by C. J. Thomas
“I have other things going on,” I said, leaning back. Yesterday, that was exactly my assignment but now I had to stick to the city to find out what was going on with Sienna. “Noah will take care of you.”
“He doesn’t know equipment like you do.”
My eyes fell to the images printed on the page. “Tell me more about the idea you have for this place.”
Evan’s grin spread to his ears. Scooting to the front of his seat, he straightened his spine and began telling me the big plans he had. “It’s going to be a fully inclusive getaway.” He held his hands up, looking around the room as if he was already there. “A real working ranch.” His eyes sparkled like fireworks on the Fourth of July. “Horseback rides, cattle drives, mutton busters, and maybe even the occasional rodeo with some of my buddies.”
“And in the winter?”
“Then, when things die down out of season, I expect to fully enjoy the quiet all to myself.” He smiled.
My cell alarm went off, interrupting our conversation.
Evan searched my desk for the source.
I pulled my phone out from beneath some papers. One glance at the display screen and excitement coursed through my veins. It was time. “I have to go.”
Evan stood with me. “Just like that?”
I gathered my things, closed out my computer, and stepped around my desk. Evan was still looking at me with disbelief twisting his face sideways and probably wanted to know what was so important that I needed to attend to now. I couldn’t mention anything about my PI, at least not until I shared whatever information I was about to learn with Noah first. This was our secret, and I was happy to keep it that way.
“Don’t crash my Mustang.” I pointed at Evan.
“Whatever.” He waved me off.
I hurried past the front desk, slowing at Julie to say, “Tell Noah I’m out for the day.”
She smiled and promised me she had me covered.
Stepping into the elevator, I was whisked down to the lobby floor thinking how Noah was probably getting annoyed with me already. It wasn’t a super productive first day, but there were too many things I needed to take care of to stay focused. I couldn’t blame him if he was, but I knew he would forgive me. Especially if the PI could make something of my request.
I shifted my weight around, needing the elevator to move faster. Impatience swelled in my chest, and once the elevator slowed to a stop I wedged my shoulders through the doors and hurried outside.
Once at my Harley, I tossed a leg over the seat, strapped my helmet on, and reached for the handlebars. Cranking the engine, I darted out in front of traffic and raced to the south side of town.
My stomach roiled—nervous to know what I was about to learn.
Rush hour traffic tended to be horrendous this time of day, but knowing I didn’t have time to wait, I zipped between cars, continuing to weave my way closer to the restaurant.
I tightened my grip when I thought about how Sienna was about to get married. My stomach clenched when I imagined what I might do once I learned who her fiancé was. I was deathly afraid that I might snap and kick the asshole’s teeth in just to make sure he would never hit another woman again.
The bike’s muffler roared when I turned the wheel and came to a stop along the curb.
Taking off my helmet, I glanced to the front of the restaurant with smells of grilled meat lofting through the air. Glancing to the park behind my shoulder, I found the PI sitting on the bench with his sunglasses pulled over his eyes.
We nodded and I marched over to him.
Taking a seat next to him, I said, “Why did you want to meet here?”
He lifted his finger and pointed to the restaurant. “That’s where they’ll be eating.”
“Who?”
His eyes shifted to me. “The man you asked me to uncover.”
“Do you have a name?”
He gave a curt nod and glanced to his watch. “They should be arriving soon.”
I stared at the restaurant with a pinched expression.
“The two families are getting together for a celebratory dinner.” He rolled his head to me. “Tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner, then—”
“—you don’t have to say it. I get it.” Every muscle in my body tightened when thinking about Sienna taking another man’s hand in marriage.
“And you want to stop it.”
I gave the PI a sideways glance. “Is it possible?”
“Security is going to be tough considering she’s the senator’s daughter.” He turned his gaze back to the restaurant. “Here they come now.”
I watched as an older couple strolled up the path, hand in hand. “Who are they?”
“The groom’s parents.” He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a flash drive. “I have it all here. Each individual profile, including a deep dive into the groom.”
I took the flash drive between my fingers and glanced to the stick. “Who is he?”
He jutted his head. “Here he comes now.”
My head snapped around. When I saw his face, I tipped forward and pulled my sunglasses off my eyes. A steady pounding of my heart left me speechless. I couldn’t believe the face I was looking at. How could this be?
When I blinked, I was back in Afghanistan. Bullets were flying over my head. A sharp, burning sting kept my leg from moving and I thought I was going to—
“His full name is—”
“Save your breath.” My hand balled into a tight fist on my thigh. “I already know.”
The PI gave me a surprised look.
“Corporal Gary Sycuro.” I sighed. “Or, in other words, the man who saved my life.”
22
Sienna
My eyelids felt like they were glued together when I woke to the first round of banging.
It took a minute to register where I was and what I was hearing.
I heard the knock on my front door again.
Rolling over in my bed, I squinted my sleepy eyes at the digital clock on my nightstand. “Really?” I flopped onto my back, rubbed my eyes, and groaned. “It’s too early for this.”
