18. Kyle
18
KYLE
I should never have suggested that Sienna stay in the guest room. I guess part of me was hoping that she’d turn me down, so I only have myself to blame when she curls up on the king-size bed, with the comforter wrapped around her, and closes her eyes.
I shower, dress, and study my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
I can still taste her. Even if I never get to see her again, this is a taste that I will never forget. I remembered it all those years following the accident, as if I was subconsciously waiting for her to come back into my life and fulfill me.
My mate in every sense of the word.
My soulmate.
Sienna is still sleeping when I let myself out of the apartment and head into my office. I open my laptop and instinctively retrieve the files containing Nick Morris’s personal information.
Why did he propose to Sienna?
I refuse to believe that he loves her. So, what was he hoping to achieve? Was it simply his way of hurting me by stealing the woman I love out from under my nose? Then what? Once he had her, how long would their marriage have lasted?
My attention settles on the name Caelan O’Reilly.
My brothers and I didn’t inherit our father’s violent mood swings and sociopathic tendencies. We’re probably typical examples of nurture over nature. But our mom saw something in Nick Morris that caused her to pack a suitcase and run.
Should I have told Sienna the truth?
I saw how disturbed she was when she arrived at Caleb and Victoria’s apartment, and maybe I’m being overly cautious when it comes to mentioning his name around her, but there’s too much at stake. I can’t risk losing her again.
I won’t risk losing her to him.
Although last night would never have happened if she had any kind of feelings for him.
My cock twitches inside my pants at the memory of Sienna blindfolded, her pussy in my face, dripping wet and ready for me.
I’ll stay with her in Ireland if that’s what she wants, but I can be patient. Knowing that she’s safe, I’ll wait as long as it takes.
I call Terry and ask him to update me on the situation regarding Robert Carlton Hooch. Sienna’s father.
“No movement since last night. I’ve got men posted outside his building.”
“Did you inform the other casinos?”
“Sure did.” Terry pauses. “Seems the guy has ramped up more debts than we thought. If the Bogrovs don’t get him first, the Sicilians will.”
“Why is he still hanging around?” I’m thinking out loud. If I was carrying that kind of baggage, I sure as shit wouldn’t be frequenting the big casinos and getting caught cheating… “Is he on Bash and Cash’s radar?”
“No. Seems last night was his first attempt at testing the Murrays.”
“Because of Sienna?” My mind is still hopping between Sienna sleeping naked in my guest room, and the incident at the gallery. I’m still trying to connect all the dots. “Anything on CCTV from the break-in?”
“The fuckers knew what they were doing.”
“So did he.”
“You still think he needed an alibi?” I can hear Terry’s thoughts buzzing at me through the handset.
“I’m certain of it.” I only wish I knew why.
“Where’s Sienna now?”
“In my guest room.” Yep, my cock is right there with the image.
There’s no reaction from Terry, but snippets of my conversation with Sienna flash into my head. She heard her father come home in the wee hours of the morning, which was confirmed by Seamus, but her father insisted that he was back by midnight. Why did he lie about it? Or did he?
“Are you sure you’ve got his building covered?” I ask Terry.
“What are you thinking? You want him checked out?”
“If you owed the big boys a whole load of cash, would you still be showing your face in the casinos?”
Terry’s quiet. Then, “Reckon I’d be slumming it underground.”
“So, why isn’t he? Is he depending on Sienna sharing an insurance payout from the gallery with him?” This doesn’t sit right with me either though.
“Three days after a twenty-year self-imposed hiatus?” Terry sniffs loudly. “Smells more to me like he wanted an introduction to the Murrays.”
“That makes two of them.” My voice had dropped and the hair on the back of my neck is standing to attention.
“Him and the surgeon?” Terry asks.
“Do you still have a tail on him?”
“Do you really need to ask?”
“Tel, can you get an exact location on them? I mean can you make sure they’ve not left via the laundry chute while your men were eying up the front door?”
“I know exactly what you mean.” He ends the call.
Fifteen minutes later, Terry calls me back to inform me that neither man is at home.
