Which wasn’t true. Finding her wouldn’t be difficult; I already had eyes on Jasper, and he'd be the first person she'd run to, to help him escape his fate. But since my visit to hisapartment, he’d been keeping his hands clean and his head down. Just as I knew he would.
But if I were being honest with myself, I genuinely liked spending time with Sienna. She didn’t look at me like the monster she once said I was. Being around her was a breath of fresh air from the endless talk of everything Bratva.
I wondered if this was how my brothers felt with their wives.
Then I reminded myself…Sienna wasn’t really my wife. This was an agreement. A redemption, maybe. A chance to quiet the nightmares of my parents’ deaths and Ninel's kidnapping. If I saved her, maybe they’d finally stop.
“Avit, please. I'm used to staying in the shadows, being ignored. Having you there is like having a huge spotlight on me. It's nerve-wracking for someone like me. This is important to me.”
And then she looked up at me, her eyes soft and trusting and I knew I'd cave.
I wanted to give her what she wanted. I wanted to trust her. Wanted her to keep looking at me the way she did.
I nodded. “Fine. If this is what you want, I’ll grant your wish…but on one condition.”
Chapter 6 - Sienna
It had been a week since Avit stopped following me to class. In his place, he sent Wexler. That was his one condition—someone had to accompany me at all times.
Naturally, Mandy asked where Avit had disappeared to, and I told her he decided to switch to online classes instead. When she noticed Wexler trailing behind me, I lied again and said that after my father’s incident at work, he’d become a little paranoid and wanted to make sure I was safe. Mandy, of course, gushed about how sweet and protective my father must be, how lucky I was to have him. I forced a smile through her praises, then quickly changed the subject, asking if she’d seen Dan around since I hadn’t spotted him since the incident with Wexler.
Mandy told me that Dan had gone to live with his grandmother, who was sick in Australia, and decided to finish his master’s degree there. Even though that was the story Dan fed her, something in my gut said otherwise. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Avit, or maybe Wexler, had threatened him. Because of me, he’d been hurt and forced to uproot his entire life to the other side of the world. And I couldn't help but feel guilty that just for him showing a gentle gesture to me, he had to pay such a harsh price.
Even though Avit no longer came to campus with me, we still ate breakfast together every morning, and he still brought me dinner sometimes at night. Part of me kept expecting to see him lurking around campus, to catch him breaking his own rule and pretending he hadn’t. But he didn’t. He kept his word and gave me the space I needed to focus on my midterms.
And yet, somehow, his absence unsettled me. The more space he gave me, the more off balance I felt.
Not only that, but he didn’t seem interested in consummating our marriage. The only time he had touched me was that day in his office.
Disappointed, are we?
No…it's just…
Maybe he isn’t the monster I’d thought him to be.
In fact, he seemed…kind of sweet, in a possessive, dangerous sort of way. And yet, I no longer felt threatened by him. The more I tried to keep my guard up, the harder it became to maintain it.
Stepping out of the campus building today, I let out a long, relieved sigh. My last exam was over, and I had the next seven days to relax. During the week, the results would be posted online.
When Wexler dropped me off at the house that afternoon, I found myself instinctively heading toward Avit’s office before I even realized it. But he wasn’t there, and I couldn’t explain why I felt a flicker of sadness. Shaking it off, I went to my room, took a shower, and curled up under the covers, looking forward to the rare stretch of downtime.
***
The next day, I woke up around ten. Oversleeping wasn’t something I usually did; maybe it was everything that had been happening lately. On my nightstand sat a tray of pancakes, bacon, and orange juice, along with a neatly folded note from Avit asking me to see him in the office when I woke.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that he’d been in my room while I slept. Was it a gesture meant to reassure me that I was safe with him, or a quiet reminder that he could enter my space whenever he wanted?
I sighed, quickly freshened up, and left the untouched breakfast behind as I reluctantly made my way to his office.
When I got there, I knocked on the office door.
“Come in,” Avit called.
I stepped into the office just as Avit looked up from the file on his desk. Something about his desk was different, but before I could figure out what, he spoke.
“Good morning, Sienna.”
“Good morning. You needed me for something?”
