Page 110 of Buried in Blood

Her eyes fill, but she turns away before they fall.

I let her.

Because tonight, she doesn’t need me to save her.

She just needs me to shut the door—and keep the monsters out.

And that?

That I can do.

32

Damien

She’s gone.

I stare at the bidding screen like it’s lying to me. Like if I blink hard enough, the name will change. But it doesn’t. It stays there, burning, pulsing with every throb of rage behind my eyes.

Lot 03: Brooke. Sold. Transferred. Buyer: Colton Vale.

Fake name. Fake credentials. But the moment I replay the security footage—the second his face flashes on-screen—I know.

Lucien.

He walked into my house, sat in my fucking auction, and bought what’s mine.

Boughther.

The tablet cracks in my grip. I don’t care. I throw it across the room, listening to it shatter against the wall. Reese flinches when I call him, but I don’t stop.

“Who verified Vale’s clearance?” I snap.

Reese appears in the doorway, panting. “I did. He passed all checkpoints. There were no anomalies—”

“You don’t think it was suspicious?” I cut him off. “No prior purchases. No network activity. But he walks in with half a million in crypto and targetsBrooke?”

“He had the paperwork—”

“Because he knew what you’d check.”

I’m already moving. The walls feel too tight. I need air. I need blood. My boots slam against the floor as I stalk to the surveillance room. “Pull up the face. ID match. Now.”

Reese taps the screen. A pause. Then it blinks on.

Lucien fucking Crowe.

His jaw. That smug, polished calm. The way he held himself like he owned the room. The quiet confidence I should’ve recognized.

“You son of a bitch,” I whisper.

He got in.

Hetouchedher.

He took her.

The realization sinks in like poison. Cold, slow, irreversible.