Page 76 of A Vicious Love

Three minutes.

Men had died for wasting less of my time.

Across from me, Marcel was saying something about board seats, Whether the family tie Reeves had sent belonged to a nephew or a trust holder. I heard the words, even answered at the right places.

But my eyes kept going back to Sienna.

Hand, please.

I could hear it even though she hadn’t said it in weeks.

I had told myself I hated it.

The way she made me take her hand in front of people. She needed everyone to see I belonged to her in some small, ridiculous way.

Now, she had moved away from the older donors and was now speaking to Alistair Ashbourne by the glass wall. My vision narrowed.

He stood too fucking close.

His body angled toward her in a way men used when they wanted women to mistake restraint for safety.

I knew his type. A face that made mothers lean forward and daughters forget monsters existed until monsters had to remind them.

Sienna was looking at him, and… she was talking.

Her mouth moved longer than one sentence. Her free hand lifted slightly, gesturing toward something on the wall, and Alistair listened.

That hit something ugly in me.

I brought the whiskey to my mouth and didn’t drink.

“Jamison.” Marcel’s voice cut beside me.

I kept staring.

He followed my gaze and sighed under his breath. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Whatever you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking about the board.”

“No, you’re not.”

Marcel looked back calmly. “You’re staring at Sienna like you’re deciding whether to drag her out or kill Alistair.”

“I can multitask.”

“Try choosing neither.”

Harrison appeared on my other side with a glass of champagne and a grin that made me want to break his nose.

“Ah,” he said. “The beast has noticed sunshine found a patch of weather not actively trying to ruin her.”

“Walk away, Harris.”

“I would, but this is the most entertained I’ve been all night.”