Page 275 of A Vicious Love

The performance was excellent.

She crossed the grass and hugged Sienna with both arms, laughing softly against her cheek. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You’re impossible to find when there are children involved.”

Sienna hugged her back. “Celeste. I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”

“Plans changed. Mother decided lake day mattered more than dignity.” Celeste pulled back, hands on Sienna’s arms. “Look at you. You’re so tanned already.“

Sienna turned toward me. “You’ve met.”

“We’ve spoken,” I said.

Celeste’s smile stayed bright. “Briefly. Jamison is very direct.”

“That’s one word for it,” Sienna said softly.

I reached for her. Sliding an arm around her waist and drew her back into my side.

She came with me. A little stiff at first, she settled. Mine. The word moved through my body with the kind of satisfaction men in church probably lied about feeling.

Celeste saw.

Sienna looked up at me. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

“Your face looks…”

“Handsome?”

Her mouth pressed together. The almost-smile won. The lake coordinator rang a small brass bell near the boats, saving Celeste from continuing to exist in my immediate range.

“Rowing teams!” he called.

The Bellemeres moved with alarming speed.

A board had been set up near the pavilion with names written on cream cards. Names were drawn from a silver bowl because this family was fucking insane.

Julian reached the board first. Adrian beside him. Cassian, Henri, Victor, several cousins, and the late-arriving in-laws formed a semicircle with the tense anticipation of men awaiting battle.

Sienna drifted closer with me behind her.

“You just agreed to rowing, and the scavenger hunt.” She said entirely too innocent.

I looked down at her. “The what?”

Her smile widened, entirely too pleased. “They set up clues on the far side of the lake. You row over, collect the first envelope, solve the route, find all the tokens, and row back.”

“Why?”

“For points.”

“What do points buy?”

She glanced toward the coordinator. “Winner gets out of the poetry recital at tonight’s dinner.”

The entire lake day changed shape. I looked at the boats. At the people between me and freedom from dinner poetry.

“We’re winning,” I said.