MARION
As I steered the car toward my parents’ estate, the image of Demetria’s father standing in her hallway replayed in an endless loop. The way I’d stepped toward him, heat surging through my veins like a threat I wanted to act on. My fists had itched to land, my jaw had locked, and my mind refused to consider reason. Only one thing had echoed loudly in my head: mine.
And then she’d said the word that nearly knocked the breath out of me.
Dad.
I exhaled slowly, fingers tightening around the steering wheel. You need to control that jealousy, Whitfield. You made a fool of yourself. But at the same time, the possessive part of me, the ugliest, rawest part, murmured, At least you showed where you stand.
Without hesitation, I picked up my phone from the console and called her.
She answe
