Page 415 of Reign

“What?” he asks. “Do you need your berries?”

A laugh slips out before I can stop it. “No.”

“All right.” He looks toward the others. “Let’s go.”

Santo touches Vasilisa’s cheek.

“I’m fine,” she assures him. “I have provisions.”

His gaze drops to the three snack cakes.

That satisfies him enough to follow Luciano and Angelo down the hall.

The office door closes behind them.

Adriana leans farther back into the sofa. Vasilisa immediately opens one of her cakes.

The front door opens.

“I always go with you,” a woman says.

A man answers too quietly for me to understand.

“That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”

Adriana closes her eyes. “Ayla’s here.”

A few seconds later, Ayla and Maksim appear in the doorway wearing matching black leather jackets. Her brown hair is windblown, and the heavy boots beneath her lace tights suggest they arrived on his motorcycle.

They look like they dressed this morning expecting violence.

Judging by Ayla’s expression, they may still find some.

“I’m part of the Sovereigns,” she tells him.

“I know.”

“Then why am I staying here?”

“Because Luciano asked me to leave you with the women.”

“Fuck Luciano.”

Maksim exhales through his nose. “Behave, Beda. This is his house.”

“Fuck his house too.”

I decide not to take that personally.

“I need you here,” he says. “I’ll tell you everything afterward.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“We’ll go to the woods later.”

Ayla goes quiet.

Something almost resembling a smile appears before she catches it.