My next call is to Nick’s clinic, where the receptionist informs me that he is still on compassionate leave.
“Like fuck is he,” I mutter under my breath.
I’m not expecting to see Caleb, but I almost let out a sigh of relief when the door to my office opens, and he walks in. He’s wearing a suit, and the widest grin I’ve ever seen on my brother’s face.
“Did you miss me?”
This is the thing with me and Caleb. We’re close to the twins, but they have their own connection which comes from sharing our mom’s womb, so our bond is different to the one that we have with them. Caleb has always had my back. Ever since we were little kids cowering from our father’s fist, it’s as if he instinctively knows when I need him and pops up like a guardian angel sporting his brotherly halo at a jaunty angle.
“Does Victoria know that you’re here?” They have a new baby, and I’ll send him back upstairs if it means keeping Victoria happy.
“I’m here on her orders.”
I can’t help smiling at the mental image of Victoria shoving him into the elevator and warning him to get out from under her feet. I remember Mom doing the same to Terry when Emily was a baby.
“She wants me to make sure that Sienna is safe.”
“Safe?” I arch an eyebrow. “Is that a euphemism for in my bed?”
Caleb laughs out loud. “I distinctly recall you insisting that she should take your guest room.”
“She did.” I raise my hands in mock surrender. “This morning.”
When Caleb speaks next, his tone is serious. “What’s the deal with the asshole surgeon?”
“Terry’s currently hunting him down. Sienna’s father has conveniently vanished as well.”
“So, the sooner we get her away from here the better. Then we can resolve this without any distractions. Can you be ready to leave tonight?”
“You managed without me for three months. Another couple of days isn’t going to make much difference.”
Caleb doesn’t respond, but I can see in his eyes that he doesn’t agree.
“What is it?” I ask.
“We both know this isn’t about Sienna. I never thought I’d see the day when Mom left the city because she was afraid for Emily.”
I should stay, but I promised Sienna I’d travel with her and make sure that she was settled. Am I always going to be torn in two if we make a life together here in New York? Is this how Caleb feels now that he has a wife and a child?
“I’ll stay.”
Caleb shakes his head. “No can do. Victoria would never forgive me. I just need you to promise me that you and Sienna will leave tonight.”
“What about you?” It feels as though I’m abandoning my family when they need me the most.
“What about me?” He shrugs.
“You should be spending time with Victoria and Holly.”
Caleb comes to me and places his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t worry about me. It’ll all be taken care of. I’m Superman, remember?”
“Spiderman.”
“Was it Spiderman?” He furrows his brow. “Jeez, I need to catch up on some sleep.”
He cups the back of my neck with one hand and pulls our foreheads together.
“Go. Convince her to get on that plane tonight. Tell her that I’ll drag her there myself if I must.”
Sienna is still asleep when I let myself back into my apartment. My pulse races as I nudge open the door to the guest room; I was half-expecting to find her gone, and an empty jewelry box left behind on the pillow.
I stand there for a while, watching her sleep.
I would give everything I have to go back to New Year’s Eve six years ago and not climb into that car with her. We could’ve watched the sunrise from the roof of the Wraith. I’ve watched it many times since, and it never fails to aim a sucker punch to my gut when I recall her smile. “ We should go watch the sunrise .”
Six words that altered the course of our lives in ways we could never have imagined.
I’d swap places with her in a heartbeat.
I’d give her back her life. Her freedom. Her confidence.
Snuggled up inside the comforter, she wriggles, and a bare arm appears. She stretches, arching her back, jolting me out of my reverie.
She should know how beautiful she is.
I will make her believe me if it’s the last thing I do.
“Sienna.”
I keep my voice low, but she still jumps visibly. She sits up, pulling the comforter up to her chin, yawning widely. “How long have I been asleep? Have you been standing there the whole time?”
I smile. “No.” I wish I had. I’d still be oblivious to the two men lost somewhere in the maze of New York City with the woman I love in their sights. “We’re traveling to Ireland tonight.”
“Tonight?” Her eyes narrow. “Why? Something has happened. Is it my father?”
