Chapter 28
28
Sienna
Asher was in front of me in an instant; concern coating my man’s face. I held up a shaky hand to stop him. It was hard to breathe. Panic was trickling down my spine like ice.
“How do you have my father’s phone?”
“Aw, he’s right here, Syla,” Diesel said in his cocky voice—the one I was all too familiar with. “Want to say hi to him?” Before I could answer, I heard a thud and my father groan.
“Don’t hit him!” I screamed.
Asher started to grab for my phone, but I turned away. “What do you want?”
Diesel laughed in my ear. “What do I want? I want the last four years of my fucking life back, you bitch. That’s what I want.”
“Put him on speaker,” Asher demanded.
I shook my head no. If Diesel heard Asher’s voice, he’d hit my father again just because. I ran to the middle of our yard, holding up a hand for Asher to stop. Please, baby, I mouthed at him.
“Listen, whatever it is you need, just don’t hurt him anymore. My father has nothing to do with this.”
“Oh, Syla, I’m going to enjoy carving him up into pieces. Should I start with his eye or maybe see how long it takes for your old man to bleed out .” My father shrieked in agony.
I felt my own heart thud, making me feel dizzy. “STOP! Don’t, don’t, don’t. Don’t hurt him anymore.”
“Dear old dad said you were in California, but it looks like that’s a lie, Syla. You’re just a dirty, little liar, aren’t you.”
My hands were trembling so hard, I could barely hold the phone. “Just tell me what you want.”
“You have forty-eight hours to get your ass back here before I stick more holes in your old man, beyond the one I just stabbed in his thigh. You want to see him alive again, you best hurry.”
“Okay, okay. Where?”
“Call this number when you land in Phoenix. You call the cops, he’s dead. You call the mother-fucking DEA, and I will kill everyone you’ve ever known, including those around you right now. And Syla, you’re a smart bitch, come alone.”
The phone clicked off in my hand as the grass rushed up to meet me. I faintly heard Asher yelling my name as I hit the ground.
“Sienna! Baby, talk to me.”
I felt my body jostle and then the blue sky slowly came back into focus. Asher pulled me up in his arms.
“Sienna”—his warm hand brushed my face—“baby, that’s it. Keep breathing.”
It took a moment for my brain to catch up, dragging slowly out of the darkness. “What happened?”
Asher kept petting me. “You passed out, baby.”
I tried to sit up, but my arms felt weak, like I didn’t have full control of my body.
“Easy, sweetheart. Just take a few deep breaths. You’re all right. Just breathe.”
The reality of the moment came back in a hot rush. My phone was in the grass a few feet away. Hearing my dad’s screams made me want to throw up.
After a few minutes, Asher helped me stand and he walked me slowly into the house, where he deposited me on the couch. A few seconds later, he came back with a glass of water. I wasn’t thirsty but the cool liquid helped. But panic was still suffocating me. I needed to go. “I have forty-eight hours.”
I tried to get up, but my body had other plans.
“Easy, babe. Just sit here a minute. Tell me what’s going on.”
I rested my head as the world was currently still slightly spinning. And then reality hit me—hard.
“He has my father.” I met Asher’s concerned stare. “My ex, Diesel. He’s kidnapped my father.”
Asher started reaching for his phone.
“No, don’t!” I yelled. “He’ll kill him.”
He set his hands on my knees. “Why? I need answers here, sweetheart. Otherwise, I’m making calls.”
“You have the number for the Army? ‘Cause that’s what you’ll need.”
He didn’t like that answer.
Over the next hour, I told Asher all the things I’d never shared. Who Diesel really was. His motorcycle gang. Him going to prison. The hours I’d spent in interrogations with the DEA and whatever other police officers wanted answers. How I’d suspected Diesel had killed Freddie and the waitress who’d taken my job at the Waffle House. And how Death was finally coming to collect me.
There was no room for secrets anymore.
And the last thing I wanted was to have Asher, or Candace, or anyone else to get hurt. These were my choices—my choices only—that had led to this mess. And as much as I loved Asher, he needed to have a beautiful life—without me. He argued, yelled, and said a hundred curse words but there was no way I’d let him step in harms’ way.
Diesel only wanted me.
“He’s going to kill you, baby. No fucking way I’ll ever let that happen.”
I tried to think of a way to protect everyone, but all options led to death. My choices had already killed my father. If he wasn’t already dead, he’d be soon.
And I couldn’t live with that. There’d be no way. I looked into the eyes of the man I loved, touching his face one last time. “I have to go, sweetheart. And you have to let me.”
“No.” Was all Asher said as he pulled out his phone. He looked at the screen for a moment, came to some conclusion, and then pressed it. His eyes locked on mine as he said to the person who answered, “Tell me what you know about the Double Daggers.”