I followed, knowing it wasn’t a request.
He led me to a quieter corner, then turned to face me.
“After Jasper’s death, I did my own digging,” he said. “I know Sienna is his daughter. I don’t have the whole story, but I’m guessing Jasper is why the books were off.”
I nodded.
“Listen, it doesn’t matter how things started with Sienna. What matters is what you feel here.” Then he tapped my chest twice over my heart and walked away.
I didn’t know if it was seeing someone dressed like her, Marten’s words, or the tap on my chest that unlocked the memories; the last event at Ninel’s gallery, how stunning she’d looked in that dress. How I caught her staring at me, and she ran. The first time we made love. The nickname she gave me.Holding her as she cried at her mother’s grave. How she tricked me and won the damn canoe race.
The last twelve days had been hell. I didn’t want another without Sienna. She’d burrowed into my soul, and she was the only thing that could pull me from this funk. I didn’t care about what my siblings would think when they found out who she really was. I didn’t want to spend nights staring at a glass and a vodka bottle, playing mind games. I wanted her. All of her. My wife.
If she didn’t want me, she’d have to say it to my face. I was ready to risk it. Sienna did feel something for me. I knew that. Maybe her pride didn't want to accept falling for a man who’d forced his way into her life. But I wasn’t backing down. After this auction, I’d find out if we could salvage what we had.
When the auction began, I returned to my family and waited. I waited for Oskar to walk through the door.
An hour later, Oskar still hadn’t shown. Where the hell was he? I just wanted to get this over with.
I headed to the bathroom to wash my face and get a grip on myself, and when I stepped out, a man was waiting in the hall. He just handed me an envelope and walked off.
I tore it open and pulled out a photo and a note. The note barely registered; something about if I wanted to see my wife again, to go to the listed address, signed with Oskar’s initials.
My focus locked on the picture.
Sienna.
Her eyes were closed, and blood trailed down the side of her face. She was tied to a fucking chair.
My fingers tightened around the photo until it crumpled.
Oskar was going to pay with his fucking life for touching my wife.
Chapter 22 - Sienna
God, my head felt like it was splitting open.
I pried my eyes open, only to squeeze them shut again as harsh light stabbed straight through my skull. Nausea rolled through me.
When I tried to move, the rope bit into my wrists and ankles.
Then it all came back in a rush.
The knock at the apartment door.
Mandy opening the door.
A blow to her head.
Men storming in, shouting threats.
Me agreeing to go because I had to protect the baby growing inside me. The baby I’d already chosen to keep. Because even if I couldn’t love Avit the way I wanted, I could love what I carried from him.
Then the car door.
A hit to my skull.
Darkness.
