Page 7 of A Vicious Love

“I don’t have time for your shit tonight. Get in the car.”

The man beside me went still. So did two women near the curb.

My face burned so quickly I felt dizzy. “I wasn’t⁠—”

Jamison looked past me at the man.

“Walk away.”

The man did.

Jamison was already turning from me, the phone returning to his ear.

My driver’s car pulled up to the curb, and one of Jamison’s men stepped forward to open the back door. I walked toward it carefully because if I moved too fast, everyone would know I was upset.

I climbed inside.

Jamison stepped toward the open door, still on the phone.

My heart lifted anyway.

Maybe he’d remembered.

Maybe I could ask for my hug quickly.

“Jamjam,” I said softly. “Can I⁠—”

He slammed the door in my face. The sound was loud enough to make me flinch. Through the tinted window, I watched him turn away, already speaking into his phone again as his guards closed around him.

The car pulled away from the curb. I sank back into the seat and stared out the window as the Conservatory disappeared behind us.

Just another night of being the fiancée of Jamison Crow.

CHAPTER TWO

SIENNA

Ipretended I hadn’t heard my fiancé say he needed whiskey before dealing with me. Those had been his exact words. I need whiskey before I deal with this.

This.

In otherwise…me.

He had lifted two fingers at the waiter and ordered. I could feel everyone around us pretending not to hear, and I smiled. Because it gave them permission to pretend better.

Besides, it was a pretty night.

I had decided that on the way in. The ballroom had black silk draped from the ceiling, gold chandeliers lowered, and a glass wall overlooking the Harlan river. The bow at my waist sat slightly crooked. I had tied it in the car, and I kept touching it instead of looking at Jamison’s face.

He looked terrifying tonight.

Black tuxedo. His dark hair was pushed back, from dragging a hand through it while making someone cry on a phone call. He did not look like someone who belonged under chandeliers. The waiter placed the whiskey in front of him.

Jamison picked it up without thanking him.

I touched the bow again.

“Jamjam?”