By afternoon, the morning's softness had already been swallowed by the louder machinery of Phei's life.
That was how it always happened around him, but the world did not give Phei long pauses. It gave him moments, then sent chaos with a handwritten invitation.
Lunch was arranged around the long table and while it should have looked like a simple family meal, it did not.
Nothing involving Phei's women ever looked simple, because beauty, pride, old blood, new bonds, jealousy, affection and food had all been placed around one table and told to behave.
The result was warm, loud, elegant, slightly dangerous and only technically civilized.
Sierra sat near Phei with the soft glow of a woman who belonged there without needing to announce it.
