The door closed. “Girls, have a seat. Riley and Nia, your daddies are on their way.”
“Okay.”
Sienna hadn’t seen Riley that subdued before and reached for her hand. When she glanced up, she caught a look between Kane and Draven.
“What?”
Kane walked over to her, crouched in front of her, and took her hand. “I was going to tell you later. The house Hector and some of his guys lived in burned down.”
She was trying to listen, but the beating of her heart was like a drum. “What does that matter?”
“They found several bodies in the rubble.”
She inhaled. “Do they think Hector did it?”
Kane shook his head. “No. They think he’s one of the bodies.”
“But…” She had seen and heard him.
“I know you think you saw them, but you’ve been under a lot of stress, baby.”
“No,” she said and shook her head. “He yelled my name, and when I looked, he was standing further down the sidewalk on the next block.”
“So, that was a ways away, right?” Draven said.
“I guess.” God, she would have bet everything she owned and all the money she’d saved that it was him looking at her. “Why do they think it’s him?”
“The identification, mostly. They could see tattoos on some of the bodies, and one of them matched him.”
“Which one? Because the guys all had different ones, but they had similar ones also for different reasons.”
He tightened his grip. “They think they know for sure. They also didn’t find evidence to tell them he was trying to find you. We looked into it also. Are you sure you heard right about him wanting you?”
She shook her head in a daze. God, was she wrong? No. She heard her mother and those men right. These people didn’t know the man, had never been around him, so they didn’t know how ruthless he really was.
“How about I take you guys up to the apartment? Riley and Nia can wait for their daddies, and I’ll get you in a bath.”
Her gaze came back to his. She could tell he’d made up his mind. She looked at Draven, and he had the same look mixed with something that made her think he assumed she’d made up the whole thing for attention.
She turned back to Kane. “I would like to go back to your place, if I could?”
He scowled at her phrase of his apartment, like it was no longer hers. But she didn’t feel it was. Now more than ever.
He stood, pulled her up, and wrapped his arms around her. “This is good news, baby. I know you’re probably in shock, but once it seeps in, you’ll be happy.”
When her eyes started to sting, she closed them and nodded. “I’m sure I will.”
He pressed a kiss to her head. “Let me get some work, and I’ll take you up.”
“No, that’s okay. I can get there myself.”
He frowned. “I think I should be with you.”
She shook her head. He’d done enough. Now that he thought the threat was gone, she didn’t need his protection anymore.
Riley grabbed her hand again. “We’ll go up with her, sir.”
Kane studied Sienna. “Are you sure?”
She tried to smile. “I’m sure.”
Riley pulled her out of Kane’s office, and Nia followed, down the hallway and into the elevator. Riley looked over at her when the doors closed. “I believe you, Sienna.”
Nia spoke up. “I do, too.”
Sienna inhaled sharply and faced her friends. At the truth written all over their faces, she burst into tears.
Riley pulled her into her arms. “We’ll figure it out. Stay in the apartment until the girls talk about it. We’ll figure out what to do.”
Sienna stepped back and wiped her eyes. “It was him.”
Riley nodded her head. “Oh, I know that. I wish we could figure out how he found you.”
Sienna leaned against the wall, rested her head back, and closed her eyes. When the door swished open, she straightened.
Riley pulled her out. “Come on. Let’s get you in a shower. The daddies will call for us when they get here.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“You don’t thank your BFFs. It’s what we’re here for.”
Sienna teared up again and followed Riley back to the master bathroom.
They got her stripped and into the shower.
“I’ll grab some clothes for you. Let the hot water loosen you up. You’re not alone. Don’t forget that.”
Sienna lifted her face into the water. She could feel herself relax. Not only because of the shower but also the fact she wasn’t alone. It seemed she’d been alone her whole life.
When she’d moved in with Kane, she thought she’d found her family. It was heartbreaking to know that even though he cared, he wasn’t her real family, yet. And might never be. The fact he didn’t trust her and thought she was doing it for attention hurt worse than she ever thought it could. She had started to trust him with everything, something she’d never done. How did she go about protecting herself against a man no one but her friends believed was alive?
So many emotions raged through her. The fact that she might never have her own family made her tear up again.
She’d been alone so long, maybe she was destined to live that way. It was second nature to her.
She had to figure out how to catch Hector, and then she could move on. She could make it work, make a life for herself, and she might be able to be happy eventually.