“I don’t know about that,” she says softly. “But we’ll have a good time, I promise. You’ll have your toys and your books, and I’ll be there with you. Now just settle in, and it won’t be long before we get there.”
Adam looks at his mother pensively. “What about the scary man?” he asks plaintively, looking up to where I’ve settled myself in the driver’s seat. I see him in the rearview mirror, eyeing me, and I see the expression that crosses Sienna’s face, one of pinched worry.
Scary man.For some reason, hearing that in the childish voice from the backseat stings. I've been called worse things by people who had more reason to fear me than this child does. But something about hearing it from someone so young, so innocent, makes me feel like a monster.
Well, I am one, aren’t I? I’ve spent my life building myself into something brutal and terrifying. It’s the reason why I’m able to protect this woman and her child. Because I’mscary.
"Damian will be there too," Sienna says carefully. "But he's not going to hurt us. He's going to keep us safe."
Adam considers this for a moment, then nods with the easy acceptance of childhood. "Okay."
“I’m sitting back here with him,” Sienna says, buckling herself in as she leans over to shut the door, and I can tell from the tone of her voice that she’s daring me to tell her to do anything differently. It doesn’t matter to me where she sits, so I don’t bother.
The drive to the estate takes forty-five minutes through Miami's pre-dawn streets. I take a circuitous route, doubling back and changing direction to make sure we're not being followed. In the rearview mirror, I can see Adam's head beginning to droop as the motion of the car lulls him back toward sleep. Sienna is sitting beside him, tense and upright, her eyes fixed out the window at the passing city. The sky is starting to turn that odd color just before dawn, when it hasn’t begun to grey yet, but there’s the promise that it will start growing lighter soon. The neon of the city is still bright and flickering, but the sidewalks are quieter now, the only people out and about are the younger crowd that parties until dawn.
"What happens now?" Sienna asks quietly, her voice barely audible over the sound of the engine. The sound of her voice briefly startles me.
I glance back at her in the rearview mirror. “Now you stay alive. Both of you.”
"And after that?"
I don't have an answer for her. The truth is, I don't know what comes after. I've never been in a situation like this before, never had to consider the long-term implications of protecting someone who isn't part of the Bratva. I was impetuous when I dragged her to the church, and I’m beginning to realize just what a complicated mess this is all turning out to be.
But I couldn’t have left her. The thought of her lying dead in her building’s parking lot, or bleeding out on the ratty carpet in her apartment, makes my chest tighten painfully. She’s young and innocent, and whatever happened to put her in the situation where I found her tonight, she didn’t deserve it.
I acted on instinct. Which makes me wonder if Victor was right,all those years ago. He said that we were predators, not protectors… but my instinct was to protect this woman.
At least for now.
The gates in front of Konstantin’s estate swing open as we approach, the guards recognizing the car. Ahead of us, the estate spreads out in all its glory—Spanish-style architecture, impeccable landscaping, and security that does their best to make themselves invisible most of the time, although I can see a few of the men moving about the property, shadows in their fatigues. I glance back at Sienna in the rearview mirror and see her sitting there, wide-eyed, her lips parted as she takes in the place where she’s going to be living for the foreseeable future.
I park the car in front of the mansion and twist to face her, letting out a long exhale. “Welcome home.”
5
SIENNA
As Damian drives through the gates that swing open in front of us, all I can think is that the estate looks like something out of a movie. The bill for the landscaping alone, to keep grass this green in the Florida heat, is probably more than I make in a year. I look around as he pulls up in front of the mansion, trying to take it all in, to internalize that this is where I’m going to belivingfor the foreseeable future. I should feel like Cinderella, but all I feel is terrified.
Maybe if it was just me, and I didn’t have Adam to worry about, I’d feel differently. But all I can think is that I don’t know this man, that I don’t know anything about him or who he works for besides the fact that they’re part of anorganized crime operation, and I’ve just entrusted not only mine but Adam’s life to him.
But what other choice did I have?
I look at the Spanish-style mansion, standing like a monolith in the pre-dawn light, and I let out a long, shaky breath.
Adam has dozed off again, clutching the elephant that I tucked in next to him, his head lolling against the side of the car seat. My chest tightens with emotion, with the need to protect him, and I bite my lipas I take in how peaceful he looks, how unaware of how drastically our lives have just changed.
I wish I could feel that same innocence, that same trust that everything will be okay.
I swallow hard, looking up at the mansion again as Damian kills the engine. The contrast to my cramped apartment is so stark it's almost laughable. A few hours ago, I was worried about whether I could afford groceries this week. Now I'm staring at a mansion that could house half my neighborhood.
Damian twists to face me. “Welcome home,” he says, without a trace of irony in his voice, and I swallow hard, nodding.
“Does anyone know we’re coming?” I whisper, and he shakes his head.
“No. I’ll fill Konstantin in come morning. His wife wasn’t feeling well, so you likely won’t see him. I’ll find the housekeeper once we get inside and get rooms made up for the two of you.”
Rooms. The two of us.So I won’t be sleeping in his bed. “I could share a room with Adam,” I venture, and Damian shakes his head.
