Page 1 of Dangerous Love

CHAPTER1

Sienna

The Wi-Fi at the Hope Island Coffee Hub might as well have been dial-up. It sucked. I disconnected and reconnected the network on my laptop, hoping the messages from Evelyn, my therapist from TeleCare, would stop lagging. Having secret sessions at the back of a coffee shop was bad, but having time to answer my own questions, compliments of the shitty technology, was worse. At this rate, I might as well stop selling her my soul every Saturday morning and deal with my crap privately.

Evelyn: Why was this week particularly bad, Sienna?

I sighed, my fingers cupping the mug of hot chocolate between my hands. The small white marshmallows undulated every time I blew cold air on the steaming beverage.

Me: The wedding date has been set.

Evelyn: I see. Sounds like you’re not looking forward to that?

Nope.My brother Avery and his fiancée were finally getting married. They’d been together for three years, and I loved Gracey, so this was definitely not a case of replacement mum syndrome. Though, living at home was a bit weird now that Avery was all whipped and in love.

I took a sip of the hot liquid, my whole body warming up as I worked on dropping my shoulders before Evelyn lectured me on the benefits of muscle relaxation again.

Me:I’m gonna have to seehimat the wedding.

The chat window brightened, the three little dots working their way on the page. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the internet lag, my mind wandering to the last time I’d seen Riley. It had to have been right before my gap year in Parma. Right before he told me there would never be anything between us, because the measly four-year age difference made him some form of freaking predator.

Evelyn: It’s been three years. Tell me what would make it difficult for you, Sienna?

Frustration poked at me. God, I hated how much I’d cared about the guy. The last thing I wanted to do was revisit how ashamed I’d felt when he tossed me away. I took a deep breath, my fingers banging on the keyboard.

Me: He let us get close, almost kiss. He let me develop feelings for him, and then turned around, all self-righteous, and told me that I was tooyoungfor him. Toovulnerable. Like he’d suddenly signed up for some ethical club I wasn’t good enough for.

The bubbles on the screen resumed.

Evelyn: Good enough?

I swallowed hard, my throat tightening. My fingers shook as they hovered over the laptop.

Are you even trying to work on yourself, Shorty?Avery’s voice drilled through my ears. I pictured the line between his brow as he lectured me outside the Gold Coast police station on Wednesday night. A tear fell down my cheek as guilt flooded me. I was a spoilt little bitch. My brother had raised me for the last decade, paid my debt to Hal Cooper, risking his life through the whole ordeal, and I still couldn’t act like a normal person.

Me: I’m sorry. I’m not being very helpful. Avery has been amazing to me, and I shouldn’t be so negative about my lot in life.

A smiley face emoji appeared on the screen, followed by Evelyn’s usual nurturing spiel.

Evelyn: Good job for the reflection, Sienna. I like to remind all my patients that we’re not responsible for what happens to us, but we are responsible for what we do about it moving forward. You had a tough childhood. You didn’t have a father, your mother deserted you when you were just a kid, and you found yourself hooked up to the biggest drug ring in the state at age thirteen. From what you and Avery described, getting out of it was not a small feat, and so at the time, being rejected by Riley when you needed to feel loved left you with a scar. All we can do is reflect and try to heal it. It sounds to me like the first step to this might be getting ready for the wedding. Focus on Avery and Grace’s big day, while making sure it doesn’t get spoilt with any drama in the meantime. Because the truth is, Sienna, Riley’s in your past. Just let him go.

Hard to ignore him when they all work together and eat at the same table five days a week.Between Grace and Avery’s Nutrify, and Jarryd and April’s Youth Legacy, avoiding Riley had pretty much alienated me from both centres and family gatherings for the last three years.

I wiped another tear off my cheek, glad that this session wasn’t face-to-face. There was something about being able to hide behind my screen that allowed me to share the ugly parts of my mind. The parts I’d never felt safe enough to share with anyone else. It cut deep that, in order to protect my heart, I’d had to remain invisible. In the end, I missed them all. I’d missed being involved withBello A&G Italianoas it grew, but the worse part—the part I didn’t want to admit to anyone—was that I missedhim.

Me: This is what I want too. To make sure they have the best day ever, and that I don’t ruin it by crumbling down, all because I have to face a guy I thought I loved when I was sixteen.

Evelyn: Good on you, Sienna. That’s a great attitude.

The chat room minimized itself in the right corner of my screen as soon as the second browser was opened. I clicked on the Facebook link, amazed at the fact the hyperlink hadn’t combusted at the rate I’d stalked it since the wedding news.

Riley Williams. Twenty-three. Senior Youth Worker—Youth Legacy—Gold Coast.

My heart rate galloped as my eyes landed on his profile photo. Shirtless, sunnies, a guitar in his hands and some mysterious smile on his face as he leaned against a wall on the steps of the Surfer’s Paradise pedestrian walkway. God help me. I thought the guy was hot when he was half the size, but now that he sported broad shoulders, perfect abs, and a smile to kill, he was all eye candy.

I switched to the chat window and answered my therapist before she wondered where I’d disappeared to. And telling her I’d graduated to theRiley’s stalkercategory was not an option.

Me: Thank you, Evelyn. One day, acting normal will be natural. I swear.

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