling me what the fuck is going on. You don’t like each other, I get it. But you can’t go around forcing innocent men to skip town and then shift all the blame onto them.”
“Sienna, he isn’t innocent. He isn’t the person you think he is.”
“Go on then.” All traces of weariness have gone from her voice. “What has he done that’s so bad?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Well, be sure to come and tell me when you find out. Or maybe just ask Seamus to knock on the door and recount the message on your behalf.”
“Sienna, please listen to me. I don’t want to leave you in Queens, but my family believes that you’ll be safe there. They?—”
“Your family? So, what, you all sat around a boardroom table and decided that I can’t look after myself? That I’m a gullible artist who doesn’t recognize a con man when he asks me on a date?”
“No, it isn’t like that.”
“Was Victoria invited to this meeting? Did she agree with me staying with my father? Because that sure as shit wasn’t how it sounded the last time I spoke to her. Or does she have to go along with the family decision?”
Her cheeks are growing flushed. I don’t know how but whenever we’re together, the conversation always spirals out of control. But I do know that it always revolves around Nick Morris. Every goddamned time.
“No, Sienna. Victoria doesn’t know about any of this.” I stand up. “But I do know that she would want me to protect you, and that’s what I intend to do.”
I walk back through the gallery, and she doesn’t follow me. It takes every ounce of my self-control not to turn around, run back to her, and take her home with me.
But I don’t.
When Sienna Walker comes to me, I want it to be on her terms.
Until then, I will do everything in my power to keep her safe. Even if it means following her backwards and forwards to Queens myself.