My stomach twists with nerves as I park in front of the abandoned warehouse the address led me to, and I jump in surprise when someone knocks on the window of my armored car. I turn to the side, my eyes widening when I recognize the man.
I open the door, and instantly, Silas and his men come rushing in. “Get behind me,” Silas snaps as he traps me between the car and his back, a gun in his hand.
“I thought I told you to come alone,” Xavier’s oldest brother says, not in the least intimidated. “You Windsors never listen, do you?” He sighs and runs a hand through his thick black hair. “This is really going to irritate my new sister-in-law, and she’s as unhinged as my brother is. I really don’t have time for this.”
“I’d never rush out without thinking and risk making the situation worse,” I tell him from my hidden spot behind Silas’s huge shoulders, refusing to apologize for my caution. Waking up Lex clearly wasn’t a good idea, considering his exhaustion and current mental state, but I wasn’t going to rush out without our Head of Security by my side.
I notice the exact moment Silas recognizes the man in front of him, his body relaxing as he steps away from me. “Zachary Kingston? What the fuck?”
“Mayor Kingston,” he corrects, sounding irritated. “Ah, fuck it. Just follow me,” he says, before throwing Silas a withering look. “You, in particular, have ruined my whole fucking day by attempting to infiltrate Kingston private property in your search for Sierra. Because of you, I had to go find my brother and his wife myself, just to make you stop being so fucking nosy. Since you were so desperate to find them, they’re your problem now, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I frown when he leads us through a large empty warehouse until we’re standing in front of a brick wall. He pushes against it, and it slides open, revealing a pristine metal elevator that’s entirely at odds with the terrible state the rest of the warehouse is in. Silas still has his gun drawn, and mayor Kingston sighs as he eyes it, leaning back and looking not the least bit concerned. If anything, he looks like he just wants to go home.
It feels like we’re going down forever, and by the time we reach the floor we’re headed to, I’m uneasy. Judging by the way his shoulders are drawn, so is Silas. The doors open, and I tense when I hear Sierra’s voice.
She turns around at the sound of our footsteps, looking perfectly fine in her pristine emerald dress, her long dark hair perfectly straight and a pair of nude heels clicking on the floor. “Raya, there you are,” she says, rushing up to me to hug me.
“You’re fine,” I murmur, hugging her tightly. “Thank God.”
She pulls back and looks at me in confusion. “Of course I am. What are you talking about?”
I look past her and freeze when I find Akshay bound to a chair, his face swollen and bleeding. Xavier Kingston has his foot on Akshay’s knee and a baseball bat in his hands. He merely winks at me in greeting and places the bat underneath Akshay’s chin, forcing him to raise his head.
“S-Sierra,” I stammer, unable to make sense of what’s happening. “I… we… we’ve been looking for you for hours. Lex… he’s going out of his mind.”
Her expression falls, pure concern stealing away her smile. “What? My brothers were never even supposed to know I was gone.” She turns to her husband then. “You promised me they wouldn’t find out, Xavier.” Her eyes flash with betrayal. “You promised me a truce.”
He walks up to his wife and wraps his arm around her waist. “I’m sorry, Kitten,” he tells her, his expression betraying his disconcertment. “I must’ve missed something. It wasn’t intentional, I swear. I meant it when I said I wanted a truce.” He looks at her pleadingly, and she nods slowly, like she isn’t sure she believes him.
“Sierra,” I murmur, my whole trembling with relief now that I know she’s okay, all adrenaline leaving my body. “What… what is going on?”
She steps away from Xavier to grab my hand instead, her expression conflicted. “I saw the news articles, and men like him won’t stop,” she says, tipping her head toward Akshay. “He’d continue to exploit you, threatening the happiness you’ve found with Lex. My brother hasn’t been this happy in years, and I couldn’t stand back and let something threaten what the two of you have built together.”
She tucks my hair behind my ear and sighs. “Besides, I’ve seen Faye go through something similar with her piece of shit father, and I just… I couldn’t sit still this time. With Faye, I just didn’t know until it was too late. But this time, I thought… I thought maybe this time I could make a difference.”
She was trying to protect me, just like all my other sisters-in-law did. Sierra was just a little more hands-on about it. I bite down on my lip to keep my tears at bay and wrap my arms around her, hugging her tightly. “You’re out of your mind, and you really shouldn’t have done this, but I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart,” she murmurs. “I’m sorry this happened at all. Becoming a Windsor means public opinion can and will be used against you.” She pulls away to look at me. “But it’ll never go unpunished. We’ve all learned a lot throughout the last few years, and I won’t sit still anymore if anyone comes after my family. These kinds of things are best handled swiftly and quietly.” She looks at Akshay then. “He agreed to put out a statement confirming he was lying about everything he said, and he won’t ever contact you again.”
I nod, my eyes roaming over the man who had a hand in my birth, but who’s never been a father to me. He’s looking down, looking as broken and beaten as I suspect Mom looked when Dad saved her. Now, more than ever, I’m grateful my mother found Dad. I can’t imagine who she’d be if she’d been forced to stay with this man, who I would’ve grown up to become.
Silas begins to pace and runs a hand through his hair as he assesses the situation, quietly taking in everything Sierra said. “I get why you did it, but what did I tell you, Sierra?” he says eventually. “I told you to keep me in the loop when you do something fucking crazy, didn’t I? Do you have any idea how worried I was? Do you know how worried Alanna is?” he asks, referring to his wife. “Not to mention Lexington. I haven’t seen him this triggered in years.”
Xavier walks up to Sierra and moves to stand just in front of her, his expression flashing dangerously. “We’ve barely been here for a day. It’s been what, thirteen hours since we came down here? Why would my wife need to inform you when she goes somewhere with me for a few hours?”
Sierra shakes her head. “Xave,” she says, her voice soft. She wraps her hand around his arm, their eyes locking. “Don’t,” she murmurs. “I fucked up… you don’t understand.”
Silas runs a hand through his hair and turns. “I need to go call my wife, and then I have to inform your grandmother that you’re fine. By the time I get back here, you’d better be ready to leave. I get what you’re doing, and I’m all for it, but next time, give me a heads up, okay?”
She nods, and mayor Kingston smiles at me, seemingly having understood the situation a bit better now too. “Drive me home while you’re at it,” he tells Silas. “It’s late, and our drivers took our cars back to our estate. I’d hate to wake them now. You can call and drive at the same time. Xavier’s got this in the meantime.”
Silas sighs in irritation and walks out with mayor Kingston, in search for network. We’re so deep down that there’s no reception whatsoever, which is probably how Lex lost whatever kind of tracker he had on Sierra.
“Come on,” Sierra says, grabbing my hand. “Zach just bought us thirty extra minutes or so. It’s time for an apology. His first, and then we’d better go home so I can go apologize to my brothers myself.”
