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I wasn’t so sure about Sirena. She’d behaved like a bitch to all the women on the farm since she’d arrived. Sirena also caused a lot of trouble for Maia when Maia had shown up and the guys had instantly gone gaga for her. Until Damon had outed Sirena’s behavior. I knew Sirena had been staying with Isabella and another woman in a shared cabin since then.
Maia had told me briefly about Sirena’s confession during the attack, though. How her father had forced her into coming here to seduce and spy on Damon and his mates. It appeared she’d risked everything to warn them, and had helped during the alpha attack as well. Heading to secure the childcare cabin before detouring to help save Maia.
I was skeptical, but I could also see she’d been behaving differently ever since. I wasn’t quick to forgive anyone who had wronged someone I loved, though, and Maia was already high on that list.
Sirena caught me watching her and stilled before she turned and headed my way. “Can I have a quick word with you, Lexie, please? Outside.”
I glanced at Isabella, and she nodded at me as I sighed. I hated confrontations and uncomfortable chats, and this was likely going to be both.
“Sure,” I said as I plastered a big smile on my face before I followed her outside.
Sirena didn’t keep me waiting. She turned right at the bottom of the steps. She probably knew everyone inside would be listening at the windows above us, even if we moved out further into the garden. I got the impression this talk wasn’t just for me.
“I owe you an apology for the way I’ve behaved. You were welcoming to me when I first arrived and I was a complete bitch to you. You were close to Damon, Hunter and Max, and they clearly cared about you, so I singled you out. I’m sure Maia has told you why, and it’s not a story I really want to go into again. I didn’t have any good choices at the time and I was being watched. But I am sorry that you got dragged into it all.”
I took a good look at her. All the over the top perfumed couture perfection was gone. She was dressed down in jeans, a simple t-shirt and sneakers. Her mask had dropped, and she looked the same as all the other women I’d brought here when they first arrived. Weary, burdened, and just trying to survive each day. She had her head held high, even though she was tense, as though she was bracing herself against my response.
I suddenly felt terrible that I hadn’t noticed earlier how fake her artifice was. I’d thought she was just shallow. Yet she’d been fighting the same battles we all had all along. I should know better than that by now. I knew intimately that the face people presented to the world wasn’t always a true one.
“Are you okay?” I blurted out. She looked completely taken aback, as if it wasn’t the reaction she was bracing for. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
“I mean about your brother. Maia told me the basics. She didn’t go into details because she’s not like that. She wouldn’t gossip about someone’s personal life. But she said Ronan was your brother, and Damon killed him after he attacked Maia.”
Sirena flicked her eyes over to the spot, only a few meters away, where her brother had died a few days ago. She took a giant, unsteady breath. “That’s not a simple question to answer.”
“That’s fair.” I wouldn’t know how to feel if my father was killed, either. There wouldn’t be any mourning, but I wouldn’t celebrate it either. “I just want to make sure you’re okay being here now.”
“I don’t have anywhere else I want to be. What you and the guys have built here is incredible. What you’ve done for the women here, the stories they’ve told me. You didn’t just let them in, you actively rescued some of them, putting your own life in danger.
She gasped lightly, as if she’d been holding in words that refused to stay inside a moment longer.
“I’m in awe of you, Lexie. It felt like I died a little every time I was mean to you. I was just so worried about what would happen if my father thought you were a threat to his plans for Damon. I didn’t think there was anyone in this world who was powerful enough to stand up to my dad.”
I went to say something, but she held up her hand. “Let me finish, please.”
The move didn’t offend me; it made me smile. Sirena may have dropped the bitch act, but she was clearly a strong woman who had resolved to fix her mistakes. I could respect that. It also told me, more than her words, that she was going to be fine. She would be a force to be reckoned with once she figured out her own strength.
“ I realize now, I should have trusted you from the start, confessed everything and asked for your help. My subterfuge should never have gone as far as it did. I need you to know, though, that I never betrayed you, your brothers, or this farm. I did as much as I could to filter misinformation back to my father and my brother.”
She looked at me warily as I raised an eyebrow, but she seemed to be finished. I figured I should double check, though.
“Are you done? Can I talk now?”
She looked down, and her face flushed. “Sorry, I’ve never been very good at knowing my place.”
“Hey,” I said, getting mad now, as I grabbed her chin and made her look at me. “Never apologize for being a strong fucking woman. I was only teasing. Your place is wherever you make it. Do you hear me?”
She nodded and straightened her spine, so I let her go.
“Thanks for the apology. You’re one of us now. You earned that when you defended Maia and this farm, and we’ll have your back if your father comes looking for retaliation. As for you and I, we’re going to be just fine as long as we’re honest with each other. If I piss you off, let me know and I’ll do the same. Deal?”
“Deal.” She looked relieved.
“Can I have a hug? Does Sirena 2.0 do hugs?”
She grinned at me and nodded, so I grabbed her in a bear hug. I would never begrudge a woman doing what she had to in order to survive.
“You and Isabella be good to each other, if you’re going to go there,” I whispered low, so no one else would hear. “You both deserve it.”
