Sienna
I’m torn deep inside.
My entire soul seems to breathe a sigh of relief.
I feel light and want to float away like a butterfly.
All that’s happened to me, I could almost push out of my mind.
Almost.
But the death of my father and my kidnapping weigh heavily on me and are always with me.
And then there’s Nate, tying me down like a tether. His hands are always on me. I’m constantly reminded that I’m in this situation because of him.
I’m torn, because it also feels so good.
His strong arms around me.
His commanding hands on my shoulders, the small of my back, steering me through the crowds. Pushing me forward and onward.
His body is always close to mine, always hovering around me, like a human shield.
I’m enjoying his protection. I glance at his eyes and see he’s continually scanning the people around us, watching the crowd. He automatically positions himself between me and any possible threat.
I’m used to being shadowed by security, because my father’s career made this kind of protection necessary.
Nate is really good at it though.
It seems to be second nature to him. The fact that his criminal life has trained him for this hangs over me like a cloud.
As appealing and sexy as his protection is, my mind can’t let go and shake the other perspective.
His control and power work both ways. He won’t let anyone get to me, but I also can’t get away. I can’t even leave his sight for a second. I can’t relax into the role of being treated to a nice walk and a day at the museum.
We walk among the throngs of people.
Being dressed casually reminds me of hanging out in the afternoon with Liz. It’s almost as if I’m not being held captive against my will, and that I’m not about to make my great escape.
That was a different time with her, less heavy, more innocent.
Sometimes, we’d pretend to be orphans.
Sisters thrown together by fate, growing up tough, with only each other to rely on. We’d swear we’d always be there for each other.
That wasn’t so long ago. But that simpler, happier time is now gone forever.
My father is dead. He’s been killed, and I’m orphaned in this city with Nate. He keeps me trapped, and is at least partially responsible for all this.
I’m bound to him–not only as his prisoner, but also by the pact we made when we were young.
Does that still hold, even though he’s changed?
Has he changed?
The pain I felt when he reminded me of our childhood together is still there.
I look at him and search for the friend I once knew, but all I see is a body of steel, like a machine. Poised to fight, his cold eyes are on the lookout for danger. He’s ready to protect me.
A screaming child breaks my contemplation.
I wish that we could be children again—and have the future play out differently. I’d meet Nate again under different circumstances, and in another world, maybe he wouldn’t have committed to a life of crime.
Or I could take flight like a bird, away from all this.
I shake my head to regain focus.
Stay in the here and now, Sienna.
I can’t dream of the impossible, I have to push the boundaries of my confinement. I have to test for a weakness in his guard if I want to get away.
As we round a corner, I squeeze his hand to check how attentive he is. But instead of tightening his grip, he squeezes back.
A second later, his arm is around my shoulder.
I inhale his scent, and for a brief moment, I sense affection with him holding me so close, as if we were on a date. My insides flutter.
We’re on the exhibition floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Crowds of people surround us. It’s the perfect place to make my escape, if only his grip on me wasn’t so secure.
The cool air-conditioned room makes me shiver. I side hug Nate’s body for warmth and he welcomes the affection. I can feel his strong body tense, and then relax under my apparently unexpected touch.
We stroll through the exhibition. Looking at the art on display allows my mind to wander a little. Stress is leaving my body. Nate’s behavior, however, is the same as on the street earlier.
He has no eye for the paintings and sculptures, but is scanning and assessing the crowd.
I realize the VIP treatment was not only for my benefit. Of course, he wanted to impress me, and it worked. Yet the exposure here also makes him edgy. The many surrounding strangers form an element he can’t control.
Soon, my mind drifts back to being preoccupied with my predicament. After this day outside, I'll have to return to the penthouse. There, I’ll have to wait out what happens next in dread.
Whoever ordered my kidnapping and killed my father won’t stop looking for me.
Eventually, that will lead to Nate. Why is he keeping me with him, then? Can’t he hide me somewhere else, alone?
I’m not safe with him, I conclude.
I have to take action right now.
We come to a big open room with many paintings on display. The crowd is thick. Tourists and locals bump into each other, and children drag their parents by the hand or run around playfully. There are four exits on both sides.
I lead Nate to the middle of the room and look around, pretending to figure out which way the exhibition continues. Nate has his fingers loosely around my wrist. I step closer to him but continue looking off to the far side of the room.
“I think that man is following us,” I whisper in his ear.
He immediately tenses.
“Who? Where?”
He drops my wrist and his hand feels for something tucked into his waist, hidden under his shirt. He must be armed.
I discretely point in the direction of a tall man in a suit with sunglasses. I could not have picked a more suspicious-looking guy.
Thank you, tall stranger, for your appearance.
Nate executes a quick half turn to shield me from the man at the other end of the room, and that’s all it takes.
I duck into the crowd and am off. I’m grateful for my jeans and casual outfit in which I can take quick, hurried steps. I don’t want to attract attention by breaking into a sprint.
I squeeze between an elderly couple and zig-zag through the crowd, quickly putting distance between myself and the spot where I left Nate.
I take a wild guess and choose the furthest exit because it seems the least obvious.
It leads into a corridor with more art—and more people. I keep my head down and weave in and out of the slow moving crowd.
My heart is pounding in my chest. I feel the same fright I experienced when they came to take me from my father’s estate in Beverly Hills. Yet there’s exhilaration mixed in that makes my steps light. Soon I’ll be out of here, and then I’ll be free!
A woman is resting on a bench, her eyes closed. A silk scarf is draped over her purse next to her, and I snatch it up in passing. I don’t look back and quickly drape it over my blonde hair, keeping my head down.
My breath comes in short and sharp bursts, and I force myself to inhale and exhale regularly. Here are the security guards at the entrance.
Do I look up, do I smile, what does a normal person do?
I just keep going as one of them nods at me. And I’m out in broad daylight again.
Freedom awaits me down the steps.
I look down, one...two, one foot after the other.
The sidewalk and the passing people are so close.
I’ve nearly made it.
My feet lose touch with the ground. I’m walking on air. Two familiar strong arms are pinning my own arms to my sides and lifting me up.
I’m facing Nate, who holds me close.
“Let me go,” I hiss. “Or I’ll scream.”
“No, you won’t,” he says calmly, but tightens his grip.
The air escapes my lungs as he squeezes me tight.
To anyone else, we might look like a couple in a loving embrace.
I’m out of air and I can’t inhale. I feel my face go red. My eyes are about to pop out of my skull.
He brings his face close to mine.
“This was a bad idea, Sienna.”
His voice is dripping with spite.
He drops me on my feet and yanks me towards the curb.
Out of nowhere, a black Mercedes pulls up.
In its tinted windows, I watch myself open my mouth wide, gasping for air.
He opens the door.
“Get in,” he says. “Get in, or else...”
His voice rises slightly but threateningly, and before I can even think, I clamber onto the backseat.
He climbs in behind me, slams the door, and the car pulls away from the curb.
In the silence of the car, the door locks click loudly. I feel defeated.
He doesn’t look at me.
“You disappoint me, Sienna.”
The threat is gone from his voice, but he speaks sternly, full of cold disapproval.
“For this, you will be punished.”
I lean back in my seat and close my eyes.
I can’t run from him.
There’s nowhere in this world where he wouldn’t find me.