Act 1: Queen's Rook - Chapter 5

Sienna

After Serena calms herself down, I call Dario to come and collect her. I wasn’t certain whether or not she told him about her discoveries, but I resolved to keep it to myself for now. There is no way for us to know what Sylvana’s true intentions are by her encounter with someone linked to our greatest enemy. All I know is that it can’t be a good thing.

I lean back in my chair and breathe out a frustrated sigh; is there anyone worth trusting nowadays?

A knock on the office door snaps me out of my thoughts and a smile crosses my lips when I see who it is. “Done for the day?” I ask Christian as he strides towards my desk and he replies with a terse nod. “Finally, yes. But it resumes tomorrow,” he says, taking the seat where Serena had been in a few hours ago.

I offer him a strained smile and look down. “Mine never ends,” I murmur, hating the fact that I sounded so vulnerable and insecure right now. Christian gets up from his seat, walks over to me, and pulls me out of my chair. Then he sits down and pulls me into his lap. I blink and look at him with a frown. “What are you doing-?”

“Shh. Just stop worrying for a few minutes and allow me to comfort you,” he declares, wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me close. My body eventually relaxes in his warm embrace after a while and I lean my head into the crook of his neck. He was like my own personal teddy bear, clad in a heavenly scent of dark oakmoss.

He strokes the small of my back with his thumb. “Would you like to talk to me about it?” He asks, soothing me to close my eyes and let out a groan. “Family matters, I’m afraid. I have come upon something and I am just not sure what to do about it,” I admit, my mind going to what Serena has told me.

“I wish I could talk to you about it, but I am afraid that at the moment I am not sure what to do.” I mutter, feeling the gloomy thoughts settling deeper into my mind.

Christian turns my face up to look at him. “If you ever require my help with anything, anything at all Sienna, please remember that I am here. My reach might just stretch further than yours.” He says without sounding cocksure about it.

“Thank you, Christian,” I murmur, stroking his beard and closing my eyes at the softness of it. I feel the smile tugging at his lips, and he kisses my fingers again. “Anytime. By the way, I want to take you somewhere tomorrow; just the two of us.” He says.

I open my eyes to this and sit up in his lap. “Where might that be?”

He chuckles. “It’s a surprise, obviously. You will just need to trust me on this and expect the unexpected.”

“I don’t think I can trust anyone right now,” I say, moving to get up from his lap, but he pulls me back. “Did something happen today?” He asks me with a worried frown and I sigh for what feels like the fiftieth time already. “Yes, but it is not something I want to talk about right now.”

Christian gives me a knowing smile and draws his forehead to mine, closing his eyes. “I hope one day I can prove to you I am worthy of your trust,” he says, then pulls away and opens his eyes. “But I know trust doesn’t exactly come easy in our way of life, so until then, I will always be at your side.”

He strokes my cheek as he says this with his eyes boring deep into mine. Christian doesn’t know this, but he has already crawled into my heart - I am just too heartbroken to take things further. Leaning into his palm, I can’t help but smile at how perfect this moment felt. I had no cares for now, only this moment with him and how right it felt.

Until my cell phone starts to ring.

I let out a groan and remove it from my pocket. “Yes?”

“Sienna, there’s… there’s a problem.” The worried voice of Nico came through on the other side. I frown at his tone. “Nico? What’s wrong?” I ask, getting up from Christian’s lap and pacing the floor.

A strained sob echoes through the receiver, and it takes me a second to know that it is coming from Nico. “Brother, what is wrong? Please speak to me!” I exclaim, my eyes darting to Christian. Nothing can shake Nico like this, nothing at all, so what could have gotten him so riled up?

“She’s left me, Sienna. Sylvana… She’s taken the kids and left.”

My heart sinks and I nearly drop the phone; Sylvana has left? After what Serena has told me, the only thing I can think about is her going back to her old family. Would she truly have given up on us and reverted to her old ways?

“I’ll be right over. Wait for me.” I say and kill the call.

I cannot believe this; a woman I deemed my sister and best friend might have deserted us. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I hear Christian getting up from my chair and walking over to me. He tilts my chin to look at him, looking extremely worried. “Hey, is everything okay?”

I shake my head and will myself not to cry. “That was Nico; apparently Sylvana has taken their children and left him,” I say, not believing the words coming out of my mouth, but I know that even though Nico was extremely cunning, he was definitely not a talented actor.

Christian frowns. “Sylvana left him? But she adores him!” He exclaims incredulously, mimicking my own thoughts, and I nod. “Precisely. Although, after what I have discovered today, I am not quite sure if I know who Sylvana is anymore.” My thoughts slip out of my mouth and I don’t even bother to stop them.

Looking over at Christian, I make up my mind as I wrap my arms around his muscular middle. “Is that offer to help me still on the table?”