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I started to get up, but he sat down and set a hand on my thigh to hold me in place. “You’re mine, Miley. Get that through your gorgeous little skull, alright? You belong to me. You’re not leaving any more than I am.”
I glared at him. “You aren’t considering my point of view, and you aren’t willing to even discuss it with me, so what’s the point? We’re obviously not compatible. I?—”
He tilted my head back with a knuckle beneath my chin, and I stopped talking. “We’ve proven we’re plenty physically compatible. Mentally, too. And emotionally. We’re compatible. We’re just disagreeing.”
“Disagreeingpoorly,” I hissed.
“Next time, we’ll disagree more smoothly. I’ve been willing to discuss it from the beginning, you just didn’t want to talk to me.”
“Don’t try to pin the blame on me.”
“I haven’t tried to discuss it either, because to me, there’s nothing to discuss.”
I glared at him. “This is getting worse, not better.”
His lips curved upward slightly. “You’re sexy when you’re mad.”
“Shut up.”
He chuckled.
“I expected you of all people to be on my side with everything that has to do with Evan, since you know the full story. Instead, you ignored me. And told me my idea was ridiculous when I called you on it.”
His humor vanished. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“There’s only one way to mean, ‘your idea is ridiculous’.”
“I shouldn’t have phrased it like that. I’m sorry,” he said.
His apology was entirely unexpected. I blinked.
He added, “It’s not ridiculous. I agree with you and my brothers—it would be a good way to force Evan to make a move. If it was anyone but you on the line, I’d support it fully.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t lose you, Miles. Iwon’tlose you. If that means we spend the rest of our lives locked in this house, so be it.” His words were honest, and he caught me off guard with them. “I don’t give a damn about making a statement to Evan. What Iwant is to have you here, in my arms, where I know you’re not in danger.”
That was… more reasonable than I expected.
“Alright,” I finally said. “I can respect you feeling that way, but I don’t. Evan hurt me. He used me in every way there is, then threatened my life and tried to scare me into submission. He won. He won with the sex at Tatum’s mating celebration. He won when he turned me, and when he starved me. He won when he scared me, and threatened my life if I mated with someone else. He won when I stopped doing the things I enjoy, and when I stopped leaving this house.”
I let out a long, unsteady breath. “He always wins, and I’m tired of losing to him. I want to fight back. Ineedto fight back. Not for him, but for me. Because he doesn’t get to control me anymore.”
Zander studied me.
I ran a shaky hand over the top of my hair, tucking a few wild curls into the band holding my bun in place.
“I’ll talk to my brothers and see if there’s any way we can make it happen without too much risk to you,” he finally said.
My heart soared, and my eyes stung. “Thank you.”
His gaze was soft as he dipped his head. “You really do need to eat.”
“I know. You still want to feed me?”
“Always.” He ran his thumb over my chin, the touch gentle and intimate. “But first, I want to hold you.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m not a—oof.” He cut me off by grabbing me around the middle and rolling onto his back.
