Page 160 of Only Be Mine

The house felt different with him in it. Less controlled. Less curated. Like the air had shifted slightly off-balance.

We didn’t sit right away.

I stayed near the doorway. He waited, watching me carefully, like he was giving me one last chance to change my mind.

“I don’t want details,” I said finally. My voice was steady, even if my hands weren’t. “Not yet.”

He gave a small nod.

“But I need to know how much I’ve been kept in the dark.”

Seth exhaled slowly.

“Okay,” he said.

We moved to the living room, taking opposite ends of the couch at first. The distance felt intentional. Protective.

I folded my hands together to stop them from shaking.

“They never told me how,” I said. “How they know. What happened to him…”

Seth’s gaze didn’t leave mine.

“That wasn’t accidental,” I added softly. “Was it?”

He didn’t answer immediately, and in the silence, I felt something inside me sharpen.

“No,” he said finally. “It wasn’t.”

The truth felt like a punch in the gut.

“Then tell me where it starts,” I finally managed.

Seth inhaled once.

“It all started ten years ago,” he said quietly. “With a body that wasn’t supposed to matter.”

My stomach tightened.

“The first one… The one they found before your wedding. That wasn’t John.”

I nodded faintly.

“You knew that,” he added quickly. “You said it the second you saw the body. Marshal agreed with you at the time.”

I frowned. “Then why are we here?”

Seth exhaled.

“Because the man they found, the one who was later identified, that’s where things stopped making sense.”

I waited.

“He had John’s things,” Seth continued. “His wallet. His ID. Personal effects that should’ve been gone years ago.”

“Right, which doesn’t make sense,” I said.

“No,” Seth agreed. “It doesn’t. That’s why Marshal started digging.”