Page 14 of Shield

Just as I’m about to give in to the impulse, her lights go out.

**

Back at my penthouse at Dragovari Tower, I get a couple of hours restless sleep before I give up, strip, and step into the shower. The water is scalding, pounding against my back as I close my eyes. I have a bottle of her Bergamot & Basil bath oil, and I squirt it on the shower floor. When the hot water hits it, the smell of her fills the bathroom. I’m hard instantly.

Standing in the shower with one hand against the cool tile, the other on my cock, I stroke myself, picturing Siena in the shower at the Edge. The way her tongue darted across her lower lip. The water beading up on her tits and rolling off, pebbling her nipples. Her fingertip disappearing inside hersweet cunt. How fast she rubbed her clit. The way she stared at my lips. Her pupils dilating. Her lips brushing against mine.

I come hard, shooting my load against the shower wall with a guttural groan. Fuck. Immediately, the pressure in my balls begins to build back up, but I don’t have time to stay in the shower for round two in the hopes that it will finally be enough to sate me, to get her out of my fucking head for five minutes.

Before I’m done dressing, my phone starts blowing up with notifications. The tracker app lets me know that Siena has left her home and then arrived at work. The cameras record automatically around the clock, but notify me when a new person enters her office or home, and it looks like she’s seen two clients already.

And the app I used to clone her phone tells me that she has already texted Vin.

Hi, this is Siena. Princess, remember? I have a quick question for you if you can

give me a call at this number. Thanks.

Princess?! I know that Vin called her that a few times—he calls all women that. But she likes it enough to remind him of it?

Vin responds to her text, and I click on the notification.

I know who you are, Siena. How did you get my number?

Seriously, just a really quick question. Can you call?

No.

A surge of satisfaction rolls through me. Good. If Vin shuts her down, there’s nothing to worry about. But he should be texting me right now to let me know she reached out. He doesn’t. Instead, another text comes through from Siena to Vin.

Please.

FUCK. Rage explodes through my veins, and I want to snap my phone in half. She should be texting ME. She should be begging ME. I stare at the screen, waiting for his response.

One Pearl Park Plaza, Ste 1800. One hour.

Thank you!

He won’t call her, but he’ll invite her to his office? What the fuck is he thinking? Why didn’t he text me to tell me, toaskmeif he could meet with her—especially if he’s meeting with her privately in his office and not in a public space?

Fuck that. This isn’t happening.

I’m downstairs within minutes, still fixing my tie and shrugging into my jacket when I hit the lobby.

Eleanor’s face registers alarm when she sees me, and she tries to stop me, but I step around her, avoiding eye contact. Nothing is going to come between me and Siena today.

In the car, my mind is spinning faster than my tires, justifying what I know is unhinged behavior. I’ve spent weeks keeping my distance, giving her space to protect her. But if she’s with Vin, she might end up on Aurelio’s radar. She needs me there to protect her. Whether she needs my protection from Vin or Aurelio, I don’t know yet.

When I pull into our private lot for One Pearl Park Plaza, it’s empty, which means Vin isn’t here yet. Helpful. I pull to the back of the lot, out of sight of the private elevator, and park, then jog back to the elevator, each step echoing off the concrete walls.

According to the tracker app, Siena is already in the building. Shit. I stab my code into the elevator keypad lock. She’ll be using the public elevators and have to wait outside the office door until Vin arrives. Thankfully, the private elevator I’m using opens inside the offices, so I won’t pass her.

When the elevator doors open on Vin’s floor, I step into the darkened office suite. As expected, it’s empty.

I look around the expansive space, waiting for my gut to tell me where to go, what to do, how to handle this. Nothing happens. What is it about this woman? My head is fucked. I can’t think.

Before I can make a decision, the elevator I just arrived on dings and whooshes back down to the parking lot. Vin will be on his way up momentarily.

I hear a soft knock and then Siena’s voice, traveling faintly through the public entrance to the suite.

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