Chapter 172: Chapter 173: The Claim
ARIA’S POV
Dinner with Marc had been exactly what Aria needed. Easy conversation, familiar jokes, the comfortable rhythm of friendship that had weathered years and distance.
They’d just finished eating and were settling the bill when Marc’s phone buzzed.
"Looks like it’s getting late," he said, glancing at the time. "I should probably get you home before your possessive boyfriend sends out a search party."
Aria laughed. "He’s not that bad."
"He’s protective. There’s a difference."
"If you say so." Marc stood and offered her his hand. "Come on. My car’s around the corner."
They stepped out of the restaurant into the cool evening air, and Marc pulled her into one more hug.
"It really was good to see you, Ri. I’ve missed having my best friend around."
"I’ve missed you too, Marc. Next month is going to be amazing, working together again."
They pulled apart, still smiling...and that’s when Aria saw the familiar black car parked not far from the restaurant entrance.
Her stomach dropped.
Marcus emerged from the driver’s side, his expression professionally neutral, but Aria could see the tension in his shoulders.
He bowed slightly. "Miss Chen. The boss is here to pick you up."
Aria’s eyes moved to the car, and through the tinted windows, she could just make out Damien’s silhouette in the back seat.
"He’s....he came to pick me up?" She looked at Marc apologetically. "I’m so sorry. I told him you were going to drop me off, but apparently...."
"Apparently your boyfriend doesn’t trust other men around you," Marc finished, his tone amused rather than offended. "It’s fine, Ri. I get it. He’s territorial. Just....be careful, okay? Guys that possessive can be...."
"I’ll be fine," Aria said quickly. "Thank you for dinner. I’ll see you next month."
She hugged him one more time....deliberately, because she refused to let Damien’s jealousy dictate her friendships....and then walked toward the car.
Marcus opened the door for her, and she slid into the back seat.
Damien was there, looking absolutely devastating in his suit, his expression unreadable in the dim light.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Aria said, "You came to pick me up."
"I did."
"I told you Marc was going to drop me off."
"I know what you told me." Damien’s voice was quiet, controlled, but Aria could hear the undercurrent of something dangerous beneath the calm. "I decided I’d rather pick you up myself."
The car started moving, Marcus at the wheel, and uncomfortable silence filled the space between them.
Aria studied Damien’s face....the tight jaw, the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands were clenched into fists on his thighs.
He was angry. Furiously angry. Trying to control it but barely succeeding.
"Damien...."
"Who is he?" Damien asked, his voice still quiet but edged with something sharp. "This Marcus Rivera."
"I told you. He’s my friend. We went to medical school together, did our residency together. He’s a doctor."
"And he’s starting at St. Augustine next month. Working with you."
"Yes. He’s specializing in emergency medicine too. It’ll be nice to have a familiar fac....—"
"How close are you?"
The question was direct, pointed, and Aria realized with a sinking feeling what this was really about.
"Marc is my best friend. Has been for years. We’re close, but not....Damien, if you’re asking if we’ve ever been romantically involved...."
"Have you?"
"No. Never. Marc is like a brother to me. That’s all he’s ever been."
Damien finally looked at her, and the possessive intensity in his eyes made her breath catch.
"He hugged you." Damien said, his voice so low Aria could barely hear it
"Marc is my friend. Nothing more."
"The problem is that you looked happy with him. Really happy. In a way you never look with me."
The vulnerability beneath the anger stopped Aria cold.
"That’s not true," she said softly.
"Damien....."
"I know I’m not easy to be with. I know I’m possessive and demanding and probably suffocating. But I can’t help it. I can’t stand the thought of you with someone else. Can’t stand seeing you smile at another man like you smiled at him tonight."
He pulled her close suddenly, his hand cupping the back of her head, forcing her to look at him.
"You’re mine, Aria. Mine. And I know that’s selfish and unreasonable, but I don’t care. I need you to understand that I will never be comfortable with you being close to other men. Will never be okay with sharing your smiles, your laughter, your time. It’s a flaw. It’s probably toxic. But it’s who I am."
"I know who you are," Aria said, her hands coming up to grip his jacket. "And I’m not asking you to change. But Damien, you have to trust me. Have to believe that my friendship with Marc doesn’t threaten what we have. That I can care about him as a friend and still love only you."
"Can you? Because from where I’m sitting, he offers you something I can’t. Ease. Comfort. Friendship without complications. And that terrifies me.
Because what if one day you realize that’s what you actually want? What if you wake up and decide that loving me is too hard, too intense, too exhausting?"
Aria saw the fear beneath the possessiveness. Saw the vulnerability he was trying so hard to hide.
"That’s not going to happen," she said firmly. "Yes, Marc is easy. He’s comfortable. He makes me laugh without the weight of all this intensity. But Damien....I don’t want easy. I want you. All of you. The intensity and the possessiveness and the overwhelming passion. That’s what I choose. That’s what I’ll keep choosing."
"Promise me."
"I promise."
"Say it. Say you’re mine."
"I’m yours. Only yours. Marc is my friend, but you’re the one I love. The one I belong to. The only one who will ever have me like this."
Damien kissed her then, hard and claiming and desperate. Kissing her like he needed to mark her, to remind her, to erase any trace of Marcus Rivera from her mind.
When he finally pulled back, they were both breathing hard.
"I’m sorry," he said quietly...For..."
"I understand," Aria interrupted. "I don’t like it. But I understand. You’re possessive. That’s part of who you are. I just need you to trust that I won’t betray that possession. That when I say I’m yours, I mean it completely."
He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
"Boundaries. We’ll discuss boundaries. But Aria...I can’t promise I’ll ever be completely comfortable with you having close male friends. Can’t promise I won’t be jealous. Can’t promise this possessive streak will ever fully go away."
"I’m not asking for it to go away. I’m asking for you to trust me despite it. To believe that I choose you even when I have other options. That I’m staying because I want to, not because I’m trapped."
"Okay. I can try to do that."
"Good. Because Marc is important to me. And starting next month, we’ll be working together. You need to make peace with that. Need to trust that our friendship doesn’t threaten us."
Damien’s jaw clenched, but he nodded. "I’ll try. For you. But if he ever crosses a line...."
"He won’t. He respects that I’m in a relationship. He’s a good man, Damien. You’d actually probably like him if you met him without all this jealousy clouding your judgment."
"I doubt that very much."
Despite everything, Aria found herself smiling. "You’re impossible."
"I’m yours. There’s a difference."
The car pulled up to the estate, and Marcus opened the door for them.
As they walked inside, Damien pulled Aria close, his arm around her waist possessively.
"Tomorrow," he said quietly. "Tomorrow we’ll talk about boundaries. About trust. About how to make this work without me losing my mind every time you smile at another man."
"Tomorrow," Aria agreed.
But tonight....tonight he’d hold her close. Would remind her physically who she belonged to. Would claim her so thoroughly that any thoughts of Marcus Rivera or anyone else would be impossible.
Because that’s what Damien Blackwood is capable of doing when he feels threatened, when his jealousy kicks in, He claimed what was his.
And Aria knew, as they climbed the stairs to their bedroom, that she was in for a long, intense night of being thoroughly reminded exactly who owned her body, her heart, her very soul.
And despite everything....despite the jealousy and the possessiveness and the suffocating intensity.... a part of her was looking forward to it.
