Chapter 21 – Sienna #2
Maeve beckons him closer and holds out her phone, all business. He reads it, and whatever is written there draws a quiet seriousness from him.
“I’ll give you my support. Because I want to know who did this, and I’ll quite enjoy your father getting his due."
Luca nods and bows his head before taking a step back as she pushes to her feet. “I’ll get them, Maeve. Have no doubt.”
She pats his arm as she passes.
"I only came over to make sure your intentions were pure, but I pressed send the moment I saw you two flirting in the hallway.
" She rolls her eyes and tucks the phone away.
"Alfonso will know immediately that I’ve done this to support you, and the alliance, despite there being no marriage to bind us.
What comes next, however, because there will be a retaliation, is on you.
" Her gaze slides back to me one last time, brief and precise. "Take care of yourself, Ms. Fox."
She walks out, giving Luca a stiff nod, and a moment later, the front door closes.
I drop my chin to my chest, glad that’s over and relieved to have made it through that alive.
"What was on the phone?" I ask tentatively, not sure I’ll get an answer.
Luca is already moving, his own phone out.
"A statement to the press telling them that Kate and I were never really engaged. That they misread a friendship, and to keep our upcoming wedding a secret, we never corrected them. But to honor Kate’s memory, the O’Sullivans wanted to set the record straight so they’d be left alone to grieve.
" He glances at me, just briefly. "She wasn’t joking. She'd already sent it."
"Will anyone believe that?" I ask, unable to help myself.
Everyone saw me in my waitress uniform at the restaurant. What woman would go that far to keep the ruse going? There’s stretching the bounds of believability, and then there’s this.
Luca arches one dark brow. "The truth is whatever the most powerful person in the room says it is." Then adds, “And what possible reason would she have to lie?”
I look toward the door she just walked out of. This woman made the trip over here, in the midst of her grief, just to look me in the eye and decide if I was taking Kate’s place for the right reasons.
“What would she have done if she didn’t like me?”
Luca shakes his head, scrolling on his phone.
"She's a little terrifying," I say.
"Yes." Luca almost sounds fond. "She really is."
“I might want to be her when I grow up,” I comment.
Luca’s phone starts ringing in his hand, and he looks up. “Looks like someone believes it.”
If Rebecca sees this before I tell her myself, she’s going to lose her shit. Before he can leave to answer the call, I catch Luca’s wrist before he can pull away. "My phone."
He hesitates. "What about it?"
"I want it back. Now," I say firmly. “Kate’s death is public knowledge. As is our engagement, apparently. I need to talk to Rebecca.”
For a moment, I think he's going to argue. Then he reaches into his jacket pocket and produces my phone, placing it in my palm without question.
I blink hard. The fucker had it on him this whole time.
"Thank you." I power it on as he lifts his phone to his ear and walks away, fielding questions about me, about the wedding, and reconfirming the story Maeve has just put out.
Notifications flood my screen almost immediately.
Oh God.
Rebecca's messages start confused, then concerned, then increasingly frantic.
Where are you? Call me back.
Sienna, seriously, what's going on?
I just saw the news. WHAT THE FUCK.
Is this real? Are you actually engaged to Luca Calvano??
Your landlord says you moved out?? MOVED OUT??? What is happening?!
Then, a link and screenshot of a short online news report, hastily thrown together when Maeve’s message landed.
There's a story saying Kate's mother is THRILLED to hear about the engagement. "Sienna is a wonderful young woman, and we couldn't be happier for Luca, who is a dear family friend."
Quickly followed by a link to an old newspaper article about how the Calvano family has evaded authorities for years but is still suspected of being heavily involved in arms dealing, money laundering and numerous murders across the Midwest.
Heading back to my room to get into something more comfortable, I stop walking in the middle of the foyer, staring at the screen.
How is this out already? I wince as the next message pops up.
OH MY GOD. Where are you?? I need proof of life.
I need to call her, but first, some twisted part of me that’s a glutton for punishment wants to see what’s being said about me in my group chats.
Opening my messages, I search for the college group chat, the one that was looking for all the gossip when the first pictures of me outside the restaurant hit the news.
It's not there.
