Chapter Thirty-Five: Venice
Lincoln
I've traveled to Los Angeles before, but it was always for business purposes. I never took the time to do all of the touristy things like the walk of fame, the wax museum, or go and take my picture in front of the Hollywood sign. It was always just a big city with a ton of people, and when I told Sienna this, she almost had a heart attack.
"You're kidding," she says. We just finished our dinner at the fancy Italian restaurant of Sienna's friend Colleen, and on our way out the door, she pulls out her phone and pulls up the contact for her driver. "I'm not going to have you come to Los Angeles and not have you do touristy things. However, I'm also not going to do the cliche tours that everyone else does."
I arch a brow. "What do you mean?"
"Like, we're not going to ride a bus and try to spot famous people or go pay to put our name on a freaking star on the walk of fame. You know, the stupid stuff. I'm going to show you my favorite part of Los Angeles. The place I think every person should tour when they come here."
Seeing Sienna light up talking about this city makes my heart ache for her. I can tell how much it means to her, how happy it makes her, yet she won't return here because of the miserable people that exist inside of it.
"You aren't going to be cold?" I ask, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips. She's still in just her trench coat with nothing underneath.
Rather than see me win, she shakes her head defiantly and leans against the outside of the restaurant as we wait for the driver. "I'll be just fine, thank you. I think it'll keep things interesting."
***
"So, where exactly are we going?" I ask twenty minutes into the ride.
"You're so impatient," she replies. "Can't you just wait until—" Her voice catches as we drive past a building. A church to be exact. I just barely catch Old Saint Mary's Cathedral printed on the sign outside, storing that information in an important file in my brain so I don't forget it. This will come in handy later for my research purposes. If I can't have my dream of being a cop, then I can at least put all my schooling to good use and try to help Sienna catch this fucking creep. I'm assuming this is the church where everything happened.
The mood has dramatically shifted, and when Sienna senses it too she sits up straighter and turns to face me. "Tell me something that you've never told anyone before."
"I have," I reply. "I've told you about my Dad and nobody knows about that."
"I mean something good. A memory from your childhood, or a fun day you had recently. Just something that is good."
I rack my brain for something to tell her, but the thoughts get all jumbled, and my throat starts to close up. It never occurred to me until now that the memories of my past would be more intimate to tell than the story of my Dad's passing. They feel so close to me. Mainly because I know those days will never happen again. I want to tell Sienna, I do, but telling her about that would be sharing the deepest parts of myself, and I don't know if I'm ready for that quite yet.
"It's okay," she says, seeming to understand. "Another time. We're here anyway."
I tell the driver to stay inside the car so that I can open her door for her, taking her hand to help her out. It's dark outside, but I can hear the ocean not too far away.
"A lot of people think the best place to visit is the Santa Monica pier, and maybe I'm biased because I used to live here, but I don't think that's the case at all. See, the pier is cool and all, but that's literally all you get to do. It takes maybe an hour to fully experience that, but this..." We round a corner, and I'm gaping at the sight in front of me.
"It's called the Venice Canals. It's kind of like our knockoff version of Venice, Italy," she says with pride.
There are so many twinkling lights that it looks like a scene from a Disney movie. The Canal runs underneath a bridge in the distance, and brick pathways run alongside it, trees with lanterns looming above us to guide our way. It's absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen anything like it.
"Wow," I say, unable to think of anything else. "This is...wow."
"Beautiful, right?"
I nod and follow her lead, continuing to hold her hand as we walk underneath the lanterns. "When I was little, around seven or so, my parents took me here for the first time. I remember just being in awe, and my dad said that it was our city's own little version of Italy. I knew at that moment that I wanted to visit there someday."
"Did you visit?" I ask.
"Yeah, but it didn't feel as beautiful. Venice is the city of love, you know? It felt like I was only half there. I think love was the piece I needed to fully feel the magic."
I gaze down at her, my eyes softening as she looks up at the lights in wonder. As soon as I'm able to when all of this business stuff is taken care of, I'm taking us to Venice. I'll put her in one of those boats with a violinist and when we sail under the bridge, I'll tell her I love her for the first time. I'll make love to her that night with the city lights of Venice behind us. The city for lovers. The city for us.
Tugging her into my chest, I stop us underneath one of the trees and kiss her. She smiles against my lips, her hands coming up to hold my face. I love the way her thumbs scrape gently on my cheeks, how her body fits so perfectly against mine. I'm falling so hard for this woman. So fucking hard.
"You look so beautiful right now," I tell her, "and I hope that one day I can experience the magic of Venice with you, Sienna."
"Me too," she replies softly.
There's no one out here, and that's surprising as hell to me. I don't get why tourists would want to visit a pier over this, but maybe it's not that well-known. Maybe it's one of those secret spots that only a few people know about. Either way, I love it. I'll never forget this place.
"I miss my brother," I find myself saying. "We used to play hide and seek as kids with my Dad, and I remember thinking he was so much cooler than me. He always knew the right spots to hide, and I never had a worry back then. There wasn't any pressure. It was just Jett and me, and our bond was inseparable. I wish things could go back to the way they were." I hold my breath once I'm finished with my speech, wishing she won't ask follow-up questions. Thankfully, she just presses a gentle kiss on my lips. One that makes me weak in the damn knees.
"We should keep walking," Sienna says with a shaky breath. "Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll take you right up against this tree."
I bark out a laugh and take her hand, leading her further into the lantern lights.
***
Back at the hotel, we ride up in the elevator once more, that same tension pulling us together like inevitable magnets. It's almost unbearable.
Sienna steps off the elevator first and I follow her to the door. I'm hoping she'll invite me in, praying, honestly, but she just kisses me once on the cheek and thanks me for an incredible night. Normally, I'd be pissed, I'd be upset, but after the night we had, I feel like I'm on a fucking cloud. I don't even need sex with her, so I kiss her goodnight and let her know how much tonight meant to me, still smiling when I step into my room that's directly next to hers.
Not even a minute later, I hear her knocking. I think she forgot something, but when I open the door back up, her hands are on the ties of her trench coat, and she's panting heavily, eyes moving directly to my lips. "You just—" She glances over my shoulder, scrunching her brows together. "Wait, why do you have knives on your counter?"
I look behind me, my face heating up. "Oh, I just... Well, in case we ended up having sex tonight. You know, foreign places, closest weapons... I wanted you to be comfortable."
She continues to stare at the knives in shock, and then she blinks as tears form in her eyes. "Lincoln Nash...you just keep on having to pass my tests, don't you? First, you're okay with ending our night without sex, and then this..." She waves her arms toward the weapons on the counter. "I don't think you understand how rare you are."
I shrug. "You're a one-in-a-million type of girl, and I plan on working hard as hell in order to keep you happy, baby."
With two strides, she's in my arms, kissing me, and her legs are around my waist. I'm laughing into her kiss as I stumble back from the force of her, groaning as her hands mess up my gelled-back hair. She's tugging on my cashmere sweater for me to take it off, but I don't want to do this unless she actually wants it. Maybe this is just her hormones speaking.
"Should I put the knives away?" I ask with a teasing smile.
She giggles and kisses me once more, leaning back in my arms to release the ties of her trench coat. "Absolutely not. Take me to the bedroom."