Gamed (A Standalone Romance Novel) (Bad Boy Romance) Read Online Free

how to take responsibility. She knew how to live
up to expectations and be grateful for every opportunity she got."
    "Tell her or
I will!"
    "Now,
Barbara, why don't you sit down?" my father said in his best soothing
voice. "There's some bad news about Sienna. I can hardly believe it
myself. I didn't know how to tell you and I wanted to wait until you felt better."
    "Sienna? Is
she alright?" my mother shoved her empty glass onto the counter and hung
on to the edge with both hands.
    My father
struggled to get his voice to work. "Sienna…Sienna committed suicide last
night."
    My mother sank to
the floor as a keening wail rose from her lips. I jumped down from my stool and
ran around the counter to sit with her on the floor. She bumped her head back
against the cupboard, her eyes screwed shut tightly.
    "I didn't
believe it at first," my father said. "I still don't believe it. How
could she do that? How could she throw away all her accomplishments, all her
goals?"
    "Oh, my sweet
girl, oh, my sweet, sweet girl. I know. I know how it feels," my mother
whispered to herself.
    "Mommy?"
I took her hand.
    She yanked it
away. "You don't understand, poor Quinn, you're like him. Sienna was
always like me. She felt things the same way – felt the burning, felt the
falling, felt the soaring."
    "Can we talk
about that?" I asked. "I think we need to talk about that."
    My mother
scrambled to her feet and flung herself at my father. "You promised she
would be okay. You promised me she could handle it. Everything was fine, Sienna
was always fine. Lies! Now, I know you lied. It's all my fault. My beautiful,
sweet girl," my mother cried.
    I stayed on the
floor, cringing as my mother flailed her manicured fists at my father's chest.
    "Barbara, you
need to go lie down. You've had a shock."
    "A shock? Why
am I the only one that isn't shocked at all? You think people can just
magically brush themselves off and be just fine. Well, that might work for you
and maybe for Quinn, but not everyone's as heartless as you two," my
mother said.
    "Everyone
grieves in their own way," my father said. He caught hold of my mother's
wrists and pulled her towards the door. "It’s no use falling to pieces, its already done and we can't do anything to change
it."
    "She's not
dead, she can't be. You're just a cruel man playing a cruel joke," my
mother said. She yanked her wrists free and spun away from my father. Then, she
grabbed her phone and marched out the other kitchen door.
    I sat on the floor
listening to my father's angry breathing as we heard my mother leave another
voicemail on Sienna's phone.
    "Are you
happy?" he finally said to me. He slammed a fist on the counter and walked
out.
    By the time I
managed to stand up, the house was silent. My mother was back in her bedroom
suite, my father was in his office, and I was alone in the rest of the
stretching square footage.
    My mother was not
shocked that Sienna had taken her own life. That idea blinked in my brain like
the starting cursor of a video game. Was there some sign I had missed? Was
there something I could have done?
    My legs were heavy
as I dragged myself up the stairs to Sienna's room. It had to be my fault. We
weren't close, but we were sisters and I should have known if she was feeling
so desperate.
    Her room was as
neat and tidy as always. The Tiffany blue walls and white furniture glowed in
the sunset light. Instead of an old-fashioned four poster bed like mine, Sienna
had a queen-size bed with a white satin tufted headboard. The comforter was an
intricate swirl of pastel paisley. I sat on the edge of her bed, careful not to
crease it.
    I needed her
there. Sienna never sat around helpless. I could see her marching into her room
and scolding me. She would have gone straight to her computer and researched
the reasons, both psychological and physical, behind suicide.
    I wondered if she
had researched it before she did it. I should have looked on her computer in
her dorm room. Sienna probably looked up a