Forever Entangled (9 page)

“Most dads like me. I can’t believe he didn’t remember me,” Seth complained.

“My dad’s not like most dads,” Sienna said, knowing that was the understatement of the year. She also knew she had all of five minutes before her dad tracked down Ryan and killed him.

“Look, Seth, I’m sorry, I don’t have time to talk right now.”

“That’s all right. I have a meeting with Jaylen. I just wanted to see if you wanted me to pick you up for Malik’s visitation tomorrow. I don’t think you should go alone. I know you were close to him.”

“That’s very nice of you, but . . .”

“She already has a date for tomorrow.”

Sienna whipped around and saw Ryan walking toward them. She didn’t want to, but she felt a little thrill when he put his arm around her and smiled down at her.

“I think we need to talk. Privately.” Seth looked pointedly at her and she nodded. First, she just needed to figure out what was going on with Ryan. She didn’t want him waltzing back into her life and taking it over only to leave her broken-hearted. She had to find out what was between them one way or the other before she could know what to say to Seth.

“I do, too. When are you leaving town?”

“I’m flying in and out of town all week. I’ll be here tomorrow for the private visitation, and then I’m gone the following day when the public one is at the stadium. But I’ll be back for the funeral service. His sister is going to sprinkle his ashes here and at the beach.”

Sienna pursed her lips and tried not to cry. “I know he wanted to retire there. He would like that very much.”

She felt Ryan give her a little squeeze but before she could end the conversation, her father’s door opened. “Ryan! Get in here!”

“Somebody’s in trouble,” Sienna sang as Ryan grimaced.

“Don’t worry, Parker, I’ll take care of her while you’re gone,” Seth gloated.

The second the door closed Sienna turned on Seth. “I’m not some bone for the two of you to fight over. You wanted to talk, fine. We had a great time when we went out. There was a possibility of something more there, but with the way you two are acting, I’m not interested. Now, if you want to grow up, then give me a call and we’ll see . . . maybe.”

Sienna stepped around Seth and walked with her head held high down the hall.

“Yo, Doc, how ya doing?”

“Peachy,” Sienna snapped before catching herself. “I’m sorry. A couple of guys . . . never mind. How are you?”

“Doc, the love doctor is in. What can Dr. Jaylen do to get the motion back in the ocean?”

Sienna cracked up. “You just did it. Thanks. So, you have a meeting with Seth?”

Jaylen turned serious. “Time to go over the accounts. I’ve been reading up on interest rates and different kinds of mortgages like you suggested. I got this down.”

“Excellent. Now go get that house.” Sienna slapped him on the back and Jaylen winked before heading to the conference room across the hall from her father’s office.

Sienna unlocked her door and looked nervously back at her father’s closed door before stepping into her office with Hooch. It was time to see what Ryan was made of. The question was how badly did she want him to pass inspection? Who was she kidding? She knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted Ryan to see her as a woman to love, not a trophy for a pissing contest with another man. She wanted her father to approve because no matter how old she was, she always wanted her father’s approval. And she wanted Ryan Parker.

CHAPTER NINE

Ryan shook Will Ashton’s hand and didn’t even blink when her father crushed his bones together. Instead, he gave a slow smile and squeezed back. The two of them stood squeezing their hands in a silent war.

“I talked to your father,” Will said and then squeezed Ryan’s hand harder.

“You did? And how is Dad this morning?” Ryan asked, still squeezing.

“You should know. He said he saw you and Sienna this morning.”
Squeeze
.

“Yes, we’ve spent the morning together.”
Squeeze
.

“And the night?”
Squeeze
.

Ryan had to prevent himself from wincing. “Is none of your business.”

“When it pertains to my daughter, it is always my business. Cut the crap, Ryan. You know the whole town knows you had a thing for Sienna, but she never reciprocated. Then something happened and the situation suddenly reversed. You never asked her out again. Instead you left for the FBI. Now you’re back the day after a friend of hers is murdered.”

Ryan shrugged. “I’m just helping my dad.”

Squeeze
. “It seems you’re spending too much time with my daughter to help your dad. Why are you here?”

“We’re friends. I’m just saying hi.”
Squeeze.

“When your father saw you this morning, that’s not all you were doing or he wouldn’t have placed a bet at the Blossom Café that involves the two of you being something more than friends.”
Squeeze
.

“And if we were?” Ryan asked as he squeezed with all he had. He couldn’t believe he even asked that, but he liked Will, and if he was going to be with Sienna, then he wanted his blessing.

Will dropped his hold on Ryan’s hand, and Ryan put his behind his back and stretched it out. It hurt so badly.

“Sit down, we need to talk. I know there’s something going on, and you’re going to tell me all of it.”

*     *     *

Sienna sat back in her chair and let out a long breath after returning her last call. Her respite hadn’t lasted long though; her cell phone began to ring.