Strange that her instinct is to name her father instead of Nick. She still trusts the surgeon, and this knowledge seems to suck all the air from the room.
“Nothing has happened to your father.”
The less she knows the better. I don’t want her to change her mind at the last minute out of some misguided obligation to check up on him.
“The jet is ready. There’s no point delaying it.” I try to keep my tone light-hearted, but I’m sure that she can see right through me. “Besides, Caleb is under orders from his wife to make sure that you’re on a flight tonight.”
Her eyes soften at the mention of Victoria, but they quickly cloud over, like the heavy sky outside. I could add that I want to leave the city before the threatened snowfall hits, but she’ll get suspicious the more pressure I apply.
“I should speak to Nick.”
My hackles are instantly raised.
“I haven’t spoken to him since I ran away last night, Kyle. I should at least apologize for leaving without a word.”
I nod, thin-lipped. “I’ll give you some space.” Even though giving her space to speak to him is the last thing I want to do.
I wander back to the kitchen and switch on the coffee machine, straining to hear her voice, to know what she is saying to him even though it feels like a knife straight through my chest.
The coffee pot is only half-full of steaming black liquid when she follows me into the kitchen, still clutching the comforter around her. “No answer.” She chews her bottom lip. “I’ve messaged him to say that I’m going away for a while.”
Now is my chance to tell her that she doesn’t have to go. We’ve forced this trip on her. She would never have considered taking a break if Victoria hadn’t suggested it. But I can’t.
Whatever Nick’s intentions, this isn’t over yet.
“Thank you,” I say.
She smiles. “For what?”
“For letting me help you.”
She comes closer. Her lips part to reveal perfect white teeth. Her eyes lock onto mine.
“I’ve never been on a private jet before.” Her voice is husky.
“It beats economy class.”
Closer.
“Do we have time…?”
“Time for what?” My cock responds by knocking against my pants, fighting to be set free.
Sienna drops the comforter.
She’s still naked. I can see the faint marks on her breasts from where I sucked on her earlier, the flush on her abdomen, the raw patches on the mound of her pussy left behind by my beard.
She reaches for my hand and sucks my index finger before inserting it inside her. My mouth closes on hers while I work her sex to a frenzy, supporting her against my chest until her shudders subside.
We order food from the Wraith’s restaurant and get it sent up to my apartment. We shower together. Seamus collects Sienna’s clothes from her apartment, and we pack our bags in silence, sharing occasional glances across my bedroom.
She hasn’t mentioned Nick Morris since she messaged him earlier. I’ve seen her checking her phone several times, but I don’t think that he has replied.
“I feel like a little girl again.” She zips up her luggage and stands it upright on the floor. “My mom’s friend had a lodge on Greenwood Lake. She would let us use it in the summer, and I’d get so excited whenever we packed our suitcase even though I knew what to expect.”
“Sometimes it’s better to know where you’re going.” I smile.
I know what she means. I have the same sense of exhilaration gurgling through my veins at the thought of traveling to Ireland with her. I can’t wait to show her around. To throw open the sliding back doors of the annex and watch her inhale the view. To see Ireland through her eyes for the first time.
“Kyle. What if I can’t paint again?”
I place a folded sweater inside my case and cross the room to stand in front of her. I hold her hands; she’s trembling.
“What’s brought this on? You have an amazing talent, Sienna. Don’t let the selfish fuckers who broke into the gallery destroy your confidence. You’re better than that.”
She nods and sucks on her bottom lip.
“You are, Sienna. We all believe in you.”
My phone vibrates then, and I slide it out of my pocket expecting to find Seamus’s name on the Caller ID.
It’s Caleb. “Where are you?”
“I’m still at home. We’re about to leave.” My pulse is racing.
“The Titan has just been raided.”
What the fuck! Cash’s resort hasn’t been raided since the alliance with Don Dragonetti was formed. The don saw to it that the Commissioner left the Murray establishments alone in return for the little arrangement regarding the police commissioner’s vacation homes and annual allowance.
“How bad is it?”
“Cash has been arrested.”