by Lana Hartley
“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.
Sienna
Am I sure that Nate has changed?
Even after all this time, I’m his prisoner. I’m a plaything, a prize. He’s just using me for his own pleasure.
And I let him. I thought that he’d at least let me go to my dad’s funeral. But I’m nothing but a captive to him.
This penthouse is beautiful, but I’m not at liberty to go.
It kills me how much I still feel for him—even though I’m his hostage. He brings out another side to me, makes me feel emotions that I never thought possible. Nate was my first love, my first fuck…
I can no longer look at him without thinking about his hands on my body, playing with my breasts, pinching my nipples, teasing my clit.
Every time our eyes meet, I’m reminded of his throbbing cock filling me up, and all the bliss he’s drawn from my body.
Nate knows my body better than anyone, and I thought that he understood me too.
How can he, when he won’t even let me leave to grab a coffee or go to a funeral?
But now he’s taking me somewhere else. I feel the energy start to course through my body as he leaves me to get dressed and ready. My heart is pounding in my chest at the thought of leaving the penthouse.
A way out.
I run another bath—simple, this time. Once the tub fills, I sink beneath the water.
I wish I could be Nate’s.
Under any other circumstances, I would be his without hesitation. I’d let him dominate me, make me beg for his love.
I’d want him to do anything—everything—he could imagine to me.
But we’re not under any other circumstances.
His boss killed my dad and destroyed my life. Now, Nate won’t let me put the pieces back together. How can I begin to move on if I’m not even allowed to move?
The question weighs heavily in the back of my mind, even once I’m out of the tub.
As I dress, I wonder where Nate is taking me.
Is there anywhere else in New York left to go? What kind of place requires a woman to dress simply?
I flick through the dresses and clothes hanging in the wardrobe, annoyed by the amount of color that can be found there.
He told me to wear black, as though I wasn’t going to be wearing it anyway.
I find a black Chanel dress towards the end of the wardrobe. I slip it on with some black stockings that I clip into the suspender belt.
I wonder what Nate would think if he could see me in this lingerie, whether he would be able to control himself.
Nate gets so primal when he lusts for me. Like I’m the only woman in the world, and he needs to have me. He treats me like I’m his world.
I love it.
I love him.
But he won’t know about the suspender belt. My dress isn’t nearly short enough to show it off to him ‘accidentally,’ and I’m not sure I’d want to. Nate’s taking me out into the world, and I want to make the most of it.
From the floor to ceiling shelves, I pull on a pair of black patent leather kitten heels. If another opportunity to escape presents itself, at least I’ll be able to run in these.
Once dressed, and holding a Gucci bag, I walk back out into the lounge.
Nate is waiting, dressed in an expensive all-black suit that hugs his frame. The crisp material accentuates each of
his muscles. So it accentuates all of him, every line, every bulge.
He turns to look at me and nods, silently approving of my outfit choice.
“Let’s go,” he says, and strides forward to take me by the arm and lead me towards the elevator.
I pull my forearm away from his grip.
“I can walk by myself.”
Nate doesn’t argue further, and we descend into the parking garage in palpable silence.
My heels click against the concrete and tarmac of the garage, echoing in the still air. Nate removes the keys from his pockets, and as he presses the unlock button, a black Porsche 911 beeps to life.
Nate told me to wear something simple, and yet he chose one of the flashiest cars in the garage. Even the limo might have been more inconspicuous.
Nate slams his foot on the accelerator, and we tear out of the parking garage and into the city. My hand subconsciously grips onto the door, holding myself in place as Nate weaves through the traffic with ease. Cars and landmarks pass us by in mere moments, though I thought at this time of day the roads would be gridlocked.
But it seems every traffic light turns green just in time for our arrival.
We make our way out of the city, and my heart begins to pound in my chest.
Where is Nate taking me?
I crane my neck to look out of the tinted windows. I begin to recognize the landmarks that I picked out when we first touched down in New York. My grip around the door tightens.
In my head, I will Nate to drive faster. His foot presses down on the accelerator.
He’s taking me to the airport.
The airport appears over the horizon, and I can’t believe my eyes.
Where are we going?
In the back of my mind, I hope he’s taking me home.
Home at last.
But I silence that voice. I don’t think I’d be able to stand the disappointment if I’m wrong.
So my mind turns to other possibilities.
Does Nate own another glamorous penthouse that he intends to lock me in? Will he take me to someone else’s house, somewhere that his boss would never think to look? How much farther from LA are we going to go?
The Porsche drives into the airport, speeding down the runway until it stops just short of Nate’s private jet.
I get out, and my knees are weak.
I can hardly walk to the jet.
Nate comes up behind me, placing his hand at the small of my back. He pushes me gently, nudging me towards the plane. A part of me wants to tell him I can walk there myself—but we both know that I can’t.
The heat of his body behind me is oddly calming, and I’m momentarily grateful for his presence. He can sense my trepidation, my excitement.
Nate knows exactly what to do to help calm the whirlwind of emotions happening in my chest right now.
I climb the familiar stairs, into the wood-panelled interior. He leads me towards the same leather chair that I sat in when I was taken to New York before.
Energy runs through me. I’m restless as Nate fastens my seatbelt. Then, he walks into the cockpit to talk to the pilot.
Nate comes back a few minutes later and sits down in the chair opposite me. The plane begins to move beneath us. Once we take flight, I work up the courage to speak.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out when we get there,” Nate says, shrugging me off.
