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Sienna got the first view of the explosion-decorated gym. The door had been blown to smithereens and the gym equipment lying on the ground, some of it broken and never to be used again. Her heart ached to see that kind of destruction not only of her home but of her favorite room in the compound. It was when her eyes took in the far side of the gym that her heart went from aching to broken.
Aiden was lying sprawled on the floor, his unmoving body twisted at weird and unnatural angles. Sienna’s eyes teared up when she saw him. There was no doubt in her mind that he was dead. She wanted to yell and scream, to get the pain out, but it wouldn’t bring him back. Nothing would help soothe the hurt inside her that was worse than anything physical. The pieces of her heart had been shattered the same way the door had moments before. There were too many pieces for anyone to even try to put together again much less to succeed.
Sienna’s fear reached a whole new level when someone made their way through the ruins of the entrance. She tried to convince herself that the smoke and the dust impaired her vision, but she couldn’t ignore the way her whole body turned rigid, paralyzing her on the spot.
Kyle’s dark brown eyes looked black like a demon’s. His dark hair was covered with a slight layer of dust, but he didn’t seem bothered by his filthy appearance. His mouth curled up into a sinister grin when his dark eyes locked on Sienna’s frightened ones. He straightened his spine, standing taller as he towered over her. Laying on her stomach, Sienna wished she was on her feet instead. He made her feel extremely small in so many different ways. Frozen on the spot, she couldn’t bring herself to move.
Kyle took a step forward, closing the distance between them. He rubbed the palms of his hands together and Sienna couldn’t help but imagine all the horrible acts these hands were capable of doing. His footsteps were muffled by the gunfire in the background as the war between her and his people kept raging. It was too loud for anyone to hear her no matter how loud she would scream. Kyle had won and the cold fire in his eyes made it clear he knew it.
He lowered himself in a crouching position in front of her and smiled in a way that exposed all his teeth, but if Sienna had ever thought him handsome, now he looked more like a wild animal that needed to be put down before it could do more damage. Kyle opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, his eyes rolled back into his head as if he had a seizure and he fell to the side, losing consciousness.
Sienna’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she saw what was responsible for Kyle’s reaction. Aiden stood where Kyle was before, and in his hand, he had a wooden piece of the door with which he hit Kyle on his head.
Aiden’s face was contorted with pain and he looked severely banged up, but he was alive. Seeing him standing, filled Sienna with relief and happiness, giving her the shot of energy that she needed to get up. She jumped on her feet and into Aiden’s arms. They stood there and embraced for two seconds before Aiden pulled away, grabbed her hand, and started to move toward the exit to get her as far away from Kyle as possible.
Some part of Sienna’s mind warned her to kill Kyle while he was down, but her body yearned for safety. She wanted to get away from the danger and be surrounded with her Carrington heirs again. She allowed Aiden to pull her away from danger until they were met with resistance.
Because they thought Kyle to be unconscious, Aiden and Sienna were caught off guard, making things easier for Kyle who had recovered consciousness sooner than they would’ve liked. Kyle grabbed Sienna around her waist and because Aiden’s grip on her wasn’t strong enough, Kyle managed to pull her away and throw her across the room. She landed awkwardly on the floor, banging her head against something.
Her vision blurred but this time she couldn’t keep the darkness away. The last thing she saw was Kyle reaching into his pocket before he moved toward Aiden and a gunshot rattled the room.
CHAPTER 20
Siennaregainedherconsciousnesswhat must’ve been a couple of seconds later. Her body felt the danger she was in and pushed itself over its own limits, doing everything to survive. She lifted her head ever so slightly, forcing herself to take in the scene in front of her.
Aiden laid on the floor, his face pulled in a painful grimace. He used one of his hands to prop himself up on the elbow and face Kyle, who towered over him with a manic grin and a gun in his hand. That was when Sienna noticed the blood pooling around Aiden and his other hand that was pressing on the gunshot wound in his stomach. Aiden was bleeding out, dying one of the slowest deaths, while Kyle stood over him, watching the life seep away.
