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“Mr. Ball is here to see you, Sir,” one of the guards told Mr. Carrington, who impatiently waved him in.
Samson entered the room, his eyes darting around until they found Sienna’s. He looked more unsettled than she’d ever seen him, his suit a crinkled mess and his tie hastily tied up into a knot that didn’t seem right. His hair was matted together, and he had dirt streaks across his face.
Before she could stop herself, Sienna jumped to her feet and ran to Samson. She took his hands in hers and gave them a relieved squeeze.
“Are you okay? Have you been hurt?” she cried, looking him over. “What happened?”
Samson pulled his hands away and put them on her cheek instead, forcing her to look at him. From the corner of his eyes, she could see Jensen standing at attention, but no one interfered as Samson started talking.
“My dad’s dead,” he told her, his voice full of sadness and disbelief.
“How?” she breathed, and even though the world came out as a whisper, Samson had heard her.
Now that he had her attention, he let go of her cheeks and ran his fingers through his dirty hair. He must’ve been doing this quite a lot in these last few hours.
“He went to the Aghayan offices to get the final details of the deal sorted,” Samson started. The silence and tension in the room was palpable, everyone hanging on the young lawyer’s every word. “I didn’t review the footage yet because I wanted to speak to you first, but as far as we know, Kyle had someone put the bomb underneath the car. We think that it was meant for you. The car’s windows were tinted, which made it impossible for Kyle to see who was in the back.”
“Oh my God,” Sienna whispered and covered her mouth with her hand.
“He was on the phone with me when it happened,” Samson continued, his eyes filling with tears. “He was giving me the latest update when…”
His voice broke as the first tear finally slid down his cheek. Sienna’s heart broke at the sight of his pain. She didn’t know what else to do but step forward and put her arms around him. Samson returned the hug with so much force that it seemed like he was holding on for dear life.
“I heard the explosion and then the line went dead,” he said, finishing his tale. “My dad is dead, and I don’t know what to do now. I’m all alone.”
“No, you’re not,” Sienna assured him, forcing herself to sound strong for his sake. “You’ll have a job with me for as long as you’ll want it.”
Samson pulled away and gave her a small nod. “Now more than ever, I promise to serve you and do everything in my power to help you.”
“I’ll do my best not to make you regret it. I won’t ask you to do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable or break the law,” she promised him in return, then added quietly enough only for him to hear. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve been there and I know how hard it is, especially when it comes so suddenly and unexpectedly.”
“Thank you,” Samson replied with a slight bow of his head.
“This has gone on for far too long,” Mr. Lockwood spoke up, surprising them all.
It was unlike him to share his opinion so openly and in front of everyone. Sienna got used to him acting from behind the scenes, suspecting that even though Mr. Carrington was the one saying things, it was her father who was the real mastermind.
“I agree,” Mr. Carrington said, trying to regain control, but next to Sienna’s father, he didn’t appear so convincing nor nearly as frightening as she always believed him to be.
“Not only did he kidnap my daughter and force her to marry him, but he also tried to kill her more than once,” Mr. Lockwood continued, ignoring Mr. Carrington’s frown when he wasn’t acknowledged. “His attack on Tina pushed our efforts of finding him into second gear, but clearly it wasn’t enough. I can’t even believe that after everything that happened, we still kept our guard down enough for him to put a bomb on the car. We should’ve known better. We should’ve done more.”
“What are you suggesting?” Jensen asked, just as eager to get his hands on slippery Kyle than anyone else.
“We need to lure him out,” Mr. Lockwood said, thinking out loud. “We need to set a trap. There has to be something that he’ll want bad enough to crawl out of the miserable hole he’s hiding in.”
“Me.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Sienna, and on any other occasion she’d feel self-conscious about proposing something so ludicrous, but in this case, it seemed like their only chance. She took a deep breath, met her father’s eyes and gave him a confident nod.
“We need a bait,” she explained, giving voice to what was on everyone’s minds, but no one wanted to say it. “Kyle wants me more than anything in the world.”
“He wants you dead,” Jensen said through gritted teeth and even though he bit back the rest of the sentence, Sienna could read it in his eyes.
“I know the whole idea is ridiculous and far-fetched, but it’s the best option we have,” she said, meeting his eyes with an unblinking and unwavering stare. “I refuse to let anyone else die for me.”
“No,” Jensen said and even though his tone made it clear he wouldn’t allow any arguments, Sienna didn’t drop it and kept on insisting.
“There’s nothing you can do to stop me,” she told him. “You can either help me or get the fuck out of my way.”