“Ryan is in town and you didn’t call me?” Sydney practically yelled into the phone.

“I’m not talking to you about your cousin. That would be weird.”

“No, weird would be talking to Sophie about it since they’re practically twin cousins. They have some bond with being born at the same time on the same day, Christmas at that, but whatever. It doesn’t affect me, so dish.”

“He’s in my dad’s office right now. My dad called him in, and I haven’t heard from them in thirty minutes.”

Sydney cursed. “Your dad’s going to jail for murder.”

“I know, I thought it would be Ryan after he heard Seth asking me out.”

“Whoa!” Sydney cried out. “Back this train up. Seth? Ryan? No, this is too much. Dinner. Tonight. At the café. I want to hear all about this.”

“Okay,” Sienna laughed. “I’ll see you at six. Examining my love life could take all night.”

Sienna hung up in a much better mood. This was her life. Not her father’s. And she needed to rescue the man she loved from certain death.

Sienna opened her door and stalked down the hallway. The sound of raised voices worried her until she realized they came from the conference room. Jaylen stood up and tossed a handful of papers at Seth and stormed from the room.

“Jaylen, what’s the matter?” Sienna called out as the running back barreled down the hall.

“He’s upset he can’t afford the house he wants,” Seth said, coming to stand beside her. “That’s the trouble with some of these players. They think they have all the money in the world, so why not drop fifty thousand on a night out with the guys or rent a yacht for a couple weeks? What’s a couple million? Then they see the reports and realize they’ve spent their nest egg.”

Sienna felt horrible. She knew how badly Jaylen wanted that house.

“Maybe you could help me with him?” Seth asked. “Between the two of us, we can get him back on the straight and narrow financially and mentally. Let’s talk about it over dinner tonight.”

“I’m sorry, I already have dinner plans. And Seth, I know we had just started dating, but I need to stop seeing you personally. As you know, Ryan and I have a history, and I’d like to see where it goes. I just need time,” Sienna said with her hand on his arm. She felt him tense, but he didn’t have time to say anything as they turned at the sound of her father’s door opening. The sight that greeted her stopped her from saying anything further. Her father had his arm around Ryan’s shoulder, and they were both laughing.

“Damn good to see you again, son,” her father said as he shook Ryan’s hand. “Take care of my daughter.”

“You have my word,” Ryan said and returned the handshake.

“What the hell?” Seth exploded.

Ryan felt Will tense beside him. Their talk was something akin to walking through a field full of landmines while blindfolded. Ryan prided himself on being a strong man, physically and mentally, but nothing had prepared himself for Will’s stare. In the end, he broke and explained exactly what he was doing here. He expected Will to lose it, but that was when the older man leaned forward, gave Ryan a pat, and said, “There’s no one else I would trust to look after my little girl.”

At that moment, Ryan had never felt more pride. And at this moment, he’d never felt such amusement.

“Excuse me, young man?” Will said with a deadly tone.

Seth looked flustered and Sienna looked so cute as she stared with confusion at him and her father standing side by side that Ryan sent her a wink just to mess with both further.

“I thought you hated him. I was just surprised, that’s all.” Seth turned to Sienna quickly. “I’ll see you soon for dinner to discuss Jaylen.”

“Let’s set up a meeting at the office,” Sienna said with a weak smile.

Seth didn’t respond. Instead he went to pet Hooch, and the dog growled. Ryan and Will smiled at each other as Sienna’s eyes quickly narrowed.

“What’s going on with you two?” she asked as soon as Seth was gone.

Will leaned forward and gave his daughter a kiss on her cheek. “He’s just the first man you’ve dated that I approve of.”

“You approve? Of Ryan?”

“I couldn’t have picked better myself. In fact, I believe your mother and Paige had this planned twenty-eight years ago.”

“But, we’re not . . .” Sienna started before Ryan grabbed her hand.

“But we need to go. Things to do and all that. We’ll see you soon.” Ryan shook Will's hand and grabbed Hooch’s leash, nudging Sienna down the hall.

“I don’t know what to say,” she murmured beside him.

Ryan shot her a wink. “Twice in one day and I still haven’t gotten you naked yet.”

*     *     *

Ryan sat on the back porch of Sienna’s house and tossed treats to Hooch. Sienna had just left to meet Sydney for dinner, and if there was one place he didn’t need to worry about her being safe, it was the Blossom Café. The sound of the ATV reached him before he saw it crest the small hill. The figure in all black rode it comfortably to the back fence and stopped. He adjusted the straps of his backpack and, in an easy hop, cleared the five-foot fence.

“Hi, Nash. How are you?” Ryan asked as the figure crossed the backyard. Nash Dagher was the apprentice for the security team protecting the Rahmi royal family in Kentucky. He was a year older than Ryan but had spent the past four years doing the same things Ryan had—trying to get himself killed.

