Caleb doesn’t respond, but I can see in his eyes that he doesn’t agree.
“What is it?” I ask.
“We both know this isn’t about Sienna. I never thought I’d see the day when Mom left the city because she was afraid for Emily.”
I should stay, but I promised Sienna I’d travel with her and make sure that she was settled. Am I always going to be torn in two if we make a life together here in New York? Is this how Caleb feels now that he has a wife and a child?
“I’ll stay.”
Caleb shakes his head. “No can do. Victoria would never forgive me. I just need you to promise me that you and Sienna will leave tonight.”
“What about you?” It feels as though I’m abandoning my family when they need me the most.
“What about me?” He shrugs.
“You should be spending time with Victoria and Holly.”
Caleb comes to me and places his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t worry about me. It’ll all be taken care of. I’m Superman, remember?”
“Spiderman.”
“Was it Spiderman?” He furrows his brow. “Jeez, I need to catch up on some sleep.”
He cups the back of my neck with one hand and pulls our foreheads together.
“Go. Convince her to get on that plane tonight. Tell her that I’ll drag her there myself if I must.”
Sienna is still asleep when I let myself back into my apartment. My pulse races as I nudge open the door to the guest room; I was half-expecting to find her gone, and an empty jewelry box left behind on the pillow.
I stand there for a while, watching her sleep.
I would give everything I have to go back to New Year’s Eve six years ago and not climb into that car with her. We could’ve watched the sunrise from the roof of the Wraith. I’ve watched it many times since, and it never fails to aim a sucker punch to my gut when I recall her smile. “We should go watch the sunrise.”
Six words that altered the course of our lives in ways we could never have imagined.
I’d swap places with her in a heartbeat.
I’d give her back her life. Her freedom. Her confidence.
Snuggled up inside the comforter, she wriggles, and a bare arm appears. She stretches, arching her back, jolting me out of my reverie.
She should know how beautiful she is.
I will make her believe me if it’s the last thing I do.
“Sienna.”
I keep my voice low, but she still jumps visibly. She sits up, pulling the comforter up to her chin, yawning widely. “How long have I been asleep? Have you been standing there the whole time?”
I smile. “No.” I wish I had. I’d still be oblivious to the two men lost somewhere in the maze of New York City with the woman I love in their sights. “We’re traveling to Ireland tonight.”
“Tonight?” Her eyes narrow. “Why? Something has happened. Is it my father?”
Strange that her instinct is to name her father instead of Nick. She still trusts the surgeon, and this knowledge seems to suck all the air from the room.
“Nothing has happened to your father.”
The less she knows the better. I don’t want her to change her mind at the last minute out of some misguided obligation to check up on him.