Page 66 of A Vicious Love

“Then act accordingly.”

I wanted to hit him.

God, I wanted to.

But Damius was not a man you hit because you were angry. He was a man you killed because you had already buried every consequence. I was not there.

He walked toward the door. Conversation over because he had decided it was. At the entrance, he paused without turning.

“Jamison.”

I didn’t answer.

He spoke anyway.

“You are not being punished by receiving Sienna Bellemere.”

My hand flexed.

“She is.”

The doors closed behind him.

For several seconds, I stood there in the middle of my living room.

My phone buzzed on the bar.

I ignored it.

Then it buzzed again.

I picked it up, ready to throw it across the room.

A message from Harrison.

You alive?

I stared at it.

Then another appeared.

Emmie says don’t be cruel to Sienna tonight. I told her that’s impossible, but apparently we’re all doing optimism now.

I reached for a cigarette, put it between my teeth. Hating the fact my mind was being clouded with engagements rings.

CHAPTER NINE

JAMISON

The problem with men who betrayed me was that they always thought betrayal made them interesting. It didn’t. It made them late to understanding exactly which line they had crossed and who was waiting on the other side of it.

By ten that morning, I had five dead accounts, a missing finance handler, two nervous investors threatening to pull from the west casino floor, and a dockmaster in South Harlan pretending he hadn’t sold Crow access codes to a rival syndicate.

By ten fifteen, I was in a murderous mood.

By ten thirty, I had stopped pretending this was business.

This was disrespect.