Chapter Thirty-Eight: Scar
Lincoln
It's only eight o'clock in the morning and I'm already a bundle of nerves. The lobby is filled with different media outlets from the news to social media, and although Sienna tried to catch me up to speed on some of the questions they might ask, I still don't feel prepared. Sure, I did the research for my business proposal, and I may have more understanding about my company than I did before, but I still don't feel confident. I don't think I ever will.
Sienna meets me outside my hotel room with a cup of coffee in her hand held out to me. I glance both ways to make sure Rachel isn't with her before I lean down and press a kiss to her lips. "Good morning," I tell her. "Thank you for the coffee."
She yawns and takes a sip of her cup. "You're welcome. Are you ready to do this?"
"No, but it doesn't look like you are either. I take it you didn't sleep well? I told you that it would be fine if you slept over."
"I know, I know. I'm just trying to take things slow, you know? I think I should have listened to you, though. I'm exhausted."
I arch a brow. "Nightmares?"
She nods and presses the button that will take us down to the lobby, and I hate that I'll have to stop touching her once we enter the elevator. I hate that I can't keep my hand on her lower back, or hold her hand, but she hasn't wanted to make this public yet, and with everything going on with my company, I understand. We can't risk our relationship getting out there right now.
My phone goes off in my suit pocket, so I fish it out with one hand, still holding my cup of coffee in the other, seeing Archer's name pop up on the screen. Fuck. He must have found information on her ex. After we passed that church, I researched it when Sienna left my hotel room yesterday afternoon. It wasn't hard to find out who ran it, and then a quick search on Facebook was all I needed to find out the bastard's name. Travis Jones. Archer was doing a background check for me, and I'm assuming he's calling with the results.
I reluctantly decline the call, which catches Sienna's attention. "Someone important?"
"Not more important than you."
She smiles. "Nice save, but you can answer it if you need to. I won't mind."
Our elevator stops at floor six, and as soon as those doors open, fury sparks through every vein of mine. Jett is smiling from ear to ear as he steps in beside us, fixing the tie on his stupid pinstriped suit. "Well, isn't this a coincidence?" he asks.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" I sneer.
Sienna takes a step away from me when Jett's eyes linger on how little space we have between us before he lets out a laugh. "You don't think I want information on how you plan to save the company? I'm here to learn about the renovations since you can't bother to return my calls."
"I'm not selling," I say.
"I didn't want to talk about selling, Lincoln, I wanted to learn more about what you had planned. This is our father's company, not just yours, so you can't blame me for wanting to be kept in the loop. I'm just here to make sure we won't go bankrupt because of you."
Sienna scoffs. "Please. He's not going to go bankrupt, Jett. He has me."
I roll my eyes when Jett smiles wider, seeming to prove a point. "He does, doesn't he?"
Thankfully, the elevator doors open to the lobby, and an array of people and cameras are stationed throughout the room. I extend my hand out for Sienna to exit first, gripping Jett by the arm when he tries to follow out behind her. "I don't care what the reason is that you're here for, just stay out of my way and don't cause any trouble."
"As I said before, I'm only trying to get more information."
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I slap my room key into his hand. "I'm so tired of you thinking that I can't do this, Jett. You've told me I couldn't handle this since the day the company fell into my hands, and maybe you were right then, but you aren't now. I've been working my ass off to prepare for today, and I'm not going to let you ruin it. The business proposal that I put together myself is in my suite on the counter. All the information you're seeking is in there. Have at it."
Jett stares down at his hand, then brings his gaze to mine again, an expression on his face that I haven't seen in years. He looks hurt. Vulnerable, even. "Fine. I'll take a look," he says.
Without another word, the elevator doors close between us, and as much as I want to stay pissed at my brother, I have a job to do. Sienna is at the front of the room now presenting to all of the media the plans her company intends to supply Nash Enterprises with. She doesn't look nervous at all. As I take a spot next to other media interviewers, waiting for my name to be called, I smile at her with pride, still trying to figure out how I got so lucky to have her be mine.
"Is that the CEO of Stone Media Entertainment?" A media representative asks beside me.
