Leo
I'm going out of my fucking mind. I call Sienna's phone over and over again but it goes straight to voicemail. I feel powerless and yet I know I'm all she has. I'm the only one that knows she's gone missing. I need to come up with a plan of action. I have to mobilize all the security forces that I can.
"I'm here." Jax walks into my office.
"Fucking finally."
"Don't give me shit when you're the one who lost my sister."
He's right. I hate to admit it but he's fucking right. I lost her. I didn't take care of her. This is all my fault.
"Hey," I say. "Are you here to help me or hurt me?" He pushes an envelope across my desk.
"What's this?"
"It's another blackmail letter," he says. "Except it's not only that. He’s asking for a ransom this time."
I read over the letter and it appears to be from one man. He's absolutely fucking insane talking about the Reid family and his obsession with Sienna. He says he was merely out for blackmail money but has changed his mind and now he wants a ransom.
It only cements my gravest thoughts. She's been taken. It's not a mistake.
All my searching and efforts to find her were done in vain because all the while she's been in the hands of this delusional captor.
I imagine how scared she must be and what's being done to her. It's my worst nightmare being played out in real life.
"This can't be happening. It just can't," I mutter to no one.
And then my cynicism and despair melt away as I realize this is a call to action. I have to save her. She's probably waiting for me to show up and I won't abandon her now. I will never do that again.
So no matter what it takes, I will find and save her and prove to her that she never has to worry about being hurt by me again. We just have to get there in time.
"This guy is fucking crazy," I say to Jax.
"Yeah, he's hell-bent on destroying my family because we closed down that mine. He's off his rocker for sure."
I’m enraged. All I see is red, and I imagine tearing through every inch of this building until I find her.
"We have to go. We can’t waste any more time. We have to save her now."
I'm already up and pulling on my jacket. Though where I'm going, I don't really know. I plan to go somewhere, though, and to do something. Jax calls me on this.
"You can't be rash about it, Leo. You need to sit here and devise an actual plan, otherwise you're just wasting time. You can't go into this blindly."
His calm composure pisses me off. Doesn't he care about his sister? Isn't he angry enough to run out that door and to find her?
"The fuck I can't. I’ll do whatever I want. I love her." There's a pause as he digests this.
"What did you just say?" He's pissed. I can tell. My mind is racing, and I don't have time for this bullshit with Jax.
I said I love her. Now get that through your thick fucking skull and come help me find her." He gets up and starts pacing the office.
"I told you, Leo, to stay away from her forever. How dare you think you love her. It will never happen under my watch."
If he really believes he can threaten me and keep me away from her again, he's gravely mistaken. I listened to him once before and it's my biggest regret in life. I will never make that mistake again.
He's got to be crazy to think I'd stay away from her now. And I tell him as much.
"You think I care what you want? This isn't about you. It's about Sienna and me, and we're in love and there's not a goddamn thing you can do to change that. “Jax gets right up in my face.
"If you think you can touch her then you have it all wrong. I will use all of my resources to take her away from you. You'll never set eyes on her again. I warned you once, and that was it. You know that I don't approve."
How is he even thinking of this total fucking nonsense when we should be out finding her together? I see Leo for who he is now. His true colors are coming out more than ever before. He's just an overly protective asshole brother, and whatever he says, I shouldn't listen.
This is Sienna's life, and if she wants me to go away I will. But until then, I'm going to worship the fucking ground she walks on despite what Jax says. I should never have listened to him in the first place. His threats are tainted with some really fucking twisted sense of brotherly responsibility, and even if he hid her at the ends of the earth, I’d find her. Just like I’ll find her now.
"I left her once because I trusted you, Jax. You wrecked me and you destroyed her. Neither of us ever got over loving each other, and why you'd want to stand in the way of that I don't know. But one thing's for damn sure. I will never leave her again, got that?"
He seems surprised that I'm standing up to him now. When we were younger he got me away from Sienna by making me think that I wasn't good enough for her. I've spent years building myself up trying to prove otherwise.
And now I'm a man of ridiculous wealth and power. It took me this long but I finally believe in myself. And I believe in Sienna enough to know we'll make it through. He won’t stop us again. Not this time.
"I'll tear you down," he says, but his confidence isn’t there this time.
"No, you won't, Jax. Because you love Sienna and you want her to be happy. I make her happy. You need to see that now.” He looks at me, all macho anger and posturing.
"We're just wasting time," I say. "Every fucking second that slips by is one closer to Sienna getting hurt. Don't you want to formulate a plan to find her? Don't you care about her enough to put all this drama aside and make sure she's safe?"
At long last, he agrees. "Fine. Let's figure something out."
Finally. Shit. The dude has taken this to limit of reason. We sit down at my desk. He's talked me out of making rash decisions and I've talked him out of standing in the way of Sienna's happiness.
We may yet work as a team. Maybe together we combine our collective assets to make a plan. With our connections, the security footage, and our own personal protection officers, we make headway in determining exactly where Sienna is and how to free her.