The knocks grew louder the longer I waited, their urgency becoming clear. Throwing the covers off, I dropped my feet to the floor and pulled a shirt over my head as I padded to the front of my apartment.
“Sienna! I know you’re in there. Let me in.” Monica banged harder on the door.
Blinking the grittiness out of my eyes, I reached for the handle and opened the door with a glare. “What is so urgent that you couldn’t call?”
She stuck her head over my shoulder and peered inside. “Is Gary here?”
“I’m alone.” I stepped away and turned to the kitchen.
“Oh Good.” Monica followed me inside. “I mean, that’s super lame that you two are living separate lives, but ...”
I stopped, tucked my hair behind my ear, and gave her a look.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s better that he’s not here.”
I turned around, shaking my head, and opened the fridge. It was too early for this. I was too tired and needed coffee in my system before finding the patience to actually listen to what was on her mind.
“You never did text.”
My brows knitted together.
“You said you would text me and Sophia after your dinner.” Monica pressed her lips together. “Sienna, you never texted.”
“There wasn’t anything to say.” I didn’t want to go into detail about last night. Living the nightmare was punishment enough. Reliving it would just be plain hell. “And, besides, I said I would call. Not text.”
Monica rolled her eyes. “So, how did it go?”
I pulled the coffee beans from the freezer and held the bag up to Monica. She nodded but continued to stare me down until she was satisfied with my answer. “Put it this way. I had more men from the bar undressing me with their eyes than anything Gary gave me.”
“Ouch.” Monica’s lips pursed.
“Yeah.” I sighed.
“What an asshole.” Monica took a seat at the counter. “You should be having the hottest sex of your life right now.” I didn’t need the reminder. “Unless he was a two pump dump kind of guy.”
“Gross.” My body shivered.
“They exist.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“Why are you here so early?”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Of course I do.”
“You haven’t seen it, have you?”
My eyes rounded and my heart began pounding like a drum. I was afraid to know what she was talking about. That was what the knocking had been about. It had to be something big. “Seen what?”
She arched a single brow and dove her hand inside her purse. “How are you ever going to call off your wedding after this?” She flipped her phone around.
I stepped forward and squinted at the photo on her phone.
“It’s official,” her second brow raised with her first, “the world knows about you and Gary,” she grimaced, “and they’re rooting for you.”
I cocked my jaw and flicked my gaze upward. “No, they’re rooting for my father.”
Monica dropped her gaze down to her phone. “Look at all those comments.”
Every last bit of oxygen left my lungs, leaving me feeling breathless and desperate for air. My situation was only getting worse. I didn’t want to read the comments. I could only imagine what the trolls had been saying.
Monica lifted her head. “Please tell me I don’t have to worry about the rehearsal dinner today?”
I found myself staring at the photo, still pulled up on her screen. I looked stiff as a board in Gary’s embrace, his lips finding mine, after Dad’s toast. Shifting my eyes to Monica, I looked at her from beneath my brow and said, “I thought you were excited to flaunt your singleness this weekend?”
“Not if you’re going to have to be stuck with that douche,” she cringed as she nodded to Gary, “for the rest of your life.”
“Gee, thanks, that’s so kind of you.” My head bobbled. Turning on a heel, I began making coffee.
“Has he even said he was sorry?”
I grinded the beans and turned on the water. There was only one more banana in my fruit bowl and I peeled it. After taking a bite, I said, “He has.”
Monica tucked her chin into her neck. “But he didn’t mean it.”
I shrugged one shoulder. While I wasn’t quick to forgive him, I reminded Monica that all men made mistakes.
“He still deserves to die.” Monica reached for an apple. I heard her crunching through a bite as she scrolled through the comments. “How did this get out, anyway?”
Thinking of last night, I was reminded of the journalist pretending to be a ghost in the room. “My father invited at least one journalist to the dinner last night.”
“And now we know why.” When I told her more about last night’s dinner, Monica couldn’t hold her tongue. “You’re making me believe that this wedding is a mistake.”
“I wasn’t lying when I called it off.”
“Look at you.” Monica frowned. “I haven’t ever seen you like this.”
I folded my arms across my chest and felt the tears threaten to fall. “I can’t handle it. I feel like I’m about to burst my top. No one is listening to me.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Thank you.” My words fell to a whisper. “First, it was my father, then my mother. She even asked if I loved Gary.”
“What did you say?”
“That I don’t.”
Monica’s eyes widened. “Whoa.”
“And she was willing to listen. I saw it in her eyes. But then we were interrupted and it never came up again.”
“You’ve gotta call this off.”
“I’ve tried.”
Monica inflated her cheeks like a blowfish.
“Part of me wants to forgive and forget what Gary did to me. Except he doesn’t even seem interested in me anymore. Last night he ignored me, made me feel like I didn’t even matter. My heart is broken and I don’t know what to do.”