I nod eagerly, unable to take my eyes off her. "Yep. Sienna Stone."
"She's beautiful," he murmurs.
Glancing at him out of the side of my eye, I briefly catch a brown beard with a tiny bald spot below his chin. A red scar peeks through the exposed skin, but I drift my eyes away and focus back on Sienna. I'm not upset that other men notice her beauty. At the end of the day, she's with me, not them, so I couldn't care less.
"Imagine having her for a boss, right?" he continues, and I hold back an eye roll.
"She's more than just a pretty face. Do you hear her right now? She's smart, well-spoken, and knows more about business than anyone I've ever met."
He makes a tsk-tsk sound with his tongue. "Seems like you know her personally."
Fuck. Here I go again, almost spilling our secret. I can't help it. "We're business partners, but you should already know that if you're interviewing me today. I just think Sienna has a lot more to be complimented on other than her looks."
My phone beeps again as Sienna is going into detail about the renovations, so I pull it out of my jacket pocket to see a text from Archer. Found him. This is definitely the guy. I'm attaching a picture of a recent mug shot to this text. Assault, robbery, you name it, this guy's done it.
The picture is loading when Jett joins me again, his fingers clutched around the binder of my business plan. He doesn't say anything for a few seconds, but finally, he lets out a sigh and runs his hand over his perfectly gelled-back bun. "It's good, Linc. I've just briefly scanned it on the way down here, but it looks good."
Linc. He hasn't called me that in years.
"Good enough for you to stop trying to convince me to sell?"
He shrugs. "This binder alone didn't convince me, but Sienna's speech up there may have. Her plans are fantastic, and as much as it pains me to say it, I think the both of you might actually do it. You know, save it."
As soon as the picture loads in front of me, my skin grows cold. A man with lifeless green eyes is staring back at me. He's tall and built, similar to me, but he looks almost forty. The skin around his eyes is already wrinkled, his teeth yellow, and he's got scars up and down his arms. What stands out to me the most though is the beard. The beard with a bald spot. Similar to who I was just talking to moments ago about Sienna.
Holy fuck.
I whip my head to the right of me where the man just was, but he's no longer there. Sienna isn't on the stage anymore either, and that's when I realize everyone is staring at me. They're waiting for me to go on the stage. Sienna must have called me up.
Where is she?
"Linc," Margo hisses from the corner of the room. "Go."
"I..." I'm still stuck on the picture. My ears are ringing, the room growing smaller, and suddenly, it's hard to breathe. Sienna is in trouble and it's all my fault. I didn't tell her. "Jett, I have to go," I whisper lowly. "I know this is just proving your point that I can't do this, but Sienna is in serious danger. I need to get to her. Now. There's no time to explain."
Jett scans my face, eyes softening before he holds the binder up. "I've got everything I need right here. Go. I've got this."
Is he going to tank this for me? Is he going to go up there and ruin this entire event? I don't have time to think about it. I'm pushing through the crowd until I find Rachel, grabbing her by the shoulders to get her to focus. "Where is Sienna? Where did she go?"
Rachel gulps, eyes wide from the contact I'm giving her before she sticks a finger over her shoulder. "She went down that way. I think she's using the bathroom."
Taking off into a sprint, I'm racing down the hallway until I reach the restrooms, bursting the doors open without a care in the world that I'm a man. All of the stalls are open, not a soul in sight, and my chest deflates immediately.
Was that really him? Of course, it was him. It's not every day you see a beard with a fucking bald spot with the same scar. I knew Sienna shouldn't have come to Los Angeles. I knew this would be a mistake. I should have fucking told her. I should have believed Reed from the beginning and warned her sooner.
Also, fuck me for telling security they didn't need to be here today. I thought since I was here it would be fine.
I run my hand through my hair in frustration, not caring that it's messed up before I storm back into the hallway and head for the elevators. Maybe he took her to her suite, and if she's not there, I'll check every fucking floor to find out where he took her. Seeming how there are media cars positioned outside every entrance, I highly doubt he'd leave the building with her.
She's in here somewhere, I just have to find her.