Chapter 108: Ownership
Chapter 108: Ownership
The city lights slipped past the car windows like quiet streaks of silver and gold, stretching into the dark as the vehicle moved steadily through the late evening traffic. The driver sat behind the partition, silent and professional, while the back seat carried a different kind of quiet.
Bella sat with her hands folded loosely in her lap, the heels she had worn earlier now resting on the floor beside her. Her feet ached, but that wasn’t the reason she felt restless. The tension in the car had nothing to do with the long evening.
Marcus sat beside her, one arm resting against the leather door, gaze fixed forward. The soft glow from the passing streetlights brushed across his face now and then, revealing the faint tightening of his jaw.
Neither of them had spoken since the car door closed.
Bella shifted slightly in her seat, turning toward him just enough to study the side of his face. Marcus was never easy to read, but tonight something about him felt sharper and controlled in a way that suggested he was holding something back.
“You’re quiet,” she finally said.
Marcus didn’t look at her immediately. His attention remained on the city beyond the glass as if the buildings outside were more interesting than the woman sitting beside him.
After a moment he spoke, his tone calm but edged with something difficult to define.
“You seemed comfortable.”
Bella frowned slightly. “At the fundraiser?”
Marcus’s gaze shifted to her then, dark and steady.
“With him.”
The meaning landed immediately.
Bella leaned back against the seat, folding her arms loosely now. “Nathaniel?”
Marcus didn’t answer directly, but the silence confirmed it.
Bella exhaled slowly, trying not to let irritation surface too quickly. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Marcus’s expression didn’t change. “I didn’t say you were.”
Another stretch of quiet followed, thicker than before.
Bella studied him carefully. “Then what exactly are you saying?”
Marcus turned his head slightly toward the window again, watching the blur of the city lights.
For a man who could dismantle a boardroom argument in minutes, he seemed unusually deliberate now.
“I’m saying,” he began slowly, “that you looked comfortable.”
Bella’s brows drew together. “Because we were talking.”
Marcus finally looked at