Page 355 of A Vicious Love

“That isn’t an option.”

The coldness in his voice, reminded me of who he was. Jamison Crow did not lose. But the gates were still locked, and he was still outside.

“You’ll sign,” he said.

I stared at my reflection. “I won’t.”

“You will. I’ll hold the pen for you if I have to.”

“That would mean we were in the same room.”

“Sienna.”

“And that won’t happen.”

“You think locked gates make you unreachable?”

“No. I think the law does.”

He went quiet again. I touched the token ring with my thumb. It looked absurd now. A dead promise.

“If I were truly yours,” I said, “if you had legal right, you would already be through the gates. You’d storm this house, drag me out, and everyone here would look away because Crows get their brides. But you can’t.”

His breathing changed.

“Celeste is your fiancée.”

“No.”

“She is.”

“She is a name placed where yours belongs.”

“And that name is enough to keep you outside.”

“Sienna, don’t.”

The warning in his voice wrapped around my name. It would have worked on the girl from the car. I had left her somewhere between the gates and the bathroom floor.

“When I end this call,” I said, “I’m blocking your number. Then I’m turning my phone off. The estate is receiving no visitors. I have no plans to talk to you.”

“You will talk to me.”

“No.”

“Baby.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Never.”

My hand trembled harder, but my voice steadied. “You are my cousin’s fiancé.”

“I am the man who was inside you last night.”

Pain split through me so cleanly I had to grip the sink.

“You don’t get to use that.”