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“You fucking bastard!” I yell, but he jumps to his feet and staggers forward, ready to continue our fight. I’m more prepared this time, so when he swings out his fist, I catch it and twist, hearing a satisfyingcrack.
“Holy hell …”
The three of us turn at the same time, caught off guard by whoever just showed up in the middle of this fight.
My eyes widen upon realizing it’s Sienna standing there, a hand over her mouth. Startled, I back away from the man and he takes the opportunity to get away, clutching his arm and cursing up a storm.
Bastian and I turn to look at each other at the same time, the expressions on our faces revealing our inner thoughts—What do we do now?
20
BASTIAN
“Holy hell …”
Whipping around, I catch sight of the last person I thought I’d be seeing again.
Sienna stands there, gaping at us with a hand over her mouth. She looks a little fatigued, but otherwise fine. My pulse races at the sight of her, some part of me wanting to rush over there immediately to protect her.
Before I can blink, the man Dominic has pinned gets up and runs off. Dominic and I exchange glances, unsure of what to do.
I can’t believe she’s here. Did she see what happened? Did she watch as Dominic twisted the guy’s arm until it cracked?
Is she freaked out now? Is she disgusted by us? I can’t just stand here anymore.
“I’ll talk to her,” I tell Dominic. “See if Delilah is alright, and make sure that goon ain’t coming back.”
“No worries, I’ve got it.” Dominic nods and heads into the shop while I jog over to Sienna, who’s still staring at us, but her eyes soften on my arrival. I hate how relieved I feel to see her. I’ve spent so long trying to ignore any lingering feelings I mighthave had for her, but it’s hard to admit that they haven’t gone away.
“You alright?” I ask. “You came at a bad time.” I approach her cautiously, some part of me worried she might bolt.
“I’m fine,” she says, waving me off. “I saw what happened. Are you okay? It looked kind of intense.”
I shrug. “No big deal. I’ve had worse.”
She seems to be taking things in stride, which baffles me. Sienna gives off an innocent schoolteacher vibe, but there’s something tough lurking under the surface.
“What did that guy do?” Her eyes take in my disheveled appearance.
“So that guy’s with the Serpent Syndicate,” I say. “They’re bad news, major scumbags. They got kicked out of town ages ago, but now they’re trying to sneak back in. The Serpents, they’re no joke. They’ll mess with anyone, innocent folks included. And that dude? He's the one who took out Beau’s dad a while back.”
Sienna gasps, glancing in the direction that he came from. “I can’t believe he’s walking around free. Why can’t you guys go to the police?”
I shake my head. “It’s not that simple. The Serpents, they got this thing. When they want to muscle into new turf, they start buttering up the local cops. Bribery, threats, you name it. Pretty sure they got some of the boys in blue on their payroll already.”
The problem is, it’s expensive as hell to bribe a bunch of cops, and I can’t figure out where this influx of money might be coming from. There’s more at stake than just their slimy presence—I worry that they’re extorting members of the community behind our backs too.
“I see,” Sienna says, offering a tight smile, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Sounds like they’re a pretty big threat then.I was wrong for judging you. I didn’t know that you were just trying to protect the town from them.”
Relief floods through me, but it’s quickly replaced by a surge of anxiety, along with regret. I shouldn’t have pushed her away. Kicking her out was the worst move I could have made. I just couldn’t deal with the old wounds she wanted to open up.
“We didn’t want you getting mixed up,” I tell her. “We thought we could just keep you from that stuff and it would keep you safe.”
Sienna looks down at the ground for a moment before turning back up to look at me. “You know, I didn’t think you cared.”
“Well, we can’t let our little pet get hurt, can we?” I ask, trying to be casual.
Her eyes dim and I curse myself for not being better at this. I’m no good with emotional shit, I can’t even figure out myself most of the time. Trying to correct myself, I add, “I mean you were ours, you were ours to protect and take care of. That was the agreement, right?”
