Page 161 of Theirs to Possess: The Marriage Claim
Ignoring our partner, Dorian pulls his hands out of his pockets and paces to the window. Then he turns, the afternoon sun outlining him.
“She bled out. Before the ambulance could…” He doesn’t finish.
My body curls in on itself, my arms wrapping around my waist like I can hold in all the unraveling.
“She meant everything to me.” His voice breaks. And so does something inside me.
Tears sting my eyes.
“Little one?—”
“You loved her.”
He doesn’t answer, but the truth is there in the haunted depths of his eyes.
And I realize my sister was right. I am falling for them.
How stupid.
And yet I’m merely a pawn in some stupid, complex game I don’t understand.
From the beginning, that was clear.
It’s only my emotions that have gotten in the way of facts.
What the hell have I allowed to happen to me?
I’m married to a man who is more than morally gray and another who has done hard time.
This is beyond too much to take in.
More than anything I want to turn back the clock, to our honeymoon in the French Quarter, before the first text message, when we had a bright future in front of us.
“We will not lose you like we lost her.” Dorian’s voice is rough, desperate.
He takes a step toward me.
“I need to be alone.” Somehow I manage to force myself from the chair, and I flee down the hallway, toward the room that is totally mine.
Tears sting my eyes as I slam the door and lock it behind me because I can’t trust myself if either of them touches me.
Dorian pounds on the wood. “Isla!”
It takes every ounce of my will to ignore him.
Arms wrapped around my middle, I stare out the window at the skyline that looks absolutely the same as it did this morning. Except…
Everything has changed.
Tears streaming down my face, I press my back against the door and slide down until I’m curled in on myself, sobs wracking my body.
I’m destroyed.
There’s no way I will ever survive this…
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Isla
