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“I assume that’s your mother?”

Reyna nodded, swallowing thickly. Which only drew my attention to the delicate slope of her neck. For fuck’s sake, I needed to get it together. “Hope you’re ready for this.”

I would be. For her. “Ready for battle,” I said instead.

Reyna turned in the circle of my arm, pressing even closer. Like I could comfort her. That was an honor I definitely didn’t deserve. But I was a selfish bastard and would be taking it anyway.

I needed to be on my game. To pay attention to Lorenzo and the rest of Reyna’s family’s reaction to me. To look for contempt strong enough to lead them to conspiracies and coups.

Lorenzo and Ravenna Romulus were carefully weavingthrough the crowd, their arms intertwined. Every eye they passed followed them. And when they realized their target, the attention cemented.

“Hi, Mom,” Reyna said as they approached, answering her mother’s call. “Dad.” She stepped out of my arms to give them both a hug but promptly returned to her spot, pressed close and tucked into my side.

I extended my hand to her father. “Lorenzo. Apleasure as always.” Then to her mother, lifting her hand for a chaste kiss on her knuckles. “Ravenna.”

Lorenzo stayed silent, openly studying me. His hard stare lingering on how close together me and Reyna were standing. There wasn’t anything inappropriate about our stance, but the proximity signaled a deep intimacy. One he was probably hoping didn’t exist.

One thatshouldn’texist.

While Reyna’s father seemed content to remain silent, her mother filled it with a bright smile and said, “It’s lovely to meet you under different circumstances, Adrian. Reyna has spoken so highly of you.”

She was required to. As per our agreement. But that didn’t stop pride bursting through my chest. “I’m glad I’ve given her good things to say.”

I looked down to Reyna to find a genuine blush on her cheeks.

I smoothed a hand down the lapel of my suit in a hopeless attempt to dismiss the flash of heat that pink conjured.

Reyna’s mother brightened further. “Reyna was quite sparse with the details, however. As a mother, I must request your presence at dinner so I can properly interrogate you.”

Lorenzo scoffed, the sound cutting harshly through the conversation.

“Is that a problem, Dad?” Reyna asked sweetly, challenging the move.

I was sure Lorenzo didn’t want me anywhere near his house, but to openly reject it…that was the type of contempt I was looking for.

No matter how much I wished it to be false.

“No,” Lorenzo said, his tone hard. “We would behonored to have Lord Jupiter over for dinner. If his schedule allows for it.”

I opened my mouth to say something, not even knowing what would come out in defense of Reyna. Which was new.

Reyna beat me to it. “Seeing as we have dinner together almost every night, I don’t think it will be an issue to simply eat at your house.”

In another example of my mind absolutely falling apart, the part of that sentence I clung onto the hardest was the suggestion we spent every night together. And coming up with excuses I could tell her to make it a reality.

“Whenever you’ll have us,” I said, to cut off my own thoughts and the tension as best I could, “We’d love to.”

Reyna’s hand threaded through mine, adding another layer of connection. A strange feeling moved over my shoulders before I could give my body leave to feel it.

A feeling that felt suspiciously like contentment. Or relief.

It was leveled, however, by the borderline sneer Lorenzo returned my statement with. We were in public, and despite Lorenzo’s expression, the entire interaction remained cordial enough that I couldn’t tell for sure whether his disgruntlement was just that of a protective father or something deeper.

My eyes dropped to his suit-clad forearms, like I could see through the fabric. Looking for a tattoo.

“We’ll put something on the books,” Reyna’s mother cut in, her smile teetering on brittle as she realized the full weight of the tension in the conversation. “Next week, maybe?”

I looked down to Reyna, signaling for her to answer for us.