Page 346 of A Vicious Love

“I’m fine,” I whispered.

“You’re sore.”

“I’m happy.”

That made his face change.

He stared at me for a second too long, then pulled me across his lap and kissed me until I forgot the road, and every version of myself that had once believed Jamison Crow would never look at me.

The hours went soft.

I kissed him because I could. Every time I touched his wrist, he looked at my hand as if it still shocked him to be wanted there.

We made out lazily while Harlan drew closer mile by mile. Sometimes he would tug my lower lip between his. His hand would slide into my hair and hold me still while he took the kiss deeper.

I tucked my face beneath his jaw and rest there, listening to his heart, feeling ridiculous and adored.

His phone ruined the last hour.

It began with one call. Then another. Reeves’ name appeared. Then Harrison. Then someone saved only as DOCK EAST, which seemed ominous enough that I lifted my head from Jamison’s chest.

He looked at the screen and swore under his breath.

“It’s fine,” I said. “Answer.”

His thumb brushed my cheek. “Stay here.”

“I’m in a moving car.”

“Still.”

I smiled and rested against him while he answered.

His voice changed instantly. Harder. The man I had spent the drive kissing disappeared beneath the Crow who ruled Harlan with his brothers.

“Say it again,” he ordered.

The voice on the other end was too low for me to make out. Jamison’s jaw tightened.

“No. They had forty-eight hours. They can bleed for ignoring it.”

I glanced down at my own phone for the first time in ages, partly to give him privacy and partly because the incoming Veil notifications had begun stacking across my screen.

Retreat photos. Family accounts. Cousins tagging goodbye posts. Someone had posted a video of Jamison during rowing. Then another notification slid over it. Bellemere Dynasty Correspondence: Formal Release Documents Available.

I stared at the words. My stomach tightened, but the feeling was distant at first. Formal release could mean anything.

Jamison’s voice stayed low beside me. “Tell Marcel to hold that vote until I arrive. No one signs without me.”

I opened the message.

The document header filled my screen.

Bellemere-Crow Merger Amendment: Release of Original Bride Designation.

For several seconds, I could not read past that. Outside, the city edges had begun to gather. Harlan’s outer estates. Tree-lined roads. Stone walls. The first glimpse of towers in the distance, and dark against late afternoon sky.

I forced myself to keep reading.