Chapter 9 - Avit #2
“Where I want to go is none of your concern. I already said I’d come back.”
“So I’m just supposed to let you leave without knowing where you’re going? And without security?”
“Avit, I can—”
I cut her off. “The answer is no.”
“You can’t stop me from leaving!”
“Do you really want to test that theory?” I stepped toward her, menacing.
Even though she stepped back, her eyes flashed with defiance.
“I have to leave,” she snapped. “I have to go today.”
“Then tell me where,” my voice rose. “And I’ll go with you.”
She scoffed. “Why? It’s not like you care anyway.”
Why the hell wouldn’t she tell me where she was going?
Was she going to meet Jasper again?
“I don’t need to care,” I bit out. “What I need is for my wife to be safe.”
“Whatever.”
She spun around and stormed off. I immediately shot a message to Wexler: Keep a close eye on her.
I went back to my office, sat down behind my laptop, and tried to shove the irritation out of my head. I needed to finalize the numbers for our new deal and send the projections to Lev.
But my eyes kept drifting to the doorway.
And my jaw refused to unclench.
When I finally came up for air, it was close to ten-thirty.
I needed to talk to Sienna. If she still planned to see her father, maybe she'd finally tell me why. Maybe we could come up with a way to get Jasper to slip up and mention his supplier if he thought she was alone. Since we started digging, the bastard hadn’t made a single move. Which meant one thing—he would soon.
When I reached her room, Wexler was standing outside.
“She asleep?”
“I checked ten minutes ago. She was studying.”
I nodded and walked in without knocking. The shower was running, but something felt wrong. There was no scent coming from the bathroom.
Not her soap. Not her shampoo. Nothing.
Shit. What if she’d collapsed?
I knocked on the door. “Sienna?”
But there was no answer.
I rammed my shoulder into it until it fell off its hinges. I scanned the small room.
It was empty.
My stomach dropped. I spun back to her bedroom and headed for the windows. I yanked them open one by one. On the last one, I froze.
There was a tree branch, close enough for someone of Sienna’s height to reach. Small twigs on the branch were broken.
“Fuck.”
I stormed out and called Wexler.
“Sienna is gone. How the fuck did she leave this house without anyone noticing?”
I heard him barking orders at the guards as I headed for the stairs.
“Mr. Safin, a silent alarm went off at the back of the house about ten minutes ago. The guys checked but saw nothing.”
“That’s when she slipped out,” I snapped.
“Sir, should we check the cameras?”
“She’s an IT student. She would’ve put the damn feed on a loop. Did you put the trackers in her hoodies like I asked?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to bring her home.”
“We’re right behind you, sir.”
I hung up, bolted into my car, and tore out of the driveway.
Sienna was going to pay for defying me and for putting herself in danger.
I opened the tracker app, and sure enough, a red dot was moving across the map. At least she hadn’t figured that part out…yet.
Every single one of my brothers’ wives, even Ninel, had been kidnapped, lured away, or snuck out at some point. I wasn’t about to let Sienna become the next damn statistic. I needed eyes on her at all times, whether she liked it or not.
Could I have let her go earlier and tracked her quietly?
Yeah. Of course.
But that wasn’t the point.
Sienna needed to understand that leaving the house without a guard, or without me, was unacceptable. If I let that shit slide once, she’d think it was an option. And then she’d keep doing it.
I’d rather nip that in the bud before anything escalated.
Because in our world, it always did.
It didn’t take long before I spotted her. I’d know Sienna’s walk anywhere.
Her black hoodie was pulled low, and her hands were buried in her sweats. I parked, jumped out, and closed the distance in seconds.
I grabbed her arm from behind and spun her toward me.
She yelped, stumbling, and I caught her automatically, pulling her against me.
Her eyes met mine.
Fear flashed across her face, then recognition. Something else flickered there, too, before anger slammed over it like a shield.
“Let me go!” she shrieked, shoving at me.
“Do you really want to create a scene right here?” I growled. “Because one call from me can create a much bigger one, one that includes your father.”
Her eyes widened. She froze.
“That’s what I thought. Now let’s go.”
“I’m not going. There’s somewhere I need to be!”
“Where the hell do you need to be at eleven at night?”
“I would’ve gone earlier if you had let me!” Her voice shook. “I didn’t know being married meant giving up my freedom to go wherever the hell I wanted!”
“You wouldn’t tell me where you were going! If you did, I would’ve gone with you. Why are you being this damn stubborn?”
“I don’t want you there! It’s none of your business. I only have an hour left.” Her voice cracked. “I have to be there.”
The hair on the back of my neck rose. Something was wrong.
Was something wrong with Mandy? Was someone trying to blackmail Sienna?
“Where do you have to be, Sienna? Why the deadline?”
“It’s my mother’s birthday!” she shouted, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I just wanted to go see her.”
…Fuck.
All Sienna wanted to do was go to her mother's grave.
Everything made sense. Her being sick, zoning out, looking like she was on the verge of collapsing. When Ninel was young, every year when it was close to either of our parents’ birthdays, she'd fall ill. She never really grew out of it.
“Get in the car,” I said.
“Avit, please, I…”
I didn’t let her finish.
I’d heard enough.
I scooped her up, carried her to the car, and put her in the passenger seat. I buckled her seatbelt, then put the child lock on before shutting the door.
I walked around, got behind the wheel, started the engine, and pulled away from the sidewalk, with only one destination in mind.