Page 350 of A Vicious Love

“Go away.”

Silence.

Then her footsteps withdrew. My phone rang again at six fifty-eight.

Jamison.

I stared at it until the sound became unbearable.

Then I answered.

“Where are you?” he asked immediately. “I’m at the gates. They won’t open.”

My laugh sounded strange. “Good.”

Silence hit the line.

“Sienna.”

“Go home.”

“What happened?”

“Don’t come in.”

“I’m already here.”

“Then leave.”

His voice lowered. “Open the gates.”

“No.”

“Baby, if this is because you’re sore or tired, I can carry you to the car. We don’t have to do dinner. We’ll go straight to my house.”

The words landed like a slap.

“It’s over,” I said. The line went so quiet I could hear my own breathing.

“What did you say?”

“It’s over.”

“No.”

My hand tightened around the phone. “You don’t get to say no.”

“Talk to me.”

“I never want to see you again.”

His breath changed. I closed my eyes because hearing it hurt, and I hated myself for still noticing.

“Sienna,” he said, quieter, dangerous in a way that might have frightened me yesterday. “Open the gates.”

“No.”

“Tell me what happened.”