Page 43 of Protecting Siena

Once we left Vegas, we bought a small commuter car to get us to California. Gully had to do all the talking because I was still bleeding a little, and I’m sure I would have freaked the couple out. We paid cash and hit the highway as soon as we could.

Taking a sip of water, I tell Gully the rest of the directions to the town that Siena and I were hiding out in.

When we finally get there, I tell him to take me to the diner, and I hurry inside. Siena isn’t here, as part of our plan, but I need to get my shoulder looked at. Seeing Sally, I make my way to the counter, and her eyes widen.

“Slade!” She gasps, and hurries over to me. She looks behind me at Gully, and I tell her that he’s good. She ushers us to the back and I take a seat in the office. “I’ll get the doctor. Where is Finley? We haven’t seen her in a while.” I grimace when she puts pressure on my wound, and I close my eyes.

“She’s somewhere safe.” I grit out when the pain gets to be way too much.

“I’ll be back.” She exclaims, as she runs out the door. I don’t even bother saying anything. When Gully looks at me, he shakes his head and looks around the place.

“Slade and Finley?” I nod, but don’t say anything. “Can you really thrust these people?” He asks this time.

“Yeah, they’ve helped us out when we needed it. Sally has been amazing with Siena, and she has helped more than you know.” He nods his head and takes a seat on the other chair.

“Do you think they are going to come after us?” He asks. He puts his head in his hands, and I can only imagine what he’s thinking right now. I know exactly how he’s feeling. I had the same fears when Siena and I first got here. Right now, I just want to get fixed up so I can go get my girl.

“Only if they can find us.” I murmur as the door opens and the town’s doctor comes into the room. He grins at me, and I stand up to shake his hand. “Hey, doc.” I greet.

“Where is your pretty little wife? She’s due soon.” He gives me a knowing look, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“I’m going to get her after this. I had to make sure she stayed safe.” The doctor got the information out of us one day while we were in his office. He had asked some questions about our families, and at first we didn’t give him anything. He went on about how important the information was, and Siena spilled a little too much. He promised to keep our identities a secret, and I’ve trusted him ever since. He’s more like a father to Siena than Xavier ever was.

“Looks like you got into a nasty fight with a gun.” He raises an eyebrow, at me and I just grin.

“You got to do what you go to do when it comes to your family.” I bite out as he uses tweezers to extract the bullet.

He digs a little bit more, and I swear under my breath. He starts to chuckle and I bite the inside of my cheek to take my mind off the pain in my shoulder. Once he gets the bullet out and stitches it closed, he puts it in a little container, and hands it to me. “You’re lucky it wasn’t over a few more millimeters.” I thank him for helping me out as I get up and Sally hands me a shot of what looks like whiskey.

I shoot it down quickly, and reach out for the keys to the car. I can’t bring him to see the hiding place that I had Siena go to when I left. I want it to stay hidden, just in case they come back for us. “I’ll drop you off at the house. I need to go and get Finley.” He hands them over without a word and I hug Sally and tell her thank you for everything she’s done for us.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart! Just make sure your girl comes by for some pie. I made her favorite.” She gives us a warm smile.

“I’m sure she will be excited. I’ll bring her by later. Save her a piece.” She nods and wraps her arms around me, careful not to hit my shoulder.

“I will.” She whispers in my ear.

When we get to the house, I hand Gully my keys and tell him to make himself at home and that I’ll be back in a few hours. He nods and makes his way inside without another word. I watch the light flip on, and I can finally take a moment to myself. I know that Tony and her brother will probably try to come after us, but knowing that Gully is here, too, makes it a little easier to wrap my head around the upcoming threat.

Driving the hour to get to the hideout that Siena and I found a few months ago, I think about all the shit that I wish was different. I think about how I hate bringing a child into this fight, and not knowing that I can keep them both safe. They both deserve more than I can give them, but I’m too selfish to give either of them up. They are mine, and there is no way that I’ll ever let that change.

Putting the shitty car in park, I shut the engine off, and I see the sheet in the window move slightly. Getting out, I make my way to the door and I can’t hear any movement. Grabbing the key out of my pocket, I unlock the door and turn the light on. “Siena.”

I hear her cry out, and she comes waddling towards me as fast as she can, and as cute as ever. “Sloane.” She whispers through her tears. She wraps her arms around me, and I hiss out a breath when she hits my shoulder. She instantly pulls away, and I feel bad. Her eyes roam over me and they widen when she sees my shoulder.

“Oh my God. What happened?” She pushes my shirt sleeve up and runs her fingers lightly over the new stitches.

“One of your father’s lackeys shot me.” I don’t tell her about her father, I keep that little detail to myself.

“He let you go?” Her eyes are wary, and she knows, just like I do, that he wouldn’t have let me come back for her.

“Let’s not dwell on what happened while I was there. We have plenty of time to figure out where to go next, all I care about right now is making sure you and the baby are safe. Gully is at the house waiting for us.” She frowns, and I’m pretty sure she knows the answer to the question that’s in her eyes.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” A tear forms under her eye, and her grip on me tightens.

“It was either him or me.” I whisper. She sucks in a breath and her legs give out. I catch her before she falls to the ground. I know she loved her father, even after everything he’s forced her to do.

Moving her over to the small bed, I pull her into my lap and she cries into my chest. We sit like that for a long while. I don’t even know what to say to her. She knows he’s a bad guy, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was her father, and she loved him. I get it, I really do.

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