Page 216 of A Vicious Love

“Miss Bellemere,” Reeves said gently, “Jamison is in his rightful mind.”

“You swear?”

“I do.”

Sienna lowered her voice further. “Then why is he being kind?”

The question landed worse than the earlier sentence.

Acting as though I exist.

Why is he being kind?

That was the bar I had built. Existing and kindness had become suspicious events.

I put the cigarette out before I snapped it.

Only to immediately lit another one.

Sienna came back into the lounge a moment later, smoothing the front of her dress as if she could smooth the conversation with it. Reeves stayed in the kitchen and began pretending to care about plates.

Sienna stopped near the armchair, keeping a respectful distance from me. “My father will expect you at breakfast if dinner is canceled.”

“Your father can develop healthier expectations.”

“It’s tradition.”

“Many terrible things are.”

“The first dinner matters.”

“It mattered so much the sky intervened.”

She frowned. “You can’t hide in the cottage for three weeks.”

“I disagree.”

“Jamison. I’m serious. My family will think you’re insulting them.”

“I am.”

Her mouth opened, then closed. She tried again. “They invited you into a private retreat.”

“They invited a contract,” I said. “Unfortunately for everyone involved, the contract brought me.”

Sienna’s fingers tightened around her glass. The peach dress shifted with the movement, one shoulder tie slipping a fraction along her skin. It was offensive, really. A man came here with intentions. Avoidance strategy. Cabin imprisonment, tasteful of course. Then she walked downstairs in that dress, and suddenly I was expected to consider other people’s feelings.

Terrible system.

“My father will think you’re making a statement,” she said.

“I am making several.”

“Jamison.”

“Sienna.”

Her cheeks warmed. I watched it happen and felt my mood improve in a deeply unbecoming way. She lowered the glass to the side table, then folded her arms, which did nothing helpful to that dress. The neckline pulled tighter over her chest, and my gaze dropped before manners could intercept it.