Page 283 of A Vicious Love

“Nothing,” he said. “Just family.”

Sienna frowned.

I slid my hand from her waist to her hip, grounding her against me before the thought could dig deeper.

Adrian saw. His eyes moved to my hand, then to my face. The next shot cracked across the field. Another disc shattered. Applause followed.

Sienna flinched very slightly.

My arm tightened. Her back relaxed into me at once.

Better.

No, I fucking loved that.

There was no delicate way around it. I loved that she leaned into me when the sound startled her. I loved that her body, still wary of my hands in some moments, had begun making exceptions.

Her father called for a break after another rotation, likely because Uncle Theo had started arguing with Victor about wind and Celeste had won enough attention to make the whole field boring. Staff moved through with trays.

Celeste approached with two cousins.

I felt Sienna notice before I looked. Her spine straightened.

Celeste smiled at her first. “Congratulations on your shot.”

Sienna smiled back. “Thank you.”

Then Celeste looked at me.

“Mr. Crow.”

“No.”

Her smile faltered. “Pardon?”

“No.”

Sienna made a tiny sound near my arm. Adrian, drinking lemonade beside us, lowered his glass very slowly. Amusement ghosted across his face and vanished.

Celeste recovered faster than most. “I didn’t realize greetings required approval.”

“Now you do.”

Sienna touched my wrist. “Jamison.”

Soft warning.

Fine.

I looked at Celeste. “Congratulations on your shooting.”

Her eyes flicked with surprise.

Sienna’s fingers stroked once over my wrist.

Reward.

I was going to ruin entire markets for this touch.