Page 50 of Heartless
Making my voice gentle, I rounded the island.“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She was twisting her fingers in front of her, but with her gaze on the floor I couldn’t tell what had made her tense.I stepped forward, and her little hands clenched into fists.
“Do you need some help carrying the tray to your quarters?”
The curls of her ponytail twitched at the shake of her head.“I’m all right, thank you.”
A few seconds passed before her smooth legs, left bare by her short shorts, scurried around the other end of the counter.She picked up the bowl of berries and placed it in the fridge, then she returned the bag of chips to the pantry.When she reached for the tray, I caught its edge, and she yanked her hand away.
“Sienna, It’s okay.You—”
“I’m not starving myself,” she whispered to the tiles.
I knew she wasn’t.I just wanted her to not be so fucking beaten down.
“Sienna—”
She tagged her book and hurried out of the kitchen.
After giving her a couple of minutes to reach her quarters, I went to my office and turned the monitors on.She’d tucked her body in the corner of the couch in her library and squeezed her knees to her chest.
I rubbed the back of my neck.“Fuck.”
****
On Saturday, aftermy run, I shut the front door behind me.A pop song was blasting through the house.The same damn song that had been playing before I’d left.I stepped between the kitchen’s archway.There was no sign of Cam, but Sienna was humming and dancing by the sink with her back to me.Her ponytail was swaying, and her round ass was rolling side to side in rhythm with the music.It’d been two weeks since I’d taken her to her mother’s grave, and I’d sometimes heard her laugh with Cam.She had a pretty laugh.
Her happy tone cut through the singer’s upbeat lyrics.“Camila, the tomatoes are washed.Do I slice them or cut them in quarters?”
At the lack of response, she twisted to face the door with a tomato in her hand.Her mouth pinched, she paled while her chin tipped down.
She grabbed the small remote control on the counter to turn off the speakers before drying her hands on a tea towel.
“I...I thought you were Camila.”
It was as if her whole being had been snuffed out, and I was the fucking dark cloud that brought her down.
I edged farther in with measured steps.The closer I got, the deeper her head dipped into her shoulders.
When her back bumped against the counter, I stopped advancing.“You like that song, huh?”
The apprehension stiffening her body strained through her tone.“I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
My jaw clenched.She had to stop doing that shit when she’d done nothing wrong.“Stop apologizing, Sienna.”
Cam’s laughing voice burst from behind me.“What happened to our song?Oh hey, Jake.I didn’t know you were home.Was the music too loud?”
“All good, Cam.”
Picking up on the atmosphere in the room, she neared Sienna and touched her shoulder.“What’s wrong, sweet girl?”
Sienna shifted sideways to face her.“I’ve washed the tomatoes, and I wanted to know how you wanted them cut.”
Cam cupped her cheek.“Can you grab some red wine vinegar and olive oil from the pantry?”
Unhidden relief slackened her shoulders before she scuttled toward the pantry.
Cam jerked her head in a move for me to follow her and marched out of the kitchen.Once we were in the hallway, she lowered her voice to a whisper.
