Page 32 of Claiming Pretty

“You’re going to get her killed!” I shouted, the weight of his indifference pressing down on my chest like a vise.

He finally turned to face me fully, his voice cold and deliberate. “You don’t know her anymore, Ciaran. She’s outgrown you.”

“Ava loves me,” I roared, my hands itching to throw a punch, to knock that smug look off his face. “She choseme.”

Ty’s eyes narrowed, his glare sharper now, cutting straight through me. “Did she? Or are you clinging to a version of her that doesn’t exist anymore?”

“She’s the same Ava,” I said, though the words felt hollow, even to me. “And she doesn’t need you confusing her.”

“I’m showing her who she is,” he said, his voice low and measured, like he was talking to a child. “Who she can be.Youare the one holding her back.”

“What did you do to her?” I demanded, my voice shaking with anger. “What happened at Blackthorn?”

His lips quirked into a humorless smile. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, brother.”

My stomach twisted, the weight of his words settling like a stone. My voice dropped, quieter but no less dangerous. “Did you touch her? Kiss her? Did you fuck her, Ty?”

He stepped closer, his smirk fading, replaced by something darker, heavier. “That’s between Ava and me.”

My vision tunneled, the heat of jealousy and betrayal surging in my veins.

Ty stood there, infuriatingly calm, like this was all some game to him. Like my entire fucking world wasn’t unraveling because of him.

I didn’t think I could ever hurt my brother. Not really. But right now, murder sounded pretty good.

My hand dropped instinctively to the knife hidden at my thigh, my fingers curling tightly around the handle, the skin over my knuckles tightening as the rage simmered, threatening to boil over.

“If you don’t—”

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the apartment, sharp and panicked, freezing the threat in my throat.

Ava.

I was already moving toward the door. My pulse pounded in my ears, her scream reverberating in my chest like a physical blow.

“Ava!” I shouted, my voice raw with fear.

Ty bolted for her bedroom, too, his cold composure cracking.

We both slammed into the doorframe at the same time, our shoulders colliding. Ty shoved me back with surprising force, his eyes wild, and I clawed at him, trying to push past.

“Get the fuck out of my way!” I snarled, the desperation in my voice betraying me.

“She’smineto protect!” he snapped back, his usually calm voice edged with something raw, almost feral.

The door wouldn’t budge. Locked.

Both of us kicked out at the same time. The wood splintered around the lock, and the door flew open.

Inside the bedroom, the scene was chaos. A flurry of movement confused me at first—Ava and a masked man were fighting.

The intruder caught Ava’s punch, twisting her arm, and Lisa screamed. But Ava didn’t freeze.

Instead, she used his grip against him, twisting into him and jabbing her elbow brutally into his throat.

Where the fuck had she learned that?

Ty.

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