Chapter 28

Sia started in panic.
“Leo! Julian! Leo, my son, he . . . Oh God!” She felt like she couldn’t breathe. Last night with Julian felt like it had only been a dream from a long time ago and reality had finally set in and thrown her roughly down from her cloud nine. What kind of a mother was she to not think of her son’s safety first?
Julian engulfed her in his arms, trying to calm her down. “Sia, calm down! Leo’s fine. One of my colleagues, Abhay, is staying at your house. He’ll keep Leo safe. You have to calm down, panicking won’t help.”
Finally, after listening to Julian and taking a few deep breaths, Sia felt herself calm down.
“Is she okay?”
A new voice sounded from the doorway.
Sia turned to look at the man in the doorway and tried her best to suppress a gasp of horror. The man smiled at her knowingly. This has to be Christian, Sia thought. The man, Christian, was damaged, for lack of a better word. Julian had told her that Christian had been in a blast, but he must have taken a bad hit for his face to have scarred permanently.
She could tell that he was badly scarred from what his suit and high collar shirt allowed her to see. His face though, was a whole different story.
There was a deep jagged scar running down the left side of his face. It started from an inch above his eyebrows and ended just short of his chin. Whether it was a stitch mark or a cut, she could not tell, but it looked gruesome, and Sia could only assume just how painful that scar might have been. But scars aside, Sia could tell that he was a very handsome man, or he would have been if the scars didn’t attract all the attention towards it.
It was only when Christian raised an eyebrow at her that she realized that she had been staring at him with her mouth agape. Quickly regaining her composure, Sia straightened her back and walked up to a surprised-looking Christian and held out her hand to him. “Hello, I’m Sia Milton. You must be Julian’s older brother, Christian.” Sia smiled at his surprised look.
Christian stared at Sia’s outstretched hand for a while, probably too shocked to comprehend that someone was actually trying to be nice to him out of their own free will.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said finally, taking her hand. Instead of shaking it, he lifted it to his lips and placed a small kiss on the back of her palm, making Sia blush. The Turner men sure knew how to charm the pants off any women.
Sia turned, expecting to find a jealous-looking Julian ready to throw a manly tantrum, but instead, he gave her a look of gratitude. His respect for her was apparent in his eyes, vibrant in their blue depths. She felt elated that such a small gesture of kindness from her could make him this proud.
Julian wrapped an arm around her waist as soon as she reached his side and smiled at his brother. “Hey Chris! Come join us for lunch. Vanessa just made a home delivery and knowing her, I think we have enough for four,” he joked, but his words did prove to be true.

* * *

Sia learned a lot about both brothers at the dining table. Small details like how Christian appeared cold and distant to everyone apart from his loved ones, how the charming and total bad boy player Julian used to be a crybaby when he was young, and how Chris and Julian would play pranks on the watchman of the hospital which their parents owned. They would get a good scolding from their mother for being naughty, but then take the sulking boys out for ice cream and everything would be good in the world again.
Sia also learned that the James Bay Medical Center belonged to the Turner family and was currently under Christian’s guidance. And she also learned how Julian will take over Turner Security in the near future. He only needed fifty successful cases to be promoted and Sia’s was his second to the last case.Just one more to go before he was CEO of Turner Security.
These little things gave Sia an insight into the man who she had given her heart to, the man who had the courage to move past the traumas of his childhood and made a difference in the world. It made her fall for Julian even more. Sia didn’t regret letting Julian know how she felt about him, and she could never regret the beauty of what they had shared the previous night. But Julian hadn’t given her an answer. It made her uneasy and weary. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was scared that Julian might not feel the same. That thisthingbetween them had meant nothing to him.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Julian whispered to her during lunch, finding her hand under the table so he could entwine their fingers together. “Don’t worry about Leo. Abhay’s there with him.”
Sia smiled and nodded her head. If he only knew what was going on in her head and heart. But she kept quiet and enjoyed the rest of the meal.
Vanessa was a great cook, and she had gotten all of the men’s favorites. There was rice, orange chicken, and some kind of a mixed vegetable curry that Sia couldn’t quite name but had to go back to for nth helping. Vanessa had even made some light chicken stew for Sia and some noodles to go with them. Sia loved Martha’s cooking, but she had to admit that Vanessa was a very talented woman. Aside from cooking great meals, she also helped Christian in taking care of the hospital.
After lunch, they moved to the living area, just to hang out and talk for some time before Christian had to leave for the hospital again. He was here on his lunch break to see if Sia was all right and to offer medical assistance if she needed any. Thankfully, Sia felt a lot better today and the only thing she wanted was to return home to her son and spend more time with Julian.
Julian was already making plans to increase security and make arrangements for Abhay to stay in Sia’s house as well. After last night’s incident, everyone was on high alert. After going over all the security details and agreeing to Julian’s plans, Christian went to leave when Julian’s phone began to ring.
“Abhay?” Julian asked, frowning. “What’s wrong?”
Sia felt her breath hitch. Something was definitelynot right. Christian, who had been sitting beside her, gave her an encouraging pat on the back, but Julian’s next words shattered the hope that had begun to rise.
“Arthur,” Julian gritted out.