Chapter Thirty-Nine: Damaged

Sienna

"Here to answer all of your burning questions, please welcome the CEO of Nash Enterprises, Lincoln Nash." I step off the stage quickly, the coffee I drank earlier this morning running straight through me. I need to hurry so that I don't miss too much of Lincoln's speech because I know he's nervous about it as it is, so I pick up my pace down the hallway, almost at a light jog.

I'm about to reach the handle of the door when I'm suddenly pulled back into someone's chest. I don't even have it in me to panic when the blade of a knife presses against my throat. "You scream, you fucking die. Do you hear me?"

The voice sends a bone-chilling fear all the way down to my toes. I used to hear this same voice in my ear for years of torture and torment. I'd recognize it anywhere. I know it's Travis, and I know he'll follow through with his threats, so I meekly nod my head with tears pricking in the backs of my eyes, glancing left and right, begging and pleading for someone to come down the hallway. Of course, that isn't going to happen. The media is focusing on Lincoln with his speech, the reason they all came, and since the hotel is still shut down to guests, we're completely alone. He chose the perfect time to do this.

He backs us up towards the elevators and presses the button for the third floor. He reeks of nothing but cigarettes and beer, and the smell practically gags me. My stomach is churning, and my body is shaking, any source of sound unable to escape me. I'm frozen in fear of what I know is about to happen to me.

"Did you miss me beautiful?" He drags the blade of the knife up and down the side of my neck, my tears spilling onto my cheeks now. "Did you really think I'd let you go after all those years? That I'd stop thinking about you? What you felt like?"

I whimper, on the verge of sobs, a pit in my stomach the size of The Grand Canyon as he shoves me out of the elevator doors and goes straight across the hall to the first room. I analyze his outfit, a dirty plaid shirt, and jeans with holes that aren't supposed to be there. There's a bulge against his hip, which I'm assuming to be a gun. He slips out a key card and swipes it for access, his hand gripped so tightly on my arm that I know it's already leaving a bruise.

The door slams loudly behind us, and he shoves me further into the room, my back hitting the corner of the wall. I suck in a sharp breath from the pain, refusing to look him in the eye as he takes a step closer to me. His breath is on my lips now, flashbacks entering into my head all at once. I'm trying to block them out, to shove them back into my personal vault, but Travis knows the code to unleash them all at full fucking force.

"You thought moving to New York would stop me? I've been watching your every move, Sienna, every step you take. How the fuck could you get engaged to someone like Reed? Don't you realize yet that I'm the only one that will ever get to have you?"

My eyes burn into his now, wincing from his orbs of green hell. "Reed has nothing to do with this. We've been broken up for almost a year now."

He smirks. "And why do you think that is love?"

My eyes narrow, and my breath is shaky as I say, "Did you hurt him?"

He drags the knife down my cheek now, cutting into it slightly to draw blood. I hiss in pain, but I refuse to scream. I refuse to give him the satisfaction he's craving. "No, I didn't hurt him, but I did threaten his life if he stayed with you. I could tell you never really loved him. It was like you were waiting for me to find you again, until..." The knife digs deeper, forming a gash, and I bite so hard on my lip that I taste blood from that, too. "Until Lincoln Nash."

My body freezes. My heart stops. Time stands still.

"He's no one," I lie, but tears are already forming in my eyes, and he can tell. He can tell just how much he means to me. How much I love him.

"You belong to me, and I'm not going to have anyone stand in the way. He's a threat that needs to be taken care of, love."

Somewhere buried deep down inside of me, I find the courage to fight back. The thought of him laying a hand on Lincoln makes the fury erupt out of me like a volcano, steam practically escaping from my ears. "If you touch him, I promise with everything I have that I'll find a way to kill you. I'll find you, and I'll take you down, and I'll use this fucking knife of yours to cut your dick straight off."

I quickly regret being so vulgar when he grabs a fistful of my hair and throws me back into the wall. My head hits the plaster with a loud thud, and my ears are instantly ringing. There's a part of my brain telling me to just get up and fight back, but now that he's back, knowing all the pain he's capable of giving me... Any confidence I've gained over the years of being away from him has vanished. I'm back to being that vulnerable sixteen-year-old girl.

I've spent so long thinking that I'm this strong, confident woman. Any man that has tried to hit on me I've curved and talked back to without a problem, but Travis is the one man that I'm terrified of. He's the one man that will always bring me back to that vulnerable place. The place where I can't fight back.

He pulls my hair with as much force as possible until I'm on my feet again. My head is against his shoulder, his lips pressed right to my ear as he says, "You're lucky there are news stations downstairs. Otherwise, I'd take you out of here and you'd come with me. Rest assured, I will have you be mine again, Sienna, and I will blow Lincoln's brains out the first chance I get if you continue to fuck him. Do you understand? Consider this a warning."

All I can do is nod, and he leaves me alone in the room, the silence echoing my brain whirring with possible outcomes. If I stay with Lincoln, he'll end up getting hurt. Travis will confront him like he did Reed, or worse, kill him. What should I do? I can't let him find me. He knows where I live. He's been watching my every move.

I clutch my head as it continues to pound, blinking away my tears and letting out a deep breath before I step back out into the hallway. I need to get to my suite and pack my things. I need to get the hell away from here, away from the city, and start over. Maybe I'll change my name. Maybe the fake passport I take with me everywhere I go, for this reason exactly, will finally be put to good use.

The elevator climbs up to the top floor, and when the doors open, Lincoln is on the other side, panting and eyes frantic. When he sees me, his fists clench at his sides before he starts to blink away tears, scanning my body from head to toe. "I'm too late, aren't I?"

There's nothing I can say to him that would change what just happened. I'm still in shock as I push past him and swipe my key card to go into my suite, and my body continues to shake like a leaf as Lincoln follows behind me. When he grabs my shoulder to turn me to face him, I flinch. The touch from any man right now is unwelcome, and when Lincoln realizes this, I see his chest visibly deflate.

"Sienna..." His voice breaks as he takes a step back from me. "Where is he?"

"He's gone."

He starts to pace back and forth across the room, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Fucking hell. Where the fuck is he? Tell me where the fuck he went. I'm calling the police."

"It's literally no use. He's gone by now, Lincoln, and the security cameras were taken down for the renovations. There's no proof he was even here."

"Look at what he did to you." He cups my face in his hand to analyze the gash on my cheek, then grabs my arm gently to inspect the deep bruise that's already formed from his grasp. "I should have told you sooner. I should have warned you, and I'm so sorry."

I blink as I let his words register. "What?"

"I knew that he might be tracking you. Reed came to me and told me he was threatened. He tried to warn me, but I wasn't sure if Reed was making it up, you know? So I got with Archer to make sure he was telling the truth. I didn't want to bring the information to you unless I knew it was true, but I—"

"You knew?" I clench my fists at my sides and take a step closer to him. "You knew and didn't fucking tell me?"

"I wanted to protect your mental health, Sienna. You've come so far, and what if the threat wasn't real? What if the mention of his name triggered you and set you back?"

"Because that would be so much worse than getting fucked attacked!" I scream. The one person I could trust, the one person I opened up the most vulnerable parts of myself to just screwed me over. He's been lying to me for months, and I'm so angry that I pick up the bible on the coffee table and chuck it at him. "Get the fuck out!"

"Sienna, please—"

"I said get out!" I'm full-on sobbing now, coughing as I try to regain control of my breathing. My heart is beating too fast, so I place my hand over my heart as if that'll get it to calm down. This is too much. Everything is too much.

"No. You need someone right now as much as you say you don't. I know I fucked up, I know, but I'm not leaving you like this. I refuse to."

Collapsing onto the floor, I tug my knees up to my chest, completely defeated as I sob into my knees. I know Lincoln didn't mean to hurt me, but if only he would have just told me then none of this would have happened. "Just get out," I beg. "I can't do this anymore, Linc. H—He's going to come after you if we continue this, alright? And I care too much about you to let that happen, so please, get out."

"I said I'm not leaving," he says. "Not now, not ever. Your psychotic fucking ex isn't going to stop me from being there for you. I will understand completely if you want to go back to being friends after what just happened, but I'm not leaving your life no matter how much you try to push me out."

"I'm getting the hell out of New York." I sniffle and wipe away snot with the sleeve of my dress. "I'm leaving, changing my name, and disappearing, Linc. I can't take it anymore."

"And let him win? You're just going to let him take away everything you've worked so hard for? That's not the Sienna Stone I know."

"This is the real me," I sob. "The girl you met was putting on a show. I'm not as strong as you think I am. I'm not this confident woman. I'm fucking broken, okay?"

He sinks down onto his knees in front of me, gently taking my hands in his. Just the feel of his hands sends warmth into me that I didn't know I needed. "No, you're not. You're the strongest, most badass woman I've ever met, and he's not going to win. He's not going to get the best of you. The Sienna Stone I know doesn't need any man to save her, so that's not what I'm trying to do, I'm here to let you know that you can do this. I'll help you take this fucker down, you hear me? We can do this. Together. Running away is only going to make it worse."

It all sounds good. In a perfect world, I'd take Travis down, but real life isn't like that. Real life tonight wasn't Lincoln bursting through the door at the very last second before he hit me, and it's not going to be me being this badass fake version of myself to stop him, either. One of us is going to wind up getting hurt, and I can't let Lincoln become collateral damage.

Looking in his eyes, though, I know I can't say no to him. I don't have the courage to leave him because it's the last thing I want to do, but this is dangerous now. He's just starting to take control of his company. He doesn't need this distraction.

"I—I just want to go to bed. Can we do that?"

He scans my eyes again, them softening when he sees just how much pain I'm in. "You want me to sleep with you?"

I nod and let him help me to my feet. "I just need to shower first."

He walks me to the bathroom and starts the shower up for me, and as I get undressed, the tears won't stop rolling. After tonight, I'll be leaving the country and starting over. I need to get the fuck away from Travis, and Lincoln needs to find someone without so much baggage. Someone less damaged.

I step into the shower and let the hot stream of water travel down my body, but it still doesn't take away the feel of Travis's hands. I feel dirty, the lingering sensation of grime remaining on my skin.

Lincoln is sitting on the toilet seat right outside in case I need anything, and the act of kindness makes me cry harder.

I'll leave a note in the middle of the night and slip out because I know he'll talk me into staying if I try to explain myself. I love him, and it's because I love him that I have to leave and let him go. As much as it'll kill me, this is for the best.

After tonight, I'll never see Lincoln Nash again.