Page 87 of Claimed By my Father's Enemies
They make it through the crowd to where we're standing and Adrian doesn't wait. He goes straight to her, takes her face in both hands and kisses her.
William's hand is still holding hers.
"You okay?" Adrian asks her.
She nods. Her hands come up to his wrists.
"Missed you," he says.
I glance at William.
The look on William’s face is priceless. He is always so stoic, so in control that it is kind of amusing to see him pulling at his tie uncomfortably.
I take a champagne flute from the bar, hold it out toward her, and when she turns to me I say, "I like your hair down like this."
The color that rises in her face answers all my questions.
I'm jealous. If I’m being truly honest. But only because I want all of Sienna’s minutes.
She told me about William’s kiss before. When it would have been easier not to.
And I know my friend. I recognize now all the intensity that he had towards Sienna was not only because he was seeking revenge.
I can see the difference between a man running a plan and a man who's lost the thread of one.
I give a kiss to the top of Sienna’s head trying to communicate that nothing is broken, that we will figure things out.
"Let's find somewhere quieter," I say. "That corner by the back bar. All of us."
I'm already moving. They follow.
The four of us make a small circle. The silence that follows us is thick enough to be its own fifth presence.
Sienna looks around the circle. She takes a breath.
"I'm not trying to lead any of you on." I can see her struggling to find the right words. "The truth is that I—" She pauses again and when she looks at me her eyes hold something careful and a little braced. "I like all of you. And things just sort of got out of control and I didn't—"
"Sienna." I calm her down. "You don't owe us any explanations."
I turn to William.
He looks at me first. Then Adrian. His jaw is set but not the way it gets before a fight. Something more contained than that. "Sienna explained things to me." A pause. "I think I understand the basics of it."
"Do you?" Adrian asks, narrowing his eyes at William. He was also a witness to the way William talked about Sienna.
William turns toward Adrian. I see the shift, the half-degree squaring of his shoulders. Sienna's hand comes up flat against William's chest and I watch him go still under it.
"You don't have to worry about me." William says to Adrian with a steady voice.
Adrian holds the look for a long moment. Then he nods once.
I look at Sienna. She's standing between all three of us and she looks slightly overwhelmed.
"Have you eaten?" I ask.
"I'm not really hungry."
I reach up and touch her cheek with the backs of my fingers. A brief touch. "You need to eat." I look at Adrian and I don't have to do more than that. He understands what I’m saying and he's already moving before I finish the sentence.
