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The front door swings open, startling me and Gia.
It’s Dario. He steps over the threshold and scans the area, setting his work bag down. “What’s going on? What was so important that I had to leave work?”
“Someone broke in,” I tell him, pulling the blanket around my shoulders tighter.
“What?”he exclaims, frantically looking around before charging into his office. “What was taken? Was anything damaged?”
Zia Stella emerges from the kitchen in time to glare at Dario. “The intruder was in Siena’s room,” she informs him, a warning in her tone. “She was alone, and in a towel, when she discovered him.” She gives him a pointed look with a subtle head nod at me, like she’s trying to convey a message to him that he’s not picking up.
He turns to me, his dark eyes scrutinizing instead of worried like Zia Stella’s were when she arrived. “Well, what happened?”
I open my mouth, but the way he’s staring at me is unnerving. I’ve gone for so long with Dario doing everything he can to avoid me, to avoidlookingat me, and now I’ve got his full attention.
Apparently, I don’t answer him fast enough, because he sighs and turns, seeing two officers descending the stairs.
“Oh, that’s Gary,” Dario says to Zia Stella about an officer with a goatee and salt-and-pepper hair. “We belong to the same golf club; I saw him just last week. I’m going to ask him what’s going on.”
“He destroyed my room!” I blurt out now that the full force of Dario’s harsh gaze isn’t on me. “He tore it apart, and when I walked in, he charged at me and ran out the door.”
Dario considers my words. “Did he go through the rest of the house?”
He doesn’t ask if I’m okay or if I was injured or if I need anything. I don’t know what I was expecting; of course he wouldn’t ask any of that. He doesn’tcareabout me.
“Siena,” the kind officer who waited with me calls, joining us with Gary. He eyes the group of us. “Can we have a moment alone with you and a guardian?”
Gia stands from where she’s been sitting by my side since they rushed home after my frantic phone call. “Why alone? What’s wrong?” Despite how we left off, she’s been nothing but concerned and supportive, and watching all five-foot-two of her square off with a six-foot-something middle-aged man in my honor makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
“It’s all right, Gia,” I tell her, standing and letting the blanket slip off my shoulders and onto the couch.
“I’m her father,” Dario states, not with pride or concern, just as a fact. “We can use my office.”
I trail behind Gary and the other officer as they follow Dario into the office, a funny feeling settling in my stomach. When the door is closed behind us, the kind officer asks in a slightly patronizing tone, “Siena, do you want to tell us what really happened tonight?”
The question catches me off guard. What does he mean? I gave him and Gary my statement, already walked them through the house. “I told you what happened.”
The cops exchange a look, and then he says, “Your valuables are all still here. Have you remembered anything else that might have been taken?”
I’m not telling him about the phone,can’ttell him about it without incriminating myself, so I shake my head.
“Mm-hmm,” the officer says. “And did you see the intruder’s face?”
Why are they asking me this? “No, I already told you I didn’t see the intruder’s face, but I know it was Brandon Scott. He goes to school with me.”
“And how do you know this again? He . . .” The officer checks his notes. “He smelled like cinnamon chewing gum?”
Dario scoffs and shakes his head in disbelief.
The way everyone’s exchanging doubtful glances has my heart pounding. The tables are turning on me, so I double down. “Plus, if you saw him, you’d know! He’s insanely muscled for a seventeen-year-old! It’s almost unnatural. It’s hard to mistake a silhouette like that!”
The officer closes his notebook and levels me with a compassionate look. “Siena, are you feeling like you’re not getting enough attention at home?”
“Okay,” Dario cuts in, “what’s going on?”
Gary speaks for the first time, his voice deep and accusatory. “There was no sign of forced entry, and the only room that was damaged was Siena’s. Everything else was fine, and nothing was stolen. We’ve seen almost everything in our line of work, including tantrums and cries for attention, and to be honest with you, Dario, this seems to be one of them.”
“Wait!” I practically yell. “You think I’mlying? I didn’t make this up for attention!”
Dario sighs, loud and annoyed, rubbing his temple with his hand.
