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I glance over at Leo and Kody, sensing the violence brewing between us. Leo’s eyes flash with a feral intensity that mirrors my own. Kody, ever the calm one, shifts forward, his gaze unyielding.
Refocusing on Frankie, I drop my voice to a menacing whisper. “Everything about you is my business. They’re touching you, fucking you, and marking what’s mine.”
Her eyes go wide, but she holds her ground. “Goddammit. I’m not yours. You have no right to—”
“You think I don’t see the way you look at me? The way you try to provoke me?” I reach out but stop myself from touching her, my hand hovering inches from her neck. “These marks are a challenge. A test of my patience. A punishment for my mistakes.”
“They have nothing to do with you.”
“You showed them to me, darling.” I sit back, my pulse jagged and bloodthirsty, each exhale a strike against the air. “I told you I would wait forever, and that terrifies you. So you exposed your neck, hoping to provoke my jealousy and turn me into a liar.”
“I need you to understand.” Her expression softens, but her voice remains firm. “While you are waiting alone, I will not be. Listen to me, Monty. This jealousy…it’s going to destroy you. I’ve been here one day, and it’s already happening.”
“I’m not destroyed.” I grind my molars, my gaze falling to her neck. “Seeing those marks feels like a knife in my soul, but I’m still breathing. I bleed, and I breathe to protect you.”
“You can’t protect me from everything. You have to let me live my life.”
I nod slowly, the jealousy inside me still raging but well hidden. “Just…be careful. And know that I’m always watching. Always ready to fight for you.”
“I don’t need another savior.”
“You have one anyway. When you need me, I’ll be there. I’ll fucking show up with every muscle of my beating heart.”
Her lips twitch.
“What?” I narrow my eyes.
“The heart has just one muscle. The myocardium.”
My chest expels a huff of surprise.
Christ, her brain is sexy as fuck.
“The marks weren’t meant to hurt you.” Kody meets my eyes, his voice quiet but firm. “We love her.”
“I know.” I roll back my shoulders, freeing the tension, and shift my attention to her untouched breakfast. “Your food is getting cold. Eat.”
She exchanges glances with Leo and Kody, who watch her with the same intense obsession that I do.
Fucking Strakh men. We’re cut from the same controlling cloth.
“Look at us.” She forks up a bite of eggs. “Conversing like adults. There’s hope for us yet.”
Kody grunts.
Leo looks like he wants to pee on her.
I fantasize about dumping their bodies in the Sitka Sound.
She wraps her sexy lips around the fork, closes her eyes, and moans.
I go still, my groin tightening at the sound. Leo and Kody don’t move, either, which reignites my anger.
Her eyes widen, recognizing our reactions and zeroing in on me.
“Oh no.” She sets down her fork. “I didn’t mean…Shit. I can’t do this. Me being here…It’s too much.”
“It’s not.”
