Seeing her pout is driving me crazy.

Doesn’t she know I’m trying to help her? Why can’t she see that?

I’m doing everything in my power to protect Sienna, and yet she thinks I’m the enemy. If she only knew who the real enemy was. She would never fuck with me again.

I’m reading the same headlines that she saw. Hudson Rose, shot down in his own home. Sienna Rose, heiress to the fortune, gets kidnapped.

Her story is all over the news. There’s no way I could take her out now.

And there’s no way I can let her go. Edison is never going to let this go, not until he has her. And that’s a certain fate I won’t allow.

I pace around my office trying to find a solution. If Sienna wants to pout and be moody, that’s fine. She doesn’t understand this is for her own good. Why can’t she just fucking trust me for a minute?

I get on the phone with Titus.

“What’s the situation?” I ask.

“He’s reining in, Nate. You’re his target now. And he knows you have the girl and that there’s a reason behind it. He’ll likely kill her, too,” he says.

“Fuck!” I yell into the phone.

This isn’t the way I had envisioned this thing going down. Getting out from under the control of Edison Shaw was supposed to be smooth. I had everything figured out.

Until Sienna fell into my life.

I always dreamed of getting back to her. But I wanted to do so as a changed man.

The circumstances don’t allow her to trust me. And why should she?

She doesn’t know what’s going on. She can’t even imagine how much worse it could be.

And so, I take the brunt of her silence. Because in my heart, I know that what I’m doing is for her.

She’s the classic story of a girl who doesn’t know what’s good for her. Luckily, she has me. I do know it’s good for her.

“You gotta get to LA, Titus. And you gotta hold them off just a little bit longer. There’s something I have to do there.”

The beginnings of a plan start to formulate in my mind.

It’s something I can’t even believe I’m about to do.

“Come on, Nate, the time is now. You need to make your move to another location,” he says.

“Yeah, yeah. I will. But first, one more trip to LA...with Sienna.”

Titus sounds like he can’t believe the words I’m saying.

“That’s a joke right, Nate? Shaw’s men are all over the streets there. He’s combing the entire LA looking for you. And he’s moved on to other cities now. LA is the hornet’s nest. It’s not safe for you here. It’s not safe for Sienna.”

“I don’t care, Titus. We’ll fly under the radar. I have to get her to LA,” I say sternly.

I need him to understand that I’m serious and that I’m not to be fucked with now.

“Fine, Nate. But I want it on record that I say this is a bad idea,” he finally says.

“Noted,” I remark as I hang up the phone.

I have guys in LA. I have places we can be that aren’t conspicuous.

We won’t go to my mansion. I’ll take her to a hotel where I know a few of the guys. We’ll be given the VIP treatment, and we’ll be in and out in no time.

But my plan is simple.

Sienna deserves to go to her father’s funeral.

I feel partly responsible for taking him away from this planet, so maybe this—helping her say goodbye—will ease the pain of his transition.

I walk around my office, thinking that this might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I know it’s risky, but I also know the risk of losing Sienna if she can’t say goodbye to her dad one last time.

I balance the stakes.

My heart beats a little louder in my chest as I think about the possible danger.

Anything Edison dishes out, I can take. I would lay my life on the line to protect her.

And besides, Sienna’s life has been upended. She deserves to go to her own dad’s fucking funeral.

So, I set the plans in motion. I call my guys in LA.

I have to make sure that everybody’s on board and that nobody’s going to backstab me. It’ll take money—a lot of it—but money buys loyalty, and that’s what I need right now.

Besides, all of LA knows that I’m about to overtake Shaw, and they know that I’m going to win. They’d be stupid not side with me.

The tides of change have been coming for a while now. I need all the security and help I can get for this quick trip.

I’m going into the hornet’s nest, but I’m doing it for Sienna. That makes the sting just a little bit less biting.

I call the Ritz in LA and make arrangements to stay in their best suite. Then, I call my guys to make sure the plane is on the tarmac, ready for us to take off.

I can’t even believe I’m going back to LA. It’s a place I was hoping never to see again. I can wash my hands of it and be satisfied for the rest of my damn life.

But again, I’m doing this for her. And somehow that makes it worth it.

I know where the funeral is, and I know there’s going to be lots of people there.

I know Edison might even have eyes on me. But he wouldn’t think me dumb enough to go back for a thing like this. That’s for sure.

The risk is relatively safe. We’ll watch from a distance. She won’t be allowed to talk to her mother or anybody else.

Hopefully, being there will be enough for Sienna.

Once I have everything in place, I go to her room. I knock gently on the door.

Silence.

She’s pissed, but I don’t care. I’m about to do something very stupid and reckless for her.

I think that gives me the right to walk in unannounced.

“Sienna,” I begin.

She looks at me, eyes wide and hesitant.

“I don’t want to talk to you ever again, Nathan,” she says.

“That’s beside the point,” I say through gritted teeth.

This girl’s going to give me a run for my money.

She always does. She’s a wild one, and she’s got attitude. That’s something I’m not sure I can tame...nor would I want to.

But for this one time, I just need her to listen and obey me.

“Go away, Nathan. I have nothing to say to you.” She turns away from me.

Her insolence pisses me off—but it also turns me on.

This isn’t the time for that, I tell myself.

“We’re going on a little trip. You need to trust me. Get ready. Put on a simple black dress and be ready to go in thirty minutes.”

“I don’t want to go,” she says, looking into my eyes, daring me with her defiance.

“Fine. I’ll just drag you kicking and screaming. You’re going one way or another. Either you want to look decent or you don’t,” I say as I slam the door.

God, this girl is driving me fucking insane with her brazenness.

How dare she defy me? Doesn’t she know that people bow before me?

Doesn’t she even suspect that I’m one of the biggest crime lords in the nation?

Grown men wouldn’t say the shit to me that she does. Her audacity is just unbelievable.

I go to arrange the final details.

She’ll thank me in the end. She just doesn’t know it yet.