Frowning, I scroll back further. We've had that group for years. Hundreds of messages, study sessions, and commiserations over failed classes. It can't just be gone.
I go into my contacts instead, typing Jake's name into the search bar. We were only messaging last week about a project we’re working on together.
No results.
My fingers move faster now, a cold dread settling in my stomach.
Adam, from the clinic two towns over, whom I'd been planning to ask about work experience.
Nothing.
Ben, Rebecca's brother, who helped me move into my apartment.
Gone.
David, the jerk with the restaurant contacts I might need again when all this ends.
Vanished.
I scroll through the full list, watching the names fly past. Every single male contact has been erased.
For a long moment, I just stare at the screen, convinced this has to be a joke, but as I watch Luca’s straight back continue down the hall, I know this is no prank.
Indignant rage builds up inside me as I cross the foyer in quick, furious strides and hurry down the corridor after him.
He enters his study and closes the door behind him, but I’m there in mere seconds, not bothering to knock, just shoving open the door hard enough that it bangs against the wall.
Luca looks up from behind his desk as he lowers himself into a buttery soft leather chair, phone pressed to his ear, with one eyebrow raised at my entrance. He holds up a finger, but he may as well be waving a red rag at a bull.
"Problem?" Luca asks, entirely too casual.
"You deleted my contacts,” I grit out. “How fucking dare you.”
Thrusting my practically obsolete phone in his direction, I rest one hand on his desk and stare down at him.
Luca regards me mildly, then, after a long pause, designed I’m sure, to make me even angrier, he drums his fingers on the table.
"I'll call you back." He ends the call without waiting for a response, impatience clear in the way he regards me. "I did. I edited them."
Huh. I expected him to deny it, at least, at first. Instead, Luca doesn't even have the decency to look the least bit apologetic.
"You edited them," I repeat the words slowly, each one dripping with disbelief. "And you think this is okay? Normal?"
"Normal, no. Necessary, however, if you’re to be the wife of the head capo? Yes."
The calm certainty in his voice makes me want to scream. "This is wrong. Undo it."
Luca gives me a cocky smile and shakes his head, like the mere suggestion that he fix what he's done is ludicrous.
"No." When his fingers wrap around his phone, conversation over, about to go back to his call, I cover it with my hand. His dark eyes lift to mine, corners pinched, and his lips press together.
"Luca..." I warn, not sure what else I can do, but the urge to stomp my foot is strong.
"Sienna." He rises from his chair and rounds the desk, moving toward me with an intensity that makes my pulse jump. "You agreed to be my wife. That means there are certain... boundaries."
Edging back, I attempt to look unbothered as he steps closer, invading my personal space, forcing me to tip my head back to look up at him.
"Boundaries?" It comes out high-pitched and shrill despite my best efforts. "Having friends is breaking a boundary?"
"Having male friends who have your personal number and can reach you whenever they want?" The knuckles on his clenched fists turn white, and the muscles in his arms bulge. "Yes."
"That’s ridiculous." I’ve always had male friends. I work with men. It doesn’t mean I’m going to run off and have affairs with them.
"Perhaps to you, it seems that way." He doesn't appear bothered by the accusation as he tilts his head to the side and crowds me, my ass now resting on the edge of his desk, as far back as I can go. "But you agreed to this, to me. And I don't share. I won’t share any part of you."
We stare at each other, the air between us crackling with tension. Part of me wants to throw the phone at his head, but another part of me, the part I'm ashamed of, feels a dark thrill at the possessiveness I see.
“You’re crazy,” I whisper, my tongue darting out to wet my lips.
He looms over me, further and further, until I’m forced to sit my ass onto the wooden table, or I’ll tip backward. “And you’d do well to remember that, Sienna.”
He checks his watch, and just like that, his intensity transforms into cool professionalism.
"I have meetings this afternoon. Carmella will be here if you need anything. She’s ordered some clothes for you and left them in your room to try on.” Easing back, he stares at my lips once more. “We'll finish this discussion when you’ve calmed down."
"Don’t count on it."
Snatching up my phone, I stomp out of his study, vibrating with a heady mix of lust and fury, and call Rebecca.