Page 173 of Prized Possession

“I spent all day yesterday torturing and humiliating him. Miles and Jake have been with him this morning. They think he’s broken enough for you to face him.”

“I’m scared,” I whisper, my voice breaking as I admit how I feel.

Marcus pulls me into his arms. “You have nothing to be afraid of, and you’ll be sure of that the minute you see him. You are stronger than you know, Mio.”

I pull back a little, giving him a tight smile. “Are you ever going to tell me what Mio means?”

“You’ve never looked it up?” he asks, his brow furrowed.

I shake my head, fixing his gaze with mine. “No, I figured you’d tell me when you wanted me to know.”

He lets out a laugh. “It means ‘mine’.”

My eyes widen in shock. “You’ve been calling me that this whole time, even before we got together. In fact, you called me it when we were growing up, whenever we argued.”

His lip tips up into that cocky smirk of his that makes me melt. “I was an arsehole, held back by the thought that I was doing the right thing, but I always knew you were mine, even when you couldn’t be.”

I lean over and capture his lips with mine, pulling him in for a deep bruising kiss.

“I’ve always been yours,” I tell him, before taking a deep breath to steady my nerves. “I’m ready.”

Marcus drivesus to an old warehouse, though I don’t really pay much attention to where we are, or how long it took to get here. The drive felt long, and we sat in silence.

Marcus seemed to know I needed time to gather my strength. He just placed his hand on my thigh, letting me draw strength from him as he drove.

As I climb out of the car, Marcus laces our fingers together and I pull my shoulders back, drawing in a deep breath. I try to school my face into a mask similar to Marcus’, but I can’t hide the way my hands are trembling.

Marcus squeezes my hand, giving me a reassuring smile. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks when we get to the entrance.

I pause for a moment, trying to slow down my racing heart, before I say, “I need to do this. I’m strong enough, now. I need him to know he didn’t break me.”

Marcus presses a kiss to my forehead, looking at me with nothing but love.

“I’m so fucking proud of you, and I’m right by your side.”

As we get to the room, Marcus tells me he’s just on the other side of the metal door we’re standing in front of. I pause to take a few deep breaths and gather my composure.

“You ready?”

I nod, and he opens the door for me to step inside. As soon as I take in the scene before me, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Frank is on the floor, completely naked, curled up into a ball. He looks to be silently sobbing, while Jake and Miles sit nearby, just watching the shell of a man.

He looks completely broken, though he doesn’t appear to have been beaten as much as I was expecting.

Sure, he has cuts and bruises, with dried blood across his legs and chest, but the injuries don’t seem to be what’s caused Frank to break like this.

As I stare at the broken, sobbing man, I know now why Marcus said I shouldn’t be afraid. When I look at him, I feel nothing but pity.

At hearing us enter the room, Frank looks up, his eyes widening as his body trembles when he realises it’s me. He quickly rolls onto his knees, not bothered that he’s completely naked, and begins bowing low in front of me.

Jake and Miles chuckle, watching this unfold like it’s a show for their amusement.

“He follows instructions well now,” Jake comments, and Miles quickly agrees.

“What do you have to say to her?” Miles shouts, making Frank jump.

He continues bowing in front of me, his voice small and shaky as he speaks. “I want to apologise to you. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for all the pain I caused you.

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