Page 227 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

I watch her turn towards the window. She’s always been good at hiding what she feels beneath elegance and control, so no one can tell.

I move closer, resting my head against her shoulder.

“I won’t pressure you,” I say quietly. “But you don’t have to spend every day training either. It’s your eighteenth. We can still do something small. Just you, me and Allie.”

I glance up at her, but her mask doesn’t slip.

“I’ll think about it.”

It isn’t a yes, but it isn’t the complete refusal she gave everyone else either, and for now, I’ll take it.

“Good.” I pass her another brownie. “Now eat up; thinking requires fuel.”

She rolls her eyes but takes it anyway, and when the faintest smile touches her lips, I decide that maybe her eighteenth doesn’t need to be the enormous celebration she once planned.

It just needs to remind her that even while she waits for Theo to return, she isn’t waiting alone.

My phone beeps, and I take it out of my pocket, and Heaven looks down, too, seeing Jayce’s name on the screen. “Maybe they’ve set a date for the ceremony.”

“Maybe…” My stomach is a bag of nerves as I open the message.

JAYCE: The date’s set for this coming Friday. Love you, Darling.

Friday…

My heart thunders as Heaven smiles. “Finally, you will take your rightful place, although I’m going to miss you around here.”

“Until you join me there…” I say softly. Our eyes meet, and she looks away.

“One day.”

“One day,” I repeat before replying to Jayce.

SIENNA: I look forward to it. Love you, Handsome.

With a date set, it just makes everything feel so much more solid.

And I can’t wait.

Two nights later, Allie and I stand inside Heaven’s bedroom, looking over everything one final time.

Extra pillows and blankets cover the floor in front of the television, two large pizza boxes sit on the table beside bowls of crisps, sweets and popcorn, and a small tray of purple-and-silver cupcakes rests near the window. There are no decorations beyond a few candles we’ll light closer to midnight, because Heaven made it very clear she didn’t want a party.

This is simply a sleepover that happens to begin a few hours before her eighteenth birthday. That is what we’re going with.

Allie lifts the lid of one of the pizza boxes.

“Allie, don’t,” I warn, giving her a look, and she lowers the lid.

“I was checking whether it was still warm,” she replies flatly.

“Mhmm, I’m sure.” I smile.

She’s coming up; I can’t keep her any longer. She already snapped, Ahren says through the mind-link. Since Tatum has returned to his pack, Ahren was given the job to keep Heaven distracted.

We’re ready for her! I reply.

Footsteps approach from the corridor, and I quickly reach for the remote whilst Allie settles onto the blankets.