Page 86 of A Vicious Love

“Enough.” Marcel stepped between us. “You don’t get to hit us because you hate yourself.”

The words stopped me cleaner than a hand would have. I hit alot of fucking people. Never them. I had punched Marcel once in my life, and I still regretted it.

I turned away.

“I said get out.”

This time, neither of them argued.

I didn’t give a fuck. I said it again after they left. Out loud. The room did not believe me.

Neither did I.

The conversation haunted me for a week. I did not break into the Bellemere estate and drag her out like the worst parts of me wanted to do at three in the morning when sleep wouldn’t come and my mind kept offering me the same image.

Sienna with Weston.

Sienna in Harrington.

Sienna wearing another Crow’s ring.

Sienna’s saying someone else’s name because mine had become something she survived.

The thought made me vicious.

I tore through work. I took two clubs, that had shit profit and worse foot traffic. My fists took one judge’s dignity. I spoke to no one unless required. I answered Marcel in one-word texts. I ignored Harrison completely after he sent, how’s not giving a fuck going?

I considered having his cars towed into the river.

The week stretched.

No formal announcement came from Damius, and Bellemere replacement contract never appeared on my desk.

Waiting made it worse.

By the time the next event arrived, I had convinced myself of several things.

One, Sienna was not mine.

Two, I did not care.

Three, if Damius ended the merger, good.

Four, if Sienna married Weston, I would not care, but Weston would have a tragic accident involving stairs, water, or his own spine.

Five, none of that contradicted point two.

The event was a private dinner for Harlan preservation donors at the Ashmere Hall.

Small by society standards.

Forty people.

One long table under painted ceilings. Candles. Old portraits. Gold-rimmed plates. Men who wanted Crow money. Women who wanted Crow proximity. Harlan pretending history could be restored while everyone in the room contributed to ruining the present.

Sienna arrived before me.

That annoyed me.