Standing, Monica edged the counter and wrapped me up in her arms. My head hit her shoulder and I started to cry. Her hand petted my head when I said, “He can’t even tell me where he was yesterday. How am I supposed to think he’s not seeing his ex if he can’t even answer a simple question?”
“Oh, honey …”
I lifted my head, darting my eyes between hers.
She knitted her brows. “What is it?”
“There is something I haven’t told you or Sophia.”
Biting the inside of her cheek, she took one step back.
Feeling my body flush with sudden heat, I wondered if I should even say. In the end, I knew that I had to come clean. These were my best girlfriends and they deserved to know. Never mind that it was too much to keep to myself any longer.
“What is it, Sienna?”
My shoulders tightened as my fingers touched my neck. “You better sit down for this.”
23
Trevor
The sounds of traffic alerted me to morning.
After learning about Gary, I’d retreated to my garage and locked myself away. It was too much of a shock to my system. I had been preparing to make my point clear with my fist, but everything changed when I saw his face.
Rolling to my side, I tucked my hand under my head.
Staring down at the half-empty bottle of whiskey, my eyes were burned from my sleepless night. No matter how much I drank, my body was immune, refusing to give in to the rest it sought.
I struggled to find the words to explain the intense irony my situation with Sienna presented. My mind spun in its tangled web and left me with the same confusion as last night. I couldn’t stop rubbing my thigh, as if that was the source of my anxiety.
Lifting my head off the couch, I pulled my boxer shorts up my thigh at the hem. Fixing my gaze on the scar of where the bullet entered and seared my body, it was a constant reminder of the debt I owed Corporal Gary Sycuro for saving my life.
I flopped back onto the couch, rubbing my face inside my hands.
I’d spent far too much time getting lost in the memories of my tours in Afghanistan. The sounds of explosions filled my ears, the chorus of men crying out for others to save them.
Feeling the urge to drink, I reached for the bottle and wrapped my fingers around the neck. Instead of lifting it to my lips, I froze once again when my eyes landed on the faces of my friends who were killed. I’d stared at the picture all night, pleading for them to give me some kind of answer on how best to go forward. I wondered what they would do in my situation.
“Fuck.” I swung my legs over the side and stood. Blood rushed to my head and stars flashed in front of my eyes. Regaining my balance, I couldn’t believe the odds. It seemed unreal, like it had all been planned.
With Evan borrowing my Mustang, the garage seemed unusually empty. I moved across the floor easily, opening the front door to let fresh air inside. The sun warmed my body and I stretched my arms above my head.
I knew I needed to talk this through with someone. The irony was too big to ignore.
When I stepped back inside, my gut twisted with a conflicted feeling unlike anything I had felt before. It was just as painful as the day I was shot. Perhaps worse, because it not only involved me, but Sienna, too.
I stopped near the couch, my hands traveling over my bare chest.
It was easy to imagine Sienna here, taking her time to scrutinize the place that very clearly defined the man I was. Inside, I knew my heart was telling me to protect her, get her out before he harmed her again. But, at the same time, I didn’t know how I could betray the man who’d kept me from dying.
I lowered myself to the couch with a pinched brow.
I sat there for a long time trying to remember the last time I had seen Gary. It had been a while, but I’d known he was living in Colorado. He’d moved here once he left the Marines, taking a job in the medical field. We’
d met up a couple of times in the early days before going our separate ways.
I rubbed my hand through my hair before stealing a sip from the bottle.
Swirling the amber liquid in front of my eyes, I knew Noah was right about me needing to stop drinking. It wasn’t doing me any favors. Drowning my emotions with alcohol wasn’t doing me any favors.
My cell rang and I picked it up. “Where are you?” Noah asked before I even had a chance to say hello.
I turned my head to the front door. “At the garage. Why?”
“You didn’t sleep there, did you?”
“No.” It was the truth. I didn’t sleep even though I’d spent the night here.
“Can you come into the office?”
I heard commotion on the other end of the line, like he’d pushed a pile of paper on the floor and he was trying to pick them up without dropping the phone. “On a Saturday? What’s going on?”
“Just get down here ASAP. I’ll tell you then.”
“Give me an hour to shower.”
“Make it a half hour.” Noah paused. “And don’t worry, Evan didn’t crash your car.”
I lowered my phone and set it on the arm of the couch. My Mustang was the last thing on my mind, but the sense of urgency in Noah’s voice did little to calm my already sensitive nerves.
Standing, I marched to the bathroom, taking the bottle of booze with me. Hovering over the sink, I flipped it bottom-up and poured it down the drain. “This one’s for you, brothers,” I said, thinking about my fellow Marines.
Tossing the empty bottle into the trash, memories of Sienna came rushing back. I could see her lips rounding in the mirror as I took her from behind. Heat spread across my chest as I remembered the way her body molded perfectly against mine. I could still feel the way she clung to me, sheathing me with her velvety walls.
I blew out a heavy sigh, knowing that my pull to her was much too strong to ignore.