Free Gideon [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book Two by Hannah-Lee Hitchman Page A

"Good brandy." The
older man nodded and closed his eyes for just a moment. Tension
snapped between them as the silence stretched on for a couple
minutes. Hadaen knew something was gravely bothering the man but
suspected he did not know how to voice it. "I must say I have to
say again just how great a help your daughter had been in The
Hub."
A dark emotion flickered across the man's features before he looked
up and flashed a weak smile. "Thank you, my lord. Sienna has always
been a...worldly one."
Hadaen read into the man's emotions...into his mind. Was that
regret he saw? "I must ask though... You haven't seen your daughter
in years; don't you want to see her at all?"
"Of course." Noble Rally rubbed a palm over his balding head. He
then looked up at Hadaen, a thin layer of tears glittering in his
eyes. "I suppose you think I'm to blame? Mmm ? It would not surprise me if you
did. My wife blames me...every day." He then gave a wry laugh. "She
says I killed our daughter. Her spirit , that is."
Hadaen swallowed down the rest of his beverage and sighed. "You
sent her away. Mrs. Rally must have been--"
" Sent her away ?"
Noble Rally sat up in his chair and frowned deeply, as if he was
almost in pain. "I would have never sent Sienna away. Regardless of
what you may think, my lord, I love my daughter. All of
them."
Hadaen felt as if he had just been speared right through the
heart. I would have never sent Sienna
away... No. It couldn't be. It didn't make
sense. As far as Hadaen knew, Noble Rally had disowned his
daughter. That was what Sienna had said. Everyone else too. He
pierced the man with his gaze. "Are you trying to tell me that you
never disowned your daughter?"
"Of course, I did not." The man looked distraught. Hadaen bore into
his thoughts...his memories. It was... He was speaking the truth.
Sitting back slowly, Hadaen searched his own mind. Then how did
Sienna arrive at The Hub? "I was devastated when I'd found out
about your affair with my daughter,” the man continued. “I knew
she'd only be a common whore to you...and it killed me inside. My
wife...she has a sister who lives in land now called Baamel. She
was a Protector who married a man from there. I'd made arrangements
to send Sienna there for a year, maybe until the scandal cooled.
I swear to
you."
The sweat at Hadaen's temples finally trickled down. He feared he
would not like where this conversation was going at all. "Did she
or did she not go to Baamel?" His blood boiled with every said
word.
The man shook his head. "My sister-in-law contacted us that she
never showed up."
" Damn it !" Hadaen
jumped to his feet, running a hand trough his hair. "Why didn't you
inform me?"
"I was ashamed!" Noble Rally stood as well, his height almost
equaling his ruler's. Then he blanched red as if embarrassed and
sat back down. "The last thing I needed was to bring another
scandal down on my family's head. My younger daughters would never
have had their initiations if I had!"
"You should have done something."
"I had. I searched for her. I did. Sent out men but they never
found her. The last place I thought she'd be is The Hub."
"We can't tell what Sienna had been exposed to while she was...all
over the fucking place!" Hadaen spun from the man and blew out an
exasperated breath. "You might want to sit down for what I'm about
to tell you."
Hands shaking, Noble Rally swallowed thickly and sank into his
chair slowly. A deafening silence passed between them. Hadaen had
known that something was wrong in Sienna's case. He just hadn't
known what it was.
"When I was at The Hub three years ago, I had sensed something
different in Sienna's energy." He remained standing, arms crossed
and regarding the nobleman with the most passive expression he
could afford. "Something non -Marujan."
Noble Rally frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
Sighing, he decided to sit down. It was no use, anyway, making the
man feel anymore intimidated than he already was. "There was an
imbalance in her energy.