Page 169 of Theirs to Possess: The Marriage Claim

The ring bites harder into my palm, and reality crashes back. I whirl on Brennan, who’s standing by the bar, his phone in hand. “It’s your fucking fault.” My voice is a vicious snarl, and I don’t try to tamp down my anger. “If you hadn’t made me give her space, she’d still be here.”

“Fuck off, Vale.” Brennan’s jaw ticks. “You’re a goddamn idiot if you believe that. If you’d have broken down that door, she’d have run even sooner. You were scaring her.”

“Scaring her?” I scoff, the sound scraping the air, bitter and jagged. “She’s mywife.”

“She’sours.”

His voice is low and dangerous, warning me not to cross a line. I know his hold on his temper is as fragile as mine.

“She’s fire, Dorian.” His eyes lock on mine, dark as a storm. “And you’re too busy trying to cage it.”

The words land like a blade, cutting through my rage.

My shoulders fall forward.

He’s right, and I hate him for it. I hate him for knowing her better than I do. For being the steady anchor I can never be. The anger makes me lash out. “We lost Lena.”

His face goes stark, cheekbones sharp under the weight of my words. For a moment, I think he’ll hit me. I want him to. But he just stares, his pain raw, unguarded. “And you fucking froze.”

There they are. The words that are seared into memory, forever haunting me.

“I went to prison, and she still died. So don’t you fucking lecture me about losing Isla, Vale.”

We’d both been destroyed then like we are now.

“And you’re right. I couldn’t save Lena. But I’m trying to save your sorry ass. Again. And Isla.” He steps closer, his breath uneven. “She didn’t just run, Dorian. She planned this. She outsmarted us because she’s stronger than you give her credit for. And you’re too fucking scared to let her be that.”

Lena’s memory rises between us, her smile from that beach photo—white sand, blue water, my arm around her—burning in my mind. Her death broke me, carved out pieces I thought I’d buried.

Isla has started to crack me open.

But I will never open myself to that kind of pain again.

I grip her ring tighter, my knuckles white, and the fear claws at me—fear of her out there, unprotected, fear of never having her in my arms again. The fear of utter, soul-destroying loss. “We could’ve stopped her.” My voice frays.My hands tremble. I’m unraveling, and I know it. “We should’ve.”

“She was determined. She’d have found a way.”

I want to argue, to scream that I could’ve controlled this, could’ve kept her safe. But the truth chokes me. She left because of me. Because of my lies, my need to own her, my refusal to bend, for not telling her everything she was up against.

I pocket the ring, its weight a promise she didn’t keep, but something I can’t let go of yet.

Lasker arrives, shattering the cloying tension.

Brennan steels his emotions with his training, figuring out assignments for the security crew, including four men who are being sent to the area of the vet’s office to canvas for security videos. Our team can be very persuasive.

“Get another team to her apartment.”

At Brennan’s words, Lasker nods.

She never agreed to cancel her lease, and I should have followed up. She shouldn’t have somewhere she can go to escape me.

When Lasker leaves, Brennan follows.

“Where the hell are you going?” I demand, my voice cracking despite myself.

He doesn’t look back. “To fucking make sure she’s safe. And I’m going without you.”

The door slams behind him, the sound echoing like a gunshot, and I’m alone.