“Seven months.” Milly’s smile wavered. “But she’s malnourished. I haven’t been…” A sob broke free. “I haven’t been taking care of my little girl.”
“Don’t worry. We have a wonderful OB/GYN at the Ranch. He’ll get both of you in top shape in no time,” Sadie assured her.
Crone returned with the drinks, and Milly’s moan of pleasure as she sipped the hot chocolate was almost painful to hear. Sienna’s gaze kept returning to her rounded belly. Moira was pregnant and Sienna wasn’t bothered by that since she kept her distance from her. Sitting so close to Milly, who also suffered a loss at the hand of cruelty, stirred the most painful memory. Her own hands drifted to trace the hateful scar across her abdomen through her dress. The loss hit her like a physical blow. Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe.
She bolted up, barely managing to choke out, “Excuse me... I need to... I need some air,” before fleeing outside.
Chapter Twelve
Mega Pizzeria, Missoula
Crone
Crone hadn’t missed a single nuance of Sienna’s reactions to Milly’s story. Her eyes had kept returning to the pregnant woman’s belly, and her own arms had unconsciously mimicked Milly’s protective gesture. His heart clenched at the flash of raw anguish in her eyes. He recognized that look. It was the same one he had seen in the mirror for years after he was rescued.
He felt her breaking point coming moments before she moved with her body tensing like a bowstring about to snap. When she fled, he was right behind her and followed her into the dark alley beside the pizzeria where she was pressed against the brick wall. Silent sobs wracked her small frame.
“Shh, love. I’ve got you.” He gathered her into his arms with one hand cradling her head against his chest while the other stroked her back in soothing circles. Questions and theories raged through his mind as he held her, each was worse than the last, but underneath it all, a slow-burning fury began to build. He didn’t need details to know someone had hurt her in the worst possible way.
When her sobs finally quieted to hiccupping breaths, he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead before tilting her face up with a gentle finger under her chin.
“Did he kill your baby, Sienna? Is that what that mark on your stomach means?”
The color drained from her face. “H-he didn’t want her and claimed she took my attention from him.” The words spilled out in broken whispers as the full dark tale she had refused to share spilled to the surface. Her voice faltered as she relayed the degrading scenes at his exclusive club, how his demands had escalated after she fell pregnant, and that final, horrific day when she had adamantly refused to comply. The memory paralyzed her tongue, freezing her words as she recalled the clinical brutality with which he’d cut their child from her body.
“How far along were you?” Crone barely recognized his own voice through the roaring in his ears. The rage threatened to consume him, to drag him back to those dark days in captivity. But her suffering was worse. He’d been a game piece in a war. She wasn’t at war. What the bastard had done was calculated cruelty against someone who should have been cherished for the precious gift she carried.
“Almost six months.” Her voice was barely audible.
“Who is he?” The words tore from deep within. Each syllable carried intent and the need for vengeance.
“No!” She recoiled with terror flooding her eyes. “Don’t ask me his name, Crone. He’s a dangerous man. I never realized just how dangerous and cruel until that day. I... I can’t stand to lose anyone else to that monster.”
“You won’t lose me, love, but it’s time you stopped running and looking over your shoulder every time you step outside of the Rawhide Ranch building.”
“What are you saying?” Sienna couldn’t deny the truth of his words. Even walking around the Ranch’s fields, it always felt like there were unseen eyes watching her.
“He needs to die.”
Sienna’s breath caught as her eyes widened in shock before darker, more primal emotions flickered in their depths. Relief and perhaps hope that finally the nightmare could be over.
“For as long as he’s alive, you’ll never feel safe. And for as long as he’s alive, I will always want to kill him.”
“No, Crone. He needs to be punished for what he did, but we’re not doing that. We’re better than him.” Her smile was brave but tremulous. “I’m now better than him.Youmade me better. Yes, I still fear him looking for me... but you make me feel safe. Even here, out in the open... I’m not afraid anymore.”
Crone pulled her close, enveloping her small frame in his arms. She felt so delicate, so precious that rage and nausea roiled through him thinking of that faceless bastard’s brutality.
“T-that’s why I can’t have children. The damage he did…” Her voice cracked with pain. “And it’s the one thing I hate him for with every cell in my body.”
Crone’s jaw clenched as he held her. A silent vow ran on repeat in his mind. He would find this monster, and when he did, death would be too merciful an end.
Mike Newman
The street outside Mega Pizzeria, Missoula
Mike Newman stepped out of Missoula First National. Satisfaction curled his thin lips into a broad smile. StanHunter always had a knack for spotting the weak ones. Those whose greed outweighed their morals. The bank manager had practically salivated at the proposed figures even though it would turn him into a white-collar criminal. Stan might be a respectable businessman in Seattle’s upper circles, but the real money flowed through their darker venture, known as The League. They exclusively dealt in the illegal trade of raw diamonds, rare gems, antiquities, art, and gold.
His attention was drawn across the street as the pizzeria’s door slammed. He paused, squinting against the late afternoon sun. Recognition hit him like a punch to the gut.
