14. Stitches
STITCHES
“W hat are we going to do?” I asked Church later that night. We’d put Sirena to bed an hour ago. She’d gone with a sad smile and a kiss for each of us before snuggling deep into Church’s mattress.
We’d returned downstairs to talk.
Church had told me about Cady and Sin the same day I found him in Cady’s room. It had been a few days, and it helped calm me. I’d been so pissed about the news that Church had to pin me to a wall so I didn’t tear up the house.
Then again, I knew some shit went down because I knew Sin, and the Sin in that hospital bed wasn’t himself. It explained why he didn’t want to video chat with Sirena the day she’d called him. If I knew him like I thought I did, he would withdraw and wallow in his self-pity.
“Sin will be home Saturday,” Church continued. “Cady isn’t going to leave anytime soon. This house is going to get really fucking tense.”
I grunted. “I’m not looking forward to it. What do you suggest?”
“That we protect Sirena. I don’t need her fucking broken over this shit. I told Cady she needs to tell her, but I don’t think she will.”
“It’s hard to tell your sibling you fucked her person,” I muttered. “I mean, look how you reacted all those months ago when you thought I was fucking Sirena while you guys went out to burn.”
He scowled at me. “This isn’t like that. You know Sin. You know how… crazy he can get when it involves feelings. And this? It’s going to fucking kill him. We need to be ready to deal with his meltdowns. He’ll be in the same house with her.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Church scrubbed his hand down his face. “We need to talk to Ashes about it, though. He’s always filled with ideas that keep our asses grounded.”
I lit a joint and took a deep hit before passing it to Church. I watched him smoke for a few minutes before he handed it back. He settled in his chair while I let my head rest on the back of the couch as I finished off the joint.
“You going tonight, or do you want me to?” I asked, staring up at the ceiling, high off my ass.
“I’ll go. Sleep in my room with Sirena. I’m sure Ashes will join you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, man. Don’t have to bend my arm.”
He got to his feet and rubbed his eyes. “I can’t wait for him to be home so we don’t have to do this shit. I hate that fucking place. The sooner we tear it down, the better.”
“Truth,” I mumbled.
He went to the door, slid his feet into his boots, and grabbed his jacket. “I’ll talk to Ashes before he leaves. Let him know what’s going on. You guys can see if you can sort shit before I get back in the morning. And don’t fucking tell Sirena. Maybe we can avoid all this, and Sin will be fine.”
“Fucking hope so,” I muttered. I highly fucking doubted it, though. I knew Sin better than he knew himself. When he loved, he loved hard. And when he crashed?
Fuck.
* * *
I didn’t move from the couch. I waited for Ashes for over an hour. Finally, the front door opened, and he came in, his nose red from the cold and snow in his hair.
“Thought I was going to have to send a search party,” I said, glancing at him.
“Sorry, man. Church wanted to talk.” He took his jacket and boots off, came over, flopped onto the L of the couch, and yawned.
“He told you?”I asked.
“Yep,” he muttered, his blue eyes fixed on me. “What the fuck, man?”
I sighed. “What the fuck indeed. Got any ideas on how to head this shit off?”
He shook his head, remaining silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke. “Well, we know how Sin is, so we’re ahead of the game there. If Cady stays here for a bit, maybe we should consider what to do about Sirena. This will affect her. She may not know what’s going on, but she’s smart. She'll be able to tell. She already knows they were naked together. Any news on this matter won’t shock her completely, so that’s also working in our favor.”
I nodded. He had a point.
“So I think the best bet would be to keep an eye on them. Work on shit as we go and not make a big deal out of it. If shit gets bad, we tell Cady she has to go. I know she’s Sirena’s sister, but we have to ensure we’re looking out for Sirena and Sin first and foremost. We can always ask Asylum to deal with Cady.”
“She hates him. She does a shit job at hiding it, too,” I said.
He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, well, he has a way of growing on people. Like a fungus.”
“He probably heard you say that,” I said with a chuckle.
Ashes gave me a grin and sat forward. “Hell, he probably predicted months ago I’d say it.”
I snorted. He wasn’t wrong. The guy was Grade A Strange.
But he helped with Sireana, and she seemed to give a damn about the weirdo, so that meant a fuck of a lot to me. We’d endured together. I’d never forget how he’d protected her. Even now, I knew the nut only wanted vengeance on those pricks who hurt us. I was sure we’d be getting it soon, too.
“I’m going to head up to bed,” Ashes said, getting to his feet. “Grab a shower and sleep. I’m fucking exhausted.”
“I’m sleeping with Sirena in Church’s room. You coming?” I asked.
“Absolutely. I’ll be up after my shower.” He left the room then, and I raked my fingers through my hair before getting to my feet and heading upstairs.
Sirena was fast asleep, her long black hair twisted around her, her bare leg peeking out from beneath the white comforter.
She was breathtaking, and I thanked God every day I found her. Life was mediocre before we met her. Now? I actually wanted to get out of bed so that I could have the chance to make her smile.
Fuck, what love could do to a man.