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“Geez, I missed you too, Princess,” I say, pulling away to check on her. She looks upset. “You okay?”
“We had a visitor today,” Dominic tells us, expression dark. “One of the Serpent Syndicate came by the house.”
My brows furrow. “You’re shitting me. Did he do anything?” I glance back down at Sienna, ascertaining that she hasn’t been hurt.
“I’m fine,” Sienna says. “Dominic protected me. He never even got close.”
Dominic's fists clench at his sides, his jaw tight with suppressed anger. “He left after I threatened him,” he grits out, his voice laced with fury. “But it's not over. Diego wants us eliminated for what we did at the tire factory. He's willing to hurt innocent people just to get to us.”
My heart races, a mix of anger and concern making me clench my fists as a surge of adrenaline courses through my veins. How dare they show up at our doorstep and threaten us. My gaze flickers to Sienna, protective instincts kicking in.
Caleb runs his thumb over his lower lip, shaking his head as he stares off for a moment. “These guys are going to make things hell for our town again. We can’t let them get away with this shit.”
“We won’t,” Bastian tells him, confidence in his gaze. “I won’t let those motherfuckers walk all over us. They won’t get a foothold in this place again.”
“Dominic was telling me about the last time they were here in Caspian Springs,” Sienna interjects. “And how your parents helped drive them away, but it cost them. I’m so sorry that happened. I wish I’d known.”
“We didn’t tell you,” I reassure her, sitting down at the table for dinner. Caleb passes out plates while Sienna and Dominic bring the food over. “It was our shit to deal with.”
“What happened after they drove out the Serpent Syndicate?” Sienna asks as she sits down. “Did you guys live with your grandfather?”
“Nah, Grandpa was too old to take us in,” I tell her, reaching for the mashed potatoes. “He wanted to, but with his fucked-up knee and his health, he didn’t want us to have to take care of him. So we went into a foster group home for boys.”
Sienna’s eyes meet mine. “That’s tough. At least you guys got to stay together.”
“Once the Serpents were gone, things got better though,” I say.
“Yeah, and the community really pitched in to help. Some of the more active members did a whole thing and got the state to invest in opening the Haven Center. They wanted to give the next generation a better life and stuff.”
“That’s amazing,” Sienna breathes out. “They truly rallied behind you guys.”
“Yep,” I nod.
“We met Rich there,” Caleb says, his eyes growing distant as he gets lost in thought. “He was just a college kid when we first met him, but he helped tutor us in school and took us out places on the weekends.”
Memories flood my mind as Dominic begins to speak. “We got close to him,” he begins, a wistful smile tugging at his lips. “He was more than just a mentor. Rich felt like family. When he graduated, we thought he'd leave, but he stayed. He sacrificed somuch just to be with us. He even got a research grant to continue his work at the Haven Center.”
Caleb stares down at his plate. “We wanted him to adopt us. He wanted to adopt us too, but he couldn’t afford it since he was living on student loans. But he did as much as he could for us, even after the Haven Center closed down.”
Sienna's eyes widen with realization, her voice softening. "I had no idea you guys were so close," she murmurs.
“He took us to ball games, taught us how to ride bikes, how to drive a car … and he helped us with our homework and our essays all through school,” I tell her, my voice soft as I reminisce.
“He was really like a dad to us in so many ways,” Dominic adds, a pained smile on his face. “One time I came to him when a bully at school was making fun of me for my parents being gone. He taught me how to stand up for myself and I made that kid eat his words.”
Sienna reaches out to grasp his hand, offering herself as comfort. “Wow. I wish I knew that before. What happened when your grandpa died?”
“He came to the funeral with us,” I say. “He was always there, always. He wanted to adopt us at that point, but Caleb was almost an adult and we thought it didn’t matter what our relationship was anymore, he was our dad in everything but name.”
Sienna's eyes glisten, fingers twisting in her lap as she speaks. “You’ve been through so much,” she murmurs.
I take a deep breath. “It was hard but we still had Rich. We thought everything would be okay.”
Silence hangs over the table as we start eating, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Dominic is squeezing his hand rhythmically under the table and Caleb takes a few bites, then stops to sniffle.
Just a few years ago, the three of us sat at this very table with Rich and Emily, discussing our plans for the future. Now she’s gone, and he’s further away than ever before. I don’t know if I can bring myself to admit how much I miss them both.
The mood has grown heavy, so Sienna clears her throat, trying to shift the conversation to a lighter topic. “You know,” she says. “You never told me about what you liked to do as kids.”
