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.
