Page 129 of Branded

“That’s not justice.”

“No, it’s survival,” Sebastian finishes. “At this level of power and wealth, it’s all about survival. Eliminating threats. Making sure you come out on top. Thomas Marshall understood that, he just miscalculated how far we’d go.”

I push food around my plate, trying to process.

“I need to know something,” I say quietly. “Both of you. If they hadn’t taken me, if they’d just kept making threats, kept the range war going, would you have done the same thing? Eliminated them?”

Sebastian and Dad exchange looks.

“Eventually, yes.” Sebastian nods. “They were always going to have to be dealt with. Your kidnapping just accelerated the timeline.”

“So fifteen people died who were going to die anyway.”

“Not fifteen. Just the leadership. The rest…” Sebastian shrugs. “The rest were collateral damage. Wrong place, wrong time. They chose to stand with Marshall. That choice had consequences.”

The coldness in his voice makes me shiver. This is the man I married the day of the auction.

“I think I need to go lie down.” I stand abruptly.

“Lennox,” Sebastian starts.

“I just need some time. To think. Please.”

I leave before either of them can argue, go upstairs to the bedroom and close the door, and sit on the edge of the bed, trying to breathe through the panic clawing at my chest.

A soft knock on the door. “Lennox?” Sebastian’s voice. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

He closes the door behind him and leans against it. “Your father went to his room. Thought we might need privacy.”

“I don’t know what to say to you right now.”

“Then don’t say anything. Just let me say something. And you can process it however you need to.” He moves closer but doesn’t touch me. “I love you.”

The words hang in the air between us.

“What?” I turn and stare at him.

“I love you. I knew it before they took you. Watching that video of you being dragged into their SUV, drugged, helpless…” His voice cracks slightly. “I knew at that moment I’d do anything to get you back. That isn’t the contract. That’s love.”

“Sebastian.”

“I know the timing is terrible. I know you’re processing a lot right now. But I need you to know, what I did yesterday, what I’m capable of, that’s who I am when someone threatens what or who I love. And I love you, Kathryn Lennox Drake, completely and desperately. In ways that probably aren’t healthy but are absolutely real.

“I’d kill a hundred more people if that’s what it took to keep you safe.” He kneels in front of me. “I’m not asking you to say it back. I’m not asking you to be okay with what happened. I’m just asking you to know, you’re loved. By me. What I did yesterday, that’s what love looks like to me. Dark, violent, uncompromising love that eliminates threats before they can hurt what I value.”

“That’s not normal love,” I say, letting my eyes drift to the floor.

“No. But we’re not normal people. We don’t do anything the normal way.” His hands frame my face. “So tell me. Can you live with being loved this way? By a man who’ll go to war for you? Who’ll kill for you? Who’ll burn everything down to keep you safe?”

Can I? Can I accept this dark, violent, overwhelming love?

I think about the terror in the basement. The relief when I heard gunshots. The gratitude when the man kneeling in front of me found me. The way Walker killed without hesitation to protect me. The way Sebastian is looking at me now, like I’m the most precious thing in his world and he’ll destroy anyone who tries to take me from him.

“I love you too,” I whisper. “God help me, I love you too.”

His expression transforms. Relief and joy and something fierce all mixed together. “Say it again.”