He unclicks his seatbelt and stands, walking through the cabin towards the bar.
“You can’t keep doing this to me, Nate. You can’t keep me in the dark.”
“You ask too many questions, Sienna,” he says, pausing. “I’m trying to keep you safe. Everything I do, I do for you.”
I sigh and turn my head away. Clouds pass beyond the window, and I watch them. Nate spends almost the entire flight on his phone, speaking in hushed voices. He’s going over the details of some plan or another.
Every so often, he checks in. I do my best to smile and tell him I’m all right. But really, I’m screaming on the inside, desperate to know our destination.
As the plane begins its descent, I begin to realize just where Nate’s taking me.
I can’t believe it.
We’re in LA.
Nate
I’m back in my nightmare.
The city of sin.
The place where I committed my worst and most dire crimes.
I’d like to wash the blood off my hands, but it will never happen.
I have a past.
There’s no denying that, not ever.
Doing this one thing for Sienna though, makes me feel like a better fucking man. She’s the light to my darkness.
“Where are we going? Please tell me,” she asks.
She hasn’t stopped asking since we left.
I have a surprise for her—but it’s not necessarily a happy surprise.
We sit in the back of the limousine, and I watch her closely.
She seems excited to be back in her hometown. Maybe she thinks I’m taking her home.
But that will never happen.
She will never be without me now.
She’s mine.
But I can give her this one day.
“You’ll see where we’re going soon enough, Sienna,” I comment.
In the meantime, I offer her a drink. I know I certainly need one.
I pour myself a scotch and give her a glass of champagne.
She looks out the windows with an air of excitement.
I know she thinks I must be taking her home. And it damn near kills me to know that nothing could be farther from the truth.
Hopefully, what I’m doing will be enough to satisfy her for now.
The limousine winds its way through LA traffic.
And finally, we get to our destination.
It’s the fucking cemetery.
Her eyes widen as she recognizes where we are.
“You’re letting me go to my father’s funeral?” she asks, tears forming in her eyes.
“We’ll have to stay out of sight, Sienna. But I didn’t want you to miss it. Not for anything in the world.”
Tears stream down her cheeks as she grabs my neck and hugs me tightly.
The feel of her body pressed against my own is enough to set me over the edge.
I always have to be with her.
She’s my new fucking obsession.
I’m elated by the fact that she’s happy to be here. As bittersweet as this moment is, any reprieve I can give her is enough to set my heart at ease.
She’s genuinely surprised.
I know this will be a tough thing for her to see, but I would never forgive myself if she missed her dad’s funeral.
“Thank you, Nate. Thank you so much. All I wanted in the whole world was to say goodbye to him.”
I grab her by the waist, feeling her slender body beneath my strong hands.
“You want to go out?” I ask her.
“You mean we can get out of the car?” she asks hopefully.
I take her hand and lead her outside.
It’s a clear day and the sun is shining in LA. But storm clouds loom in the distance. There’s a group of mourners surrounding her dad’s grave.
I pull her back by a tree, far out of sight, but close enough that we can hear everything.
Tears fall as she leans into me, trying to absorb my strength. I can tell she needs somebody to lean on. I wish it didn’t have to be like this. If it had been up to me, none of this would’ve happened.
I grieve in my own way for Hudson Rose, the man who was such a class act as to treat everybody in the same way. It didn’t matter that my father was a groundskeeper to him. He treated him with respect, and he treated me with respect.
Hudson Rose was a good man. And it’s a sad day to see him go, to give our final goodbyes.
Sienna presses against me and I wrap a strong arm around her, wishing I could take this weight from her shoulders.
We listen as the priest tal
ks and we listen to people say things to commemorate Hudson. He was a beloved man, beloved by all. This is evident by the fact that there are so many people at his funeral.
I see Sienna’s mom. I know Sienna sees her, too.
I tighten my grasp around her, reminding her that we’re here for one thing: to say goodbye to her dad. She may not go home. She may not run from me to her mother’s arms as she likely wants to do.
This thing with Edison Shaw’s not over yet.
“Oh, Nate, I’m gonna miss him so much,” she says, crying into my shoulder.
I hold her close, because there’s nothing else I can do. No words will help in this moment.
Sienna has lost somebody important to her, and there was nothing I can do to erase the past. I can only help create a better future for her.
I silently curse Edison. He’s the one that did this to my baby. He’s responsible for the hole in her heart and the magnitude of grief that she’s feeling right now. That in itself makes me want to fucking kill the bastard.
I silently renew my vow to end this thing with him.
I hold Sienna close as we listen and watch the funeral.
We stay there for a long time by the tree. We watch people mingle and talk around his grave.
Eventually, they start leaving.
And then, as if by some fucking magic, it starts to rain.
It’s like Hudson himself brought down the rain from heaven to mark this moment for his daughter.
What could be more fucking perfect in that ironic kind of way? Rain at the funeral.
We stay for a long time and eventually everybody filters out of the cemetery.
Her mother is the last to leave, the last to say goodbye. She hovers over his casket and dwells for a moment there.
Sienna’s crying harder now, but there’s nothing I can do except be the one who bears witness to her pain.
Hudson’s casket is left above ground.
Her mom leaves.
And then it’s just Sienna and me, standing in the rain beside a tree, watching her father’s casket.
It’s the saddest fucking thing in the entire world.
Sienna
The skies open and the rain begins to fall.
It’s the perfect setting to say goodbye to my father.
