Page 94 of Between Love & Ruin

She laughs as if he cracked a fabulous joke, and I scowl.

“You are special,” she says with a smile. “I wouldn’t talk to him if he was grumpy with me.”

“Maybe I should try that too,” he says thoughtfully.

As if he can keep that mouth of his shut.

“Bold of you to assume I would care if you didn’t talk to me,” I tell him. “You aren’t her. And if you are not Sienna Hayes, I don’t care about you.”

Sienna’s eyes drift to me, an unreadable look on her face. I know she likes it when I openly express my feelings.

Roy stays silent after that, and I let the silence stretch between us. I intertwine my fingers with Sienna’s and pull her closer to my side. I kiss the back of her hand as she snuggles closer to me, and I just wish we had stayed back.

More than anything, I enjoy such moments with Sienna. I love that we both don’t need to talk constantly to understand each other. Even though I love hearing her talk. Especially when she talks about something that interests her. She gets so excited, and the way she moves her hands animatedly is a delight.

I don’t have many memories of my parents’ relationship. The ones I do are too blurry, but from what I have heard from my grandfather, they were devoted to each other. I sometimes wish I had grown up seeing that kind of love around me.

While my grandfather did everything for me and tried his best to fill the gap my parents left behind, it still couldn’t suffice the ache it left behind. The emptiness was always so prominent that no amount of success or materialistic things could fill it.

This is exactly why I stayed away from meaningless relationships and one night stands. Because I knew they would only intensify that hollowness. I didn’t even think that love would happen to me.

Had I known that there was a woman who was made just for me just a few states away, I would have done everything to get to her earlier.

“We are here people,” Roy says, getting out. He hands over the keys to a valet before coming over to open my door.

“You didn’t have to,” I tell him begrudgingly. He shrugs casually.

“I was feeling nice.”

I shake my head as I round the car to open her door before she can step out. She is so independent—I doubt she needs me. But I always have this urge to do things for her.

“Thank you,” she says with a soft smile before intertwining her arm with mine. I relish in the feeling when her small hand wraps around my bicep.

We make our way inside and I feel her tense up beside me.

“Are you okay?” I ask, leaning down so only she can hear me.

“Yes,” she tells me, but I know she feels anything but okay. “It’s just unfamiliar. Don’t worry.”

I smile as I see a few familiar faces, passing them a curt nod of acknowledgment.

“If you feel like leaving, just give me a nod and we will leave,” I tell her. “We don’t need to be here for a long time.”

She smiles fully then, and it instantly calms me down.

“Don’t worry, Dom,” she reassures me. “I will be fine as long as you are with me.”

Well, fuck, if those aren’t the words I can die peacefully after hearing.

“Mr. Wolfe,” I hear someone call my name, and I instantly straighten up, tightening my hold on Sienna’s hand. “So glad to see you here.”

I pass a curt nod of acknowledgment to him before shaking his hand. I really don’t like this man. He is disgustingly greedy for money and fame and power. This is exactly why our company never worked with Sanfred’s media house. I cannot work with people who have sold their soul for money.

But when I got to know that Mark was an employee in their company—an important one at that—I knew I had to twist my hand a little bit.

We agreed to work with them on a very minor project basis if they kick him out of their company.

And as I predicted, Sanfred went for the bait. Not only did Mark lose the project he was trying to work on with us, but he also got kicked out of his high-paying job.