Page 168 of Reign

Oh, this dinner is going to be a disaster.

Chapter 27

Luciano

Dinner with the Amatos is torture.

The food is excellent. Unfortunately, everyone at the table is determined to make eating it impossible.

Santo sits at the head, stern and silent in the way men mistake for control. Vasilisa sits beside him, soft where he’s sharp, speaking quietly to Elena whenever she gets the chance.

Angelo watches everyone because Angelo doesn’t know how to sit in a room without treating it like surveillance.

Adriana sits at his side, expression calm enough to be suspicious.

And Elena—

Elena is wound tight beside me.

Because of them.

Her leg bounces beneath the table. She turns her water glass slowly by the stem, over and over, but hasn’t taken a single drink. Every time one of her brothers speaks, something in her shoulders locks.

The lie is eating at her.

Here, the touch that calmed her in the car would draw every eye at the table. Angelo thinks she’s staying at a hotel, and Elena knows one wrong answer could expose Adriana’s story.

She didn’t create the lie, but Adriana has left her holding it.

I don’t like that.

“Elena,” Angelo says, setting down his wine. “When do your things get here? I’ll have whatever you need sent to the hotel.”

Her fingers stop around the glass.

Adriana’s gaze flicks toward me.

Too late.

Angelo continues, “I’m surprised you didn’t bring Riot.”

“Riot—”

“Amor,” Adriana cuts in smoothly. “Her things won’t arrive until the semester starts, remember?”

Elena looks down at her plate.

Something cold moves through me.

I look at my sister.

She meets my eyes.

“Hermana,” I say, “do you have a minute?”

Adriana’s expression doesn’t change. “We’re in the middle of dinner, Luciano.”

“Yes.” I lift my wine and take a slow sip. “I noticed.”