Page 58 of A Vicious Love

“Because that’s what you wanted.”

“I wanted a marriage.”

“I wanted time.”

“For what?”

For her to get older. And for Sienna to stop smiling at me like I could be turned into something less awful if she just said my name softly enough.

Maybe in time, I could stop thinking about how small her hand felt in mine. And how much I wanted to keep her to keep my hand each time she took it.

I reached for another glass.

“You have had years.”

I poured whiskey. “I’ve been busy.”

“Yes. You have built clubs. Hotels. Casinos. You have destabilized old Harlan families, purchased judges, and made yourself the most feared man in the city.”

“Your praise is overwhelming.”

“And yet you have failed to replace a handler’s ring.”

When the engagement had been announced, a Crow handler had delivered it. A diamond set in antique gold, expensive enough for photographs, impersonal enough to mean nothing. It was meant to be replaced within a month of the public announcement.

It had been three years.

Sienna still wore the token, for a man who did not come.

Damius watched my silence. “She has no engagement ring from you.”

“She has a ring.”

“She has evidence of administrative compliance.”

I drank.

The whiskey did nothing.

Damius moved closer to the bar. “Do you know what is attached to Sienna Bellemere’s name?”

I laughed, harsh. “Fucking nothing.”

His gaze sharpened.

I kept going because the hangover, and the morning had stripped my patience down to bone.

“The Bellemeres made sure of that. They attached no property. No voting corridor. No controlling trust. No meaningful shares. No operational holdings. Nothing. I get nothing from Sienna but a girl who smiles too fucking much and doesn’t know how to shut up.”

The words left my mouth easily. Too easily. Like I had practiced them because I had.

In my head.

At bars.

In cars.

Beside her.