Page 88 of Scorching Sienna

“Bob will take you home. You can wait in my place if you want. The code is the day we met.”

When I hesitate to climb in, he cups my face, angling it so our eyes lock.

“I promise I will tell you everything when I return, okay?” Anxiety makes me feel queasy, threatening to spill the contents of my stomach.

“Okay.” I nod, taking deep breaths to steady my nerves.

“Just be careful.”

He smirks and then dips his head, our lips meeting for a gentle kiss before he releases me.

“I’m more careful now than I ever was.”

With one last look, I climb in, the sound of the door slamming shut sending dread through me.

That feeling remains long after we pull away and head home, and it amplifies when I hear a ping on my phone.

Unknown

20:33

While one game ends, you will realize that a bigger one is being played.

I will have what is mine, even if I have to kill again.

Chapter 23

Shadow

“Take me to his house first. I want to see it with my own eyes.” Gavin is driving, though I doubt I will require his specialized skills tonight. It would be my hands inflicting what was to come. My hands coated in blood. And even though I didn’t need further encouragement, our stop on the way to the warehouse would undoubtedly do that.

Gavin meets my gaze in the rearview mirror and then proceeds to the address they had been at earlier when they called me at Liam’s house. Had it been any other interruption, it could have waited.

I enjoyed tonight far more than I expected. The fact that it helped resolve the issue between Sienna and me definitely played a part. Her sister-in-law had a significant role in that as well. I knew who she was. My in-depth investigation of Sienna and everyone close to her after The Reaping brought Dee’s connection to me to light. However, I would never acknowledge it.

Some things were better left in the dark, and I don’t know if Liam knew of her history. Besides, saying something could rock a boat thatdidn’t need rocking. And I wouldn’t do or say anything that could ultimately hurt Sienna.

Dee looked happy with Liam and their two children. It made me eager to see Sienna's belly full with our offspring. But first, I needed to wrap up all this shit tainting our path tothat future.

We pull up to an abandoned-looking house in one of the run-down parts of the city. Urine and vomit assault our senses as we get out of the car, the sidewalk a toilet for that, and much more. Trash bags are torn, and litter scatters the broken paving and road edges. To think that this piece of shit might have brought Sienna here adds further fire to the raging inferno already on the go.

Gavin leads the way up the narrow, unkept path to the front door. The house looks as bad on the outside as its surroundings.

Kai steps forward, peeling a flap next to the wall, revealing a brand-new-looking keypad. He types in a combination of numbers, and when the screen lights up green, a corresponding sound of locks unlatching can be heard before the door pops open.

I enter, reminding myself why I am here. I want these feelings. I want this fuel.

Thebright lighting and pristine white wallsarenot what one would expect based on the outside. Everything looks freshly painted, and from the records I skimmed through, it would be, as it was acquired recently by the man hanging from chains in the warehouse. However, where he got the funds was still a mystery. One I would unravel with time.

The Reaper. Except now he had a name and it was pathetic if ever I heard one. Lowrens Briar. A name that I recognized instantly as I had seen it before in reports attached to my investigation into who killed Sienna's father, George Miller. However, with so many convictions and cases closed, thanks to George's thorough investigations, narrowingdown someone with a vendetta was tough. As tough for me as it was for the cops, who had limited resources and time, which is why the case had gone cold. But not for much longer. It would be closed in my books, though authorities would never find the culprit.

The reality of this situation was difficult to digest even for me, so I didn’t know how Sienna would feel.

The Reaper was her father's killer.

This is what put Sienna on his radar.

He was released from prison a few days before Sienna and I met at club Nero’s. An event that saw all of our lives colliding.

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