Sienna knew that it was only a matter of time before Kyle would remember that she was there too. She had to move, and she had to do it fast. Her head hurt like hell and the impact made her body sway like she was drunk, which was how she miscalculated her next movement as she pushed herself on her feet, then lost her footing and went crashing down again, making a lot of noise in the process. Kyle’s head jerked her way. As Sienna’s eyes locked on his, she knew that even if somehow by some miracle she managed to survive, she would never be able to forget this nightmare and the boogeyman in front of her.
Aiden was losing too much blood already and was slipping in and out of consciousness. He wasn’t a threat to Kyle anymore. Sienna was all alone.
“Hello, wife,” Kyle said and grinned. “I’ve been looking for you. We’ve missed our wedding night, but I’m sure we can come up with a way that you can make it up to me.”
A whimper escaped from Sienna’s mouth at the thought of Kyle touching her and forcing himself on her. Her eyes started darting around her room, looking for a way to escape, for something to help, but her spirits were dwindling as Kyle’s fingers stumbled around his belt, working on unbuckling it.
Her horrible husband crept closer and completely pulled his belt out of his pants. He folded it once, twice, then instead of throwing it to the side, he lifted it high in the air and brought it down with so much force that her mind couldn’t register what had happened, but her body screamed with burning pain when the leather collided with her skin. Sienna cried out, but the sound was soon replaced with sobs as Kyle kept on hitting her with his belt again and again.
Sienna didn’t know how many times he’d hit her before he got tired of it and threw the belt aside. Even though it was one of the worst kind of physical pains she’d ever experienced and should be glad that he’d stopped, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that it would be better if he kept going. She had seen what Kyle did to the girls. She saw their bodies and she knew that whatever was in his sick twisted mind wouldn’t mean anything good for her.
Kyle grabbed his gun again and aimed it at her. Sienna’s body was too beat up and her mind too tired to react in any way. She forced her eyes to look into the barrel of the gun, welcoming the sweet relief that the death would bring her. Anything would be better than another minute with Kyle. To her horror, Kyle aimed the gun lower and pointed the barrel at her leg.
“I just want to make sure that you won’t run away again,” he explained, then squeezed the trigger.
Sienna gritted her teeth, her eyes involuntarily closing shut, but the pain never came. A relieved sob came out of her when she heard Kyle squeeze the trigger again and recognized the well-known click that the gun made when it ran out of bullets.
Kyle let out a low growl, then threw the gun across the room in frustration. He turned toward Aiden and aimed a strong kick in his abdomen, then lifted his foot and brought it down with a heavy stomp. Aiden didn’t react, nor did he make any kind of sound. He was either in a coma, close to death, or already dead.
Hoping against hope that he was still alive, Sienna forced herself to speak to Kyle. Even though her blood was boiling with hate and her body filled with anger like no other, she had to keep him from further hurting Aiden. If there was the slightest possibility that he was still alive, she had to distract Kyle and keep his attention on her. Maybe if she kept him talking long enough, she might survive until help arrived.
“Why are you doing this?” Sienna asked through gritted teeth, trying to keep the disgust off her face.
Kyle tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. “Need I remind you that you were the one who came asking my family for help in the first place? You were the one who got us into this mess and it’s your fault that my family is dead.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, forcing herself to try to sound sincere but it came out completely fake even to her own ears.
Kyle tipped his head back and laughed. The roaring sound was more sinister than if he’d screamed. When he was finished, he pretended to wipe off an imaginary tear on his cheek.
“I’ve actually been lying to you,” he said with a tone that she didn’t like. She took a deep breath, unsure of what story his twisted mind will spew out. “Our paths were bound to cross sooner or later. Did you know that you and I were promised to be married? Yeah, your dad and my dad had signed the contract, but that was before the fucking Carringtons came and ruined everything.”
