Sienna was surrounded by the entire town of Keeneston, yet she felt all alone. After the explosion, the entire group had moved to the Blossom Café. Poppy and Zinnia had been called in and were making pots of strong coffee for everyone who had gathered in the restaurant.
Annie, Cade, and Nabi had taken the computer from Bahir's office to see what was on it. But when they left, more people came. Dani, Mo, Zain, and Gabe showed up first. Then Jackson had texted something to one of his cousins, and the next thing Sienna knew, most of the older Davies cousins were sitting around her as she alternately drank coffee and held an icepack to her face.
Sienna pretended not to notice when Miss Daisy waved Poppy over to the table next to them. “Dear, I’m having trouble keeping up with all the bets,” Miss Daisy so-did-not manage to whisper.
“What do you want me to do, Cousin Daisy?” Poppy whispered, but then had to repeat louder.
Sienna rolled her eyes and put the icepack back on her face.
“You’re family, so I trust you. I need you to take the bets for me. Just mark down the bet at the top and then you write their name, amount they gave you, and if they are for or against said bet. Then for the final column, if there’s a number involved, like Lily just bet Ryan would propose by tomorrow, put tomorrow’s date there,” Daisy again failed to whisper as she showed Poppy the betting book.
“No problem, Cousin Daisy.” Poppy smiled fondly at her elderly cousin before being whisked away by all of Sienna’s supposed friends.
Sienna didn’t listen to her friends gushing over Ryan, Jackson, and Nash’s heroism. She didn't even listen when they talked about how Ryan loved her so much. She didn’t care what they thought. She only cared about Ryan coming back to her.
The door opened and Sienna’s head shot up hoping to see Ryan. Instead, she smiled at Katelyn walking in with Jaylen.
“I’ve been sprung, Doc!” Jaylen said happily, bounding over to her. “Doc Charlie and Doc Emma gave me the all-clear. I can’t do much, but at least I can go home and see my girl.”
“And eat!” Zinnia exclaimed. “You’ve lost weight. Come here and let me feed you. Do you like hot browns? You need to keep your strength up to get back on the field. I have you on my fantasy team."
Sienna smiled as Jaylen followed Zinnia to the small table near the kitchen and sat him down with plate after plate of food.
Jackson slid into the chair next to her. The table had cleared out to not-so-subtly place bets with Poppy.
“He’ll be okay,” Jackson said quietly, and he put an arm around her shoulder. He had taken off his vest and looked relaxed in black cargo pants and a tight black T-shirt stretched over his chest and biceps.
“You’re lying,” Sienna said with a surprising lack of emotion. “Your eyes are more pewter-colored. It’s a dead giveaway.”
Jackson smiled at her, and she heard Zinnia let out a sigh. Sure, Jackson was handsome, dangerously so. But Sienna had never thought of him like that. He was always Ryan’s little brother. After tonight, she realized he was a grown-up. He’d protected her, taken care of her, and did it all because his brother loved her.
“Thank you for everything you did tonight. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for putting your life on the line to rescue me.”
Jackson just smiled at her and wiped a tear from her face. “Hey, it’s my job. And you’re family—or at least I hope you soon will be.”
“Thank you, Jackson, but . . .” Sienna couldn’t finish her sentence. The door to the café opened, and Ryan and Nash stepped inside. His eyes immediately searched her out, and by the time his eyes reached hers, she was already running toward him.
She had never felt such relief and happiness in her life. His arms wrapped around her, and his lips crushed hers as her hands ran down his arms.
“You’re safe,” Sienna cried, finally pulling back from his kiss. She had to see him, all of him, to make sure he was really here.
Ryan chuckled when she continued to run her hands over his body. He gently grabbed her upper arms and straightened her up. He leaned forward, and Sienna felt his hot breath tickle her ear. “If I get out of here alive, you can do that when we’re both naked. Deal?”
Sienna felt her face flush, but then she nodded. She couldn’t ask what he meant about getting out of the café alive before friends and family surrounded Ryan and Nash. Her parents hugged him, her mother cried, and her father thumped him on the back so many times Sienna was worried Ryan would be bruised tomorrow. And that was all before his parents got to him.