“Good. Just got back from Afghanistan. The rolling hills of Kentucky never looked so beautiful after three weeks in those mountains,” Nash told him as he took off his backpack and took a seat.

“I've got something I turned over to Ahmed’s U.S. government contacts, though.” Nash’s black hair was shaved short. His normally tanned skin was darker, showing the amount of time he’d spent outdoors this past month. For a kid who had come to Keeneston from the small Middle Eastern island country of Rahmi weighing slightly more than a wet dishrag, Nash’s transformation was nothing short of astounding.

Ahmed, the previous head of security and all-around international badass, had trained Nabi, the current head. Now Nash was here. Since Nabi and his wife, Grace, had started a family seven years ago, Nash had been taking over more and more responsibilities. But with his intense physical training regiment and the Rose sisters’ diet of good Southern food, Nash had put on eighty pounds of muscle in addition to growing several inches.

“What did you find?” Ryan asked, tossing Nash a drink.

“There’s lots of chatter of a big terrorist statement that’s going to be made on US soil. The natives called him
Rais.
Literally translated to someone who leads. He’s doing things differently over there. He’s not ruling out of fear, but almost through dangling riches in front of the poorest of the poor and promising power to the wealthy who have been disrespected.”

Ryan put it together in a second. “We have him on our radar, but we call him The Suit. We can’t pinpoint his location or even his real identity. Could you?”

“No, and trust me, I tried.”

Ryan nodded his head. If what he’d heard about Ahmed in his younger days were true, and Ahmed had taught Nash, then he knew Nash had gone dark to get this information.

“Now,” Nash said with a smile, “since I’ve already placed my bet with Miss Daisy about how long it will take until you and Sienna are engaged—I had within one week—and you’ve invited me to her place, are you here to tell me your good news?”

“Not exactly. The real reason I’m here . . .”

“Yeah, I know. John isn’t the only one with resources.” Nash winked.

“Picked up her address on the scanner?”

“You bet your ass we did. Nabi about lost his mind. Faith was sick and Grace was at a horse show so Nabi made me sneak over to find out what happened.”

“How is his daughter?” Ryan asked, taking a slug of beer.

“She’s fine now. Turned out to be an ear infection. So, what can I do to help?”

“What you don’t know is someone paid Sienna a little visit yesterday and had a look at her computer. I need some surveillance equipment. The good stuff that is completely invisible.”

“No problem. Where do you want it?”

Ryan pointed to a cluster of trees. “There, the back door, the front porch, by the mailbox, in the kitchen, living room, and outside the bedroom window.”

“Piece of cake. I have the outdoor equipment with me now,” Nash told him as he opened his backpack.

“Thanks a lot, Nash. So, what’s going on with you and my cousin Sophie?” Ryan took another sip of beer. It was so much more fun being on this side of the questioning.

Nash shrugged a shoulder. “I thought something at one point. It seemed like there was mutual interest, but then, nothing. I’ve hardly seen her since she graduated college.”

“As if you haven’t run her name through your little supercomputer to know exactly what she’s up to.”

“Haven’t had time. Nothing ever happened between us, so it’s not like I have any claim to her. She chose to leave, and she chose not to tell me, or anyone, where she went. Besides, my time is now being occupied,” Nash quipped as he lifted the bottle to his lips.

“You’re dating someone? Who?”

“I didn’t say I was dating. I said my time was occupied. Now, we have some work to do if we want to get these cameras up before Sienna gets back from the café.”

Sienna opened the door to the café and was met with complete silence. Every person stopped talking and looked at her left hand. As if they were one being, they all turned to Miss Daisy’s table and started calling out dates. So this is what it felt like to be the subject of a bet.

“Sienna!” Syd called out. “You wouldn’t get engaged without telling me first, right?”

“Of course I'd tell you.”

“Good, next Sunday’s game at the Thoroughbreds’ stadium sounds romantic, doesn’t it?”

Sienna took a seat across the table from her friend and shook her head. “One, I’m not proposing to anyone. Two, Ryan and I aren’t even dating.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire. Cole called my dad and told him that Ryan met with Will today and got his blessing.”

“Marshall knows now, too?” Sienna groaned. Sydney’s dad, the sheriff, would tell every other Davies in the town, and that meant every single person in this room now knew her father approved of her dating Ryan.

“Really, we aren’t dating,” Sienna protested.

“That’s not what Uncle Cole said.”

Sienna raised her hand in the air to get Poppy’s attention. Zinnia was busy in the kitchen and her sister was helping serve tonight.

“Poppy, I need some Rose Sisters’ Special Iced Tea. Just bring the pitcher.”

That quieted the café again, and they all looked to Sydney, who in turn gave them the thumbs-up sign.

“You’re no longer my best friend,” Sienna grumbled.