“I went for a walk, Jensen.”
“Alone.”
Mia closes her eyes and that pulsing in my chest picks up speed again. “I didn’t realize being loved by you would come with chains.” She doesn’t even raise her voice, but her words land like an explosion.
“It… it doesn’t.”
She glances down, and her hands spread over her belly. There’s nothing there yet, no sign of the baby we made with love and obsession.
“I’ve always accepted your need to control everything.” Her smile is a little sad. “Even at fourteen, you wouldn’t let me walk home alone. I was fine with Theo because I understood the risks of our life. I never complained about the tracking software on my phone, or that my schedule had to be planned. I didn’t push back enough you when you brought in Mike.” She laughs, butthere’s no joy in it. “I should have said more because that was the moment I stopped feeling like your wife and started feeling like your responsibility.”
Every word she says hits like a bullet. My throat locks. There’s nothing I can say that doesn’t sound like control disguised as care. No defense for a prison made of gold.
“I know I’m a controlling bastard,” I say, hoarse. “I’m terrified of something happening to you, Mia. To our baby.”
“Why did you marry me, Jensen?”
My stomach plummets. That’s not a question. It’s a loaded gun. “Because I love you. Because I can’t breathe without you.”
“And that’s the problem. You’ve placed me on this untouchable pedestal that I can’t reach.” I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to calm the racing inside my head. “You can’t keep me wrapped up like a delicate ornament. You can’t make me a prisoner in our marriage.”
It’s those words that hit me in the chest like an anvil. I don’t want her to feel locked up, like I have shackles around her wrists. But my fear for her safety, for all the things I know can hurt her, are flashing in my head.
“I don’t want to lock you away, Mia. I just want you safe. I want you to come home to me every night. I want you to live without fear.”
“I do. You make sure of that every day, but you can do that without shredding my wings.” Her voice cracks and my ribcage with it. “All I’m asking is that you give me the space to live my life, Jensen.”
I don’t think she understands. Mia’s been my obsession since the moment she looked at me like I mattered. I’ve built an empire around her safety. I micromanage every part of her day to make sure nothing touches her. She’s the only person who could bring me to my knees, and the only one I’d gladly kneel for.
She doesn’t understand how much I need her.
Sometimes it even scares me.
“I don’t know how to give you space.” It comes out raw and ragged, but real. “Not when there’s a chance you could be taken from me.”
I drag my hand over my face, wrung out. The blood is pounding through my veins so fast I feel lightheaded.
She’s quiet for a moment. “You’re not going to lose me to some stranger in the street, Jensen.” Her eyes fill with tears and it fucking breaks me to see them—to know I’m the reason for them. “But you’ll lose me if you keep handling me, rather than loving me.”
Fuck. Me.
I close my eyes, taking a stuttering breath through my nose. She has no idea she just cracked open my chest with those words. I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the choppy water below. One wrong move and I drown. One wrong move and my wife walks away. That can’t happen. I won’t allow it.
Panic coils in my stomach, tight and ugly. My hands are shaking so badly I shove them through my hair to hide the fact.
There is no me without her.
“Tell me what you need. I’ll… I’ll make it work.” I sound desperate. I don’t care. I am.
I’ll move mountains for her if she asks it.
Mia closes her eyes for a second. “I just need you to trust me.”
Everything she could have asked for and that was it? Somehow, it makes it worse. “I do trust you. It’s everyone else I don’t.”
“Jensen.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. What do you need from me?”
