Page 6 of Possessive Mafia Vows

He obviously wasn’t on the guest list; this gives me a small thrill of satisfaction.

“You mentioned tonight was your opening night last time we met.”

My fists instinctively clench. That was for my benefit, the guy hasn’t even looked at me yet.

“I couldn’t miss it.” Yep, the fake smile isn’t going anywhere.

“Nick.” Sienna takes a deep breath and glances my way, the color still in her cheeks. “This is?—”

“There’s someone I want you to meet.” Nick takes her arm and guides her away from me, his gaze dragging across my face as though I’m invisible.

Sienna peers at me over her shoulder. She isn’t smiling. But my eyes are locked onto his arm which has already snaked its way around her shoulders.

Lower it, I dare you.

My hackles are up. Something about the man makes my flesh crawl, and the thought of Sienna being touched by him makes me feel nauseous.

“Deep breath. I can see your knuckles.” Caleb is standing next to me. I didn’t even hear him coming.

“Do you know that guy?” I gesture to Nick with a nod of my head.

“No, but I’ll find out who he is.”

“I’ll do it.”

The guy obviously wanted to get Sienna away from me. He didn’t even bother with introductions. But from the way Sienna has already extricated herself from his arm, I get the feeling that he’s a little too close for her liking.

Well, that makes two of us.

“Kyle, I know how you feel about Sienna,” Caleb says.

I feel a ‘but’ coming. I guess it must be easy to hand out advice when you’re about to have a baby with the woman you love. I don’t feel any bitterness towards Caleb and Victoria; they met the same night I met Sienna, and they got their second chance for love last year when they were reunited. I’m happy for them.

Caleb didn’t almost kill the love of his life in a car crash.

“Give her time,” he adds now. “She’ll see straight through the douchebag when she realizes that he thinks he’s the beautiful one.”

I clink my champagne glass against his. It’s a fair point; I only hope he’s right.

The evening drags. It’s going well for Sienna, and for that I’m grateful, but every time my eyes seek her out, hoping to get another moment alone with her, Mr. Armani is right beside her, treating her like his property. When I hear laughter, there he is, all white teeth and well-practiced smile. Before Sienna’s speech, he’s there clinking his glass to get everyone’s attention, winking at her like he’s got it all in hand.

I swap my champagne for water. Sienna might not want my protection, but someone needs to keep Mr. Up-Close-and-Personal in check, and I don’t want alcohol to cloud my judgement.

Later in the evening, I’m studying the painting I noticed when I first walked in when a faint ripple of commotion reaches me from somewhere near the back of the gallery.

I turn around and spot Caleb helping Victoria into a seat while she clutches her abdomen, face contorted into a grimace of pain.

“Shit!”

I navigate artwork and people, to reach them a second too late. Once again, Nick swoops in, crouching in front of my sister-in-law and speaking to her in his silky-smooth voice. “Have your waters broken?”

Victoria’s face relaxes a little. Caleb cups her hand in his and raises it to his lips. “No.”

“How often are the contractions coming?”

“They were every five minutes.”

I pick up on the ‘were’. “Were you in labor before you got here?”

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