Page 151 of Reign

I shift as if to get up.

His hand at my back loosens. “Stay with me a minute, princesa.”

I sigh and lean into him again.

His arms come around me—gentle, steady, warm. One hand strokes my hair while the other rests at the small of my back.

“Catch your breath,” he says. “Then you’re finishing that water.”

I let out a breathless little laugh against his chest. “You and the damn water.”

Chapter 25

Luciano

The garden is louder than the house today.

Men move across the terrace with stone planters, crates of lavender, and enough soil to make Elena look personally suspicious of everyone’s competence.

She walks beside me with her notebook tucked against her chest, eyes moving over every unfinished corner.

“Are you going to Obsidian today?”

I look at her when I answer. “No.”

She almost smiles before she can stop herself.

I catch it anyway and immediately want another.

She doesn’t like when I leave for Obsidian. Especially when she isn’t invited. I could ask her why.

I prefer watching her pretend she doesn’t care.

She looks toward the far side of the terrace, where two men are unloading stone planters from a truck. “Is Obsidian still a disaster zone?”

“Renovation isn’t disaster.”

“It sounds like an expensive distinction.”

“I bought it from friends. They had different tastes and priorities.”

Her attention shifts toward the jasmine waiting in stone planters near the terrace. The same jasmine she declared would be murdered if anyone put it directly into the ground.

I had the men change the plan before breakfast.

She hasn’t mentioned noticing.

I haven’t mentioned that I listened.

“You want it more like Elite?” she asks.

“Yes. More like Elite, but elevated.”

“Of course.” Her eyes narrow. “Everything with men like you has to be elevated.”

“Men like me?”

“Dangerous. Rich. Allergic to normal chairs.”