Page 109 of Ruined By Blood
My mother and I stare at each other across the space that separates us. Her face is thinner than I remember, her once-vibrant eyes shadowed with all she's endured.
"Sienna," she says again, her voice breaking. "My beautiful girl."
Something cracks open inside me. I cross the room and fall into her arms. She feels smaller than I remember, but her embrace is just as fierce. We cling to each other, her tears dampening my hair as mine soak into the fabric of her blouse.
"I'm so sorry," she whispers against my temple. "I'm so sorry I left you with him. I tried to get us away. I tried so hard."
"I know," I choke out, remembering our failed escape attempt. "I know you did."
She pulls back just enough to cup my face in her trembling hands. "Every day, I thought of you. Even though the fog of whatever they were giving me made it hard sometimes. I never stopped fighting to come back to you."
I see the truth of it in her eyes—the same determined spirit that helped her survive all those years in that place.
"When they kept me drugged, I would focus on your face," she continues, her thumbs brushing away my tears. "I would recite your birthday, your favorite color, the way you laughed when you were little. I was so afraid I would forget something important about you."
"I never forgot you either," I tell her, my voice cracking. "I kept your camera. I took pictures of empty places because they reminded me of how I felt without you."
A fresh wave of tears spills down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry for all you've suffered. For everything he did. For not being able to protect you."
I wipe at my tears, trying to catch my breath. My head is spinning with everything that's happened. It feels like I'm standing in the eye of a storm, this brief moment of calm before whatever comes next.
"What are we going to do now?" I ask, my voice small but steadier than I expected.
Mother brushes a strand of hair from my face, her touch still gentle despite the years of captivity. "First, I need some days to heal from the drugs they've been giving me. Doctor says it will take time for everything to clear my system."
She glances around the study, at the mahogany desk where my father built his empire of pain. "Then I need to understand what's been happening all these years."
I shudder, looking at the door that leads to the rest of the house. "I don't want to stay here. I can't spend another night in this house."
My mother's eyes soften with understanding. Her hand finds mine, squeezing it gently. "Oh, sweetheart, I don't think Enzo would let you stay here one way or another."
Something in her tone makes me look up. There's aknowing smile playing at the corners of her mouth. The first hint of the mother I remember from before everything went wrong.
"I saw how he looked at you," she continues, brushing her thumb across my knuckles. "How he touched you. That man would burn this house to the ground before letting you spend another night under its roof."
Heat rises to my cheeks. "He saved me. In every way possible."
"I can see that." She tucks another strand of hair behind my ear. "And he found me for you. He is the reason we get to have this conversation now."
Mother's expression turns serious. "Sienna, I need you to know something. What you've been through... what Henry did to you..." Her voice breaks, and she has to take a deep breath before continuing. "None of it was your fault. None of it."
Fresh tears spill down my cheeks. "I know that. Now I do."
She pulls me close again, and I breathe in her scent—different from what I remember but still unmistakably her. "We're going to be okay," she whispers against my hair. "It won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight, but we're goingto be okay."
Iwait outside the study, giving Sienna and Charlotte the privacy they deserve. My back is pressed against the wall, arms crossed over my chest as I try to quiet the storm of emotions raging inside me. The past hours have been a hurricane.
My knuckles sting where they connected with Sterling's jaw.
Worth it.
The door opens and Sienna emerges, her eyes red-rimmed. For a moment, she just stands there, taking me in. Then she runs toward me.
Her body crashes into mine with enough force to push the breath from my lungs. I catch her, arms wrapping around her waist as she buries her face against my chest. She's trembling.
"Mom's staying here," she mumbles against my shirt. "She needs time to recover, to understand everything that's happened. But I can't—" Sienna pulls back just enough to look up at me, her eyes piercing straight through to whatever soul I have left. "I can't stay in this house another minute."
I cup her face in my hands, careful of the bruises that bastard left on her skin. "You don't have to. From now on, you stay with me."
