Page 14 of A Vicious Love

I took a small step forward.

“Jamjam?”

He turned toward the open SUV door.

I stepped another inch closer, I was going to ask about next weekend again. His phone rang again, and he looked at the screen, got into the car and closed the door before I reached him.

His convoy pulled away from the curb.

For a moment, I waited as if the car might stop. Jamison might realize he was to take me home. The SUV turned the corner.

Gone.

A valet looked at me, then quickly looked away. I held my purse tighter. It would take an extra hour to summon my driver.

He had forgotten I was even there.

CHAPTER THREE

SIENNA

The next event was at Bellweather Country Resort, which meant lawns trimmed into perfection, white-gloved staff, and dynasty men pretending that shooting clay pigeons at sunset was charity work.

I arrived with Jamison.

Technically.

We came in the same car, but he spent the entire drive on his phone, his body angled away from me.

Rain had passed through Harlan earlier, leaving everything beautiful. The roads to Bellweather curled through dark trees and high iron gates, with lanterns glowing along the drive. I watched them pass one by one through the window and tried to count them instead of looking at Jamison’s reflection in the glass.

He looked worse than usual.

Jamison Crow was terrifyingly beautiful in the way storms were beautiful before they destroyed things. He was wearing a black suit, black shirt, no tie. Because apparently event rules were suggestions for men with enough power. His tattoos disappeared under his collar and cuffs.

His mood, though, was awful. Cold enough to make the driver keep his eyes fixed on the road.

“I don’t fucking care if he panicked,” Jamison said into his phone. “Panic is what small men do when they realize they’ve borrowed from the wrong family.”

I played with my bracelet.

Jamison ended the call.

The silence afterward felt dangerous, so I filled it.

“The resort looks beautiful after rain,” I said.

He didn’t answer.

I looked at his profile. “The lights in the trees are sweet. It almost looks enchanted.”

His jaw moved. I tried again because apparently I had no survival instincts where he was concerned.

“Have you been here before?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” I smoothed my skirt. “For an event?”