Chapter Forty: Do You?
Lincoln
There's no way in hell I'm going to fall asleep tonight.
I'm staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, Sienna tucked into my body with her back against my chest, unsure of how much time has passed since we've been lying here in silence together.
How am I supposed to sleep after the events that transpired today? Sienna was attacked, and it was all because I didn't tell her about the possibility of her psychotic ex-boyfriend stalking her. This whole thing is like a scene from one of those criminal shows. I'm living and breathing an utter nightmare and I have no clue how to fix it.
Any confidence I've tried to bring out of her, any sort of braveness completely vanished after taking one look at her abuser. Travis is playing mind games with not only her, but me, too. Pretending to be a reporter right next to me today was just to toy with me. He's a cat circling two mice, and he's going to draw out the pouncing portion of the story as long as possible.
"You need to get some rest," Sienna says softly. I thought she was already asleep, but I guess we're both up from this hell-forsaken nightmare.
"Why on earth are you concerned about me right now?" My fingers threaten to rub her side, but now I'm afraid to touch any part of her at all. I don't want to do a damn thing to set her off and get out of this bed. Hell, I'm surprised she even wanted to lay next to me like this in the first place.
"Because it's better than worrying about myself. You need sleep."
"We both need sleep. We'll figure all of this out in the morning."
A long, dreadful silence flows between us before she says, "Figure out what, exactly? I'm screwed either way."
"And what do you think your options are?" I whisper into her ear.
"Well..." She sighs. "I either choose to stay and risk you getting hurt, or I leave and risk myself getting hurt. It's a lose-lose situation, Linc."
"I already told you that I'm not a factor in this. You shouldn't be concerned about me. When I tell you that I'm going to find this fucker and burn him to the ground, I mean it."
Her back is still toward me, but I don't dare turn her to look at me. I'm not sure if I could bear to see the expression on her face, so instead, I hold my breath, waiting for her response, but all I hear is heavy breathing. Is she asleep?
"You can't still be considering leaving, Sienna. Promise me."
More silence.
I finally peek over to see her face, my frustration diminishing when her eyes are closed, her mouth slightly ajar. The light from the nightstand casts a faint glow onto her skin, showcasing her bruised and swollen lip. I don't even want to know what happened in that hotel room, and if I even begin to imagine, my stomach fills up with acid. I feel nothing but pure rage toward Travis, and as soon as I can lay hands on him, I'm going to make sure the first punch is aimed right where the sun doesn't shine.
With Sienna finally asleep, slight relief bubbles in my chest, and before I know it, I enter into a state of darkness beside her.
***
I awake in the middle of the night with a gasp, my eyes flying open and my heart beating rapidly. Immediately, my hand reaches out beside me for Sienna but all I feel are crumpled sheets. Fucking hell.
Did Travis get in here?
There's no way in hell I wouldn't have heard that, right?
Stumbling quickly out of bed, I clutch onto the walls in the dark, stubbing my toe on the edge of the dresser before I'm able to finally turn on a light. The hotel room is empty, with none of Sienna's clothing in sight. The alarm clock reads that it's three in the morning.
Fuck.
Why did I let myself fall asleep?
With only a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, I exit barefoot into the hallway and pound loudly on Sienna's hotel room that's next to mine, but nobody is answering. The burning in my lungs comes on strongly, tears forming in the backs of my eyes at the thought of her being in danger.
"Dammit, Sienna, if you're in there, open the door. Please." My voice cracks, my forehead against the wood when the door suddenly opens and I tumble inside, barely having time to catch myself before I fall right onto the carpet. Sienna is fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her suitcases packed up beside her with a passport laid out on top, and tears running down her cheeks.
"Sienna, don't," I plead, scrambling to my knees to crawl in front of her. I don't care if it makes me look weak. She's the one good thing I've got, and I'm not losing her because she's scared. "You are so much stronger than this. What happened tonight doesn't define you, and if you leave you're just letting him win. You're throwing everything away that you've worked so hard for."
"Linc," she says, sniffling once as she withdraws a yellow envelope from her pocket. I recognize it instantly. It's the one I wrote to her when I sent the flowers to Europe. "I had every intention of leaving tonight, but as I was finishing packing, this was in the zipper pocket. Rachel was the one who packed my bags in Europe, so I thought she threw it out, but then I..." She hiccups, wiping away snot with the back of her hand. "I read it, and dammit, how am I supposed to leave after this?"
"What do you mean?"
Her lip trembles. "I mean, you wrote that you loved me. Do you?"
The question is thick in the air, yet I don't think I've ever been more sure of anything in my life. I'm eyeing her in disbelief, waving my hands over my current state, on my knees directly in front of her. "What do you think, Sienna? Of course, I do."
"Then why haven't you said it? This letter was written over a month ago."
Taking her hand in mine, I cautiously draw it to my mouth to place a gentle kiss on it. She lets me do it with no protest whatsoever, although her body is shaking. "Because that fucker has taken every good moment from your life, and I refuse to let him take away this one. When I say that to you for the first time, I'm going to make sure he's not even remotely in your mind because he will be behind bars. I promise you."
Collapsing fully into my arms, I fall backward on my ass and hold her close to my chest, letting her cry it out into my t-shirt. I kiss the top of her head, which makes her nuzzle against me even further, so then I kiss her cheek, then her forehead, hugging her as tight as I can.
"I just thought he gave up. I thought for some stupid fucking reason that he wouldn't try to come after me again, and my entire life I've always wondered why it was me that he was so obsessed with. If only I had never met him. If only I had just walked away then I could have spared myself so much pain."
Sienna is more than just a girl, but I'm not going to feed into the situation any more than I need to. She's outgoing, smart, beautiful... But she also has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. Plus, it doesn't help that she's a billionaire. It only gives Travis more motive to make her his.
"I don't think there's an explanation in the world that would make you or me understand it, but all we can do is figure out how to move forward, you know? Until we find him at least. We up our security, and I'll get Archer to make it his number one case."
"But there's no proof. What is he going to do with no proof?"
I shrug. "That's why it pays to have a best friend that's a cop. He's going to locate him for me and I'll take it from there."
She glances up at me. "And what exactly are you planning to do when you find him? He's disappeared before, Linc. I've had my security on it for years and they've never had any luck. I think he changed his name, and if he's truly been watching us for this long, he has to have other people around the city doing his work for him. No one can be in that many places at once by themselves."
What I do when I find him depends on whether or not we can locate proof. If there's enough evidence to lock him up, I'll choke him out just enough until he passes out so he can spend years in prison. However, if we don't have proof and I find him?
I shudder at the thought of what I'm capable of. The lengths I'd go to for Sienna are frightening.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," I tell her. "For now, when we get to New York, I want you to try your best to go back to how things were before we came here. You have bigger things to worry about than a meaningless psycho."
She laughs, and the sound is like music to my ears to know I was able to do that. "Did the media interviews even go as planned?"
I didn't even think about that, and it bothers the hell out of me that she's concerned about work right now. Then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from her. Regardless, what Jett said to the media is a future problem. Not one I'm focused on right now.
"I meant worrying about your health, not your company or mine. You need time to heal, and that's not going to happen overnight. Throwing yourself into work isn't the solution. It's a distraction."
Her body sags into my arms, tired and lifeless, and I watch as her eyes begin to flutter shut. I know she's been through hell and back tonight, so I make a mental note to ask Rachel to have the jet leave later today rather than in the morning. Sienna needs sleep.
"Please stay with me," she mumbles tiredly. "I can't sleep without you."
The strings to my heart are pulled on at full fucking force, causing me to fall even deeper in love with her than I already am. There isn't anywhere I'd rather be than right here with her.
I hold her close to my chest until she's in a deep sleep, her heavy breathing filling the room. Gently, I rise from the ground and tuck her into the bed, snuggling close beside her to press a kiss between her neck and shoulder.
"We're going to take this fucker down, Sienna," I whisper into her ear. "You and me."