LOGINSIENNA “She’s here.”Roman’s voice came from the shop floor the next morning, calm and flat. I looked up from the desk in the glass office and saw Mom’s car pull in like she owned the place.She stepped out in a crisp blouse and dark jeans, hair perfect, face unreadable. The kind of woman who had spent years keeping her reputation clean while raising a daughter who just set it on fire. Two customers were already in the bay. Both went quiet when they recognized her.I stood. My legs felt steady. The ache between them from the night before still lingered—Roman had fucked me against the bathroom sink at dawn like he was branding the decision into me one more time.Roman wiped his hands on a rag and walked out to meet her. I followed.Mom’s eyes went straight past him and locked on me.“Last chance to walk away from this, Sienna.”“I already did,” I said. “I walked away from you.”A muscle jumped in her jaw. She turned to the nearest customer—an older man who had been bringing his truck
SIENNA “Delete it.”Roman’s voice was flat when I showed him the photo. We were still in the glass office. Outside, one of the mechanics kept glancing over like he already knew what the message contained.I locked the phone. “It’s already in four group chats. Deleting it on my end does nothing.”He stared at the dark screen for a long second, then at me. Something dangerous moved behind his eyes.“Your mother?”“Maybe. Or someone she talked to. Doesn’t matter anymore.”Roman reached past me and flipped the blinds closed with one sharp pull. The shop floor disappeared. Privacy, temporary and incomplete.“Look at me.”I did.“You’re not going to hide. You’re not going to apologize. And you’re sure as hell not going back to her.” His hand slid under my skirt again, finding me still wet from his mouth minutes earlier. “You’re going to let this town see exactly who you belong to.”The words should have scared me. They only made the ache between my legs worse.That night he took me to the
SIENNA.“They’re already talking.”Roman’s voice was calm when he set the coffee in front of me the next morning. I sat at his small kitchen table in one of his shirts, bare underneath, still sore in the best way from the night before.I wrapped my hands around the mug. “How bad?”He leaned against the counter, arms crossed, watching me. “Two of my regulars cancelled appointments. One of them is friends with your mother’s bridge group. Word travels fast when Claire Cole decides to open her mouth.”Heat crawled up my neck—not shame, exactly. Something sharper. The same reckless burn that had made me walk out of her house last night.“What did she say?”“That her daughter is living with the town’s favorite mistake. That you’re the kind of girl who spreads her legs for a man she was warned about and calls it love.” His mouth twitched. “She didn’t use those exact words. But close enough.”I stared into the coffee. Outside, the shop was already open. I could hear the distant clang of tools
SIENNA “Explain this.”Mom held the phone up so the photo filled the space between us. My car. Roman’s truck. The two of us stepping into the cabin like we had every right to disappear together.I didn’t bother with another lie. The look on her face said we were past that.“I’m sleeping with him.”The words came out steadier than I expected. My pulse still hammered, but something reckless and calm settled under my ribs. The same feeling I got when Roman put his hands on me and the rest of the world went quiet.Mom’s mouth tightened. “You’re throwing yourself away on a man who will use you and leave.”“Maybe.” I set my shoes down. “But I’m not stopping.”She stared at me for a long time. The kitchen clock ticked. Somewhere in the house a pipe knocked. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and final.“Then you don’t live here anymore.”The sentence landed harder than I wanted to admit. This was the house I grew up in. The kitchen where she taught me to cook. The hallway where she u
SIENNA“Take your shirt off.”Mom’s voice left no room to argue. The grocery bags sat forgotten on the counter. The house felt too small.I didn’t move.“Sienna.” Sharper now. “Now.”I pulled the shirt over my head and dropped it on the floor. Standing there in just my bra, the bruise on my hip looked darker under the kitchen light. The dried smear Roman had left across my lower stomach was still faintly visible, like a brand.Mom’s eyes moved over both marks slowly. Her face didn’t change, but something cold settled behind her eyes.“How long?”“It’s nothing.”“Don’t.” She stepped closer. “How long have you been letting him touch you?”The lie came easier than breathing. “One night. It was stupid. It’s done.”She stared at the bruise like she could read every filthy detail in the shape of his fingers. “Roman Hale doesn’t do one night. And you don’t look like a girl who walked away clean.”My skin still felt the ghost of his mouth between my legs. The stretch of him. The way he had he
SIENNA“Sienna? I know you’re up there.”Mom’s voice carried through the thin floorboards like a blade. Roman was still buried inside me, half-hard, one hand locked on my hip. Neither of us moved.I whispered, “Shit.”He pulled out slowly, the wet sound filthy in the sudden silence. My body clenched around the empty space he left. He handed me my dress without a word, then stepped into his jeans, calm as if my mother wasn’t ten feet below us.“Stay quiet,” he said under his breath. “I’ll handle it.”I yanked the sundress over my head, no bra, no panties. My thighs were slick with him. The smell of sex hung heavy in the apartment. One wrong breath and she would know.Roman walked to the window that faced the side alley, not the street, and opened it. Cool night air rushed in. He looked at me, jerked his chin toward the fire escape.I stared. “You’re serious?”“Unless you want to explain why you’re dripping down your legs in my place.”I climbed out. The metal was cold under my bare fee







