AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Touched by his apology, Sienna nodded. She didn’t want them to be on opposite sides. They already had too many enemies as it was, and they shouldn’t be making each other one of them.
“I’ll escort you to the bathroom and then I’ll go buy a bunch of junk food that will get us through the drive,” he promised as the tension between them slowly evaporated.
Once she was back at the car, she wished she’d accompanied Jensen to the shop instead of being stuck with Brian. Not wanting to stand next to him, she moved to go inside the car when he suddenly grabbed the door handle.
Sienna looked up at him with clear annoyance in her eyes. She wanted to snap at him for daring to get in her way, wanted to belittle him, then put him back down to his position where he belonged.
“I’m sorry,” he said before she could say all those mean things to him. He sounded so genuine, giving her an earnest look that willed her to forgive him. “I had a lot of fun the other night, but that’s all it was. One night stand with no strings attached. I’m aware of the Carrington code and I know I could’ve gotten into a lot of trouble if you had said anything. Thank you for looking out for me when I should be the one doing it for you.”
Surprised by his words and his line of thinking, but also relieved that he seemed to be turning a new leaf. Brian was her bodyguard, and they would be stuck together possibly until the war ended. They needed to trust each other and be able to count on one another. The whole mess that they’ve found themselves in would only contribute to him failing at his job and her getting killed. It wasn’t something either of them wanted. Sienna loved to be alive, and Brian was too competitive to fail at anything.
“I want us to be friends, Brian,” Sienna told him. “I don’t have many of those, but I want you to be one. I don’t want you to hate your job, and I don’t want to be stuck with someone who hates me.”
“I don’t hate you.”
She gave him a small, knowing smile. “I know. I don’t hate you either.”
“Good,” he said, returning her smile, then looked over her shoulder. “Jensen’s coming. We have a long journey ahead of us and the sooner we’re on our way, the better.”
Sienna nodded, then climbed in the car after he opened the door for her. She was glad that they had an alliance of sorts going on. There were too many things on her mind, and she didn’t have the energy to be able to deal with his feelings as well.
Jensen slid in the back seat next to her and handed each of them a coffee. The smell alone was enough to refill Sienna’s energy levels, but her face truly brightened up after she saw what Jensen pulled out of the bag next.
“Pringles,” she cried, reaching for the can before he could offer it to her.
He chuckled, giving it up without a fight. “I didn’t know if you like more daring flavors, so I decided to play it safe and picked paprika one.”
“It’s my favorite,” she told him before stuffing a bunch of them in her mouth.
Brian and Jensen exchanged an amusing glance, both politely declining her offer of sharing. The mood in the car was lighter and even the music seemed to be speeding up as they drove down the road, getting closer by the mile.
Despite being nicer to her, Jensen’s body seemed to grow more tense. Unable to keep still, he kept bouncing his feet. At some point, she even caught him biting his nails.
There was something about this mission that he wasn’t telling her. She should’ve pushed him to give her all the information, but knowing him, she decided to let it go. He would probably tell her if it was vital to their success. Besides, they were about to arrive, and if she was patient just a little bit more, the truth would come out soon. Nothing stayed buried forever.
CHAPTER 16
JJensenwasthefirstone to get out of the car when they arrived. The Thorne house was something out of a suburban life and if Sienna didn’t read their file, she would’ve never pegged them as extremely influential millionaires. On the outside, they gave the impression of normality, but being average could be a nice role to play when surrounded with traitorous rats.
Only one person waited for them on the porch, making their visit seem unimportant as if it was a part of every day’s occurrence. Sienna didn’t get a good look at him as he pulled Jensen in for a hug and a lot of back patting. The Carrington heir’s smile was wider than Sienna ever saw, and she could’ve sworn that it reached his eyes.
“They know each other,” she said low enough only for Brian to hear. He came to stand by her side, a couple of feet away from Jensen and his friend.
“That’s Riley. They were classmates at Harvard,” Brian told her.
Sienna’s head snapped to Brian. “Jensen went to Harvard?”
Brian nodded, but kept his eyes locked on the scene ahead. “He wasn’t always as composed as he is now. He used to be quite a rebel.”
“How do you know that?”
“I grew up with the Carringtons. I know more than a fair share of their secrets,” Brian said with a nonchalant shrug.
Before Sienna could interrogate him further, Jensen called her name. She joined him and Riley on the porch, with Brian keeping a safe and respectable distance that befitted the bodyguard.
“Sienna, that’s Riley,” Jensen said, gesturing at his friend, then the other way around, “Riley, meet Sienna.”
Sienna met Riley’s warm brown eyes and his stellar smile. His black hair was pulled up in a man-bun that completely exposed his defined cheekbones, but his concrete jaw was hidden under a neatly trimmed goatee. Even through his clothes, Sienna could tell he had a muscular build.