But the whole time he never let go of her hand. His fingers were laced with hers, his thumb absently rubbing circles over her skin. It seemed like forever for the crowd to calm. All she wanted was to be home with Ryan. She didn’t know when she had started to think of her place as their place, but it was their home. Or at least she wished it would be.
“So, what happened?” Bridget asked finally.
Ryan told of the car chase and how Nash had shot out his tire. “Braxton shot the gun out of his hand a second before I knocked him unconscious,” Ryan told the group as they hung on every word.
“We didn’t want him anywhere in the system, so we took him to Mo’s farm. We met Nabi, Annie, and Cade and set guards on him in the secure room that’s there. When I left, Nabi was on the phone with the president and the FBI director to decide where to send Bahir for the rest of his life.”
“That’s not the only interesting part of the conversation.” Nash smiled. “Tell them.”
Ryan looked away from Sienna, and she knew it was bad before he said it.
“Since my boss was killed by Bahir, the FBI director wants me to take over the L.A. office.”
The café was silent. As one, they all turned to look at Sienna. What could she do? They knew before they had even had sex it wasn’t meant to be. Timing was just never their thing. “That’s wonderful news. Congratulations.” She smiled up at him.
Ryan looked at her finally, but he wasn’t smiling. Instead he just frowned. “Thank you,” he said seriously.
“How did you fit Bahir into the McLaren?” Ahmed asked as he stepped forward.
Ryan’s hand tightened on Sienna’s, and he and Nash went pale.
“We used Detective Braxton’s cruiser,” Ryan said stiffly.
“Then where’s my car?” Ahmed asked with a deadly tone to his voice, causing Sienna to shiver. He’d always been “Uncle” Ahmed, but when he looked the way he looked now, she could only picture him as the terrifying soldier he had been in his early years.
“Um,” Nash started, taking a big breath and bringing his hand that had been behind his back forward. He extended it to Ahmed and with a steady voice said, “Here you go.”
Sienna cocked her head and looked at the object in Nash’s hand. She bit her lip trying hard not to laugh at the fear in Nash and Ryan’s face and the absolute devastation in Ahmed’s.
“Is that my side mirror?” Ahmed asked and took the mirror from Nash. “You broke my mirror?”
“Honey, it’s just a car,” Bridget said softly. “We can put a mirror back on, right? Is the car outside? I’m sure it won’t look nearly as bad as you think, Ahmed.”
Nash cleared his throat. “Um, the car isn’t outside right now.”
“Where is my car?” Ahmed demanded.
Ryan dropped Sienna’s hand and took a half step forward. “It’s my fault, sir. The car is on New Circle Road.”
“You left a McLaren on the side of the road?” Ahmed's asked with a rare moment of emotion.
“Not exactly. It’s more on the road. As in melted . . .”
“What?” Ahmed yelled. He actually yelled this time as the people in the café started looking nervous.
“Twenty bucks Ahmed kills Ryan by strangulation,” Miss Lily whispered. “Write it down, Poppy.”
“I’ll take that. He’ll skin him alive,” Zain said.
“Waterboard first, then beat him,” Gabe proclaimed and handed his money to Poppy.
Ahmed and Ryan ignored them. “What happened to my baby?” Ahmed asked finally as if he was working really hard not to explode.
“Well, Bahir had this chopper that was coming to pick him up and, well, we couldn’t let the pilot get away and tell everyone we had captured Bahir. So Nash shot him. Great shot, by the way,” Ryan said to Nash who just nodded with fear in his eyes.
“Okay, that’s what I would have done,” Ahmed agreed as he tried to remain calm. “This still doesn’t answer my question.”
“It kinda does. See without a pilot, the chopper went into a tailspin and fell onto New Circle Road. It slid into your car and ignited, which shot it into the air as a fireball, what fifteen feet?” Ryan asked Nash.
“At least twenty,” Nash said before slamming his mouth shut at the look of horror on Ahmed’s face.
“And what goes up must come down . . . onto your car. A car full of gas.” Ryan didn’t finish. Ahmed had turned red—bright red.
“Honey, breathe. It’s just a car. They caught the bad guy and saved Sienna. All worth more than a car.”
And then it happened. What no one thought they would ever see. A gasp filled the room and then it was so quiet you could literally hear the tear fall from Ahmed’s cheek and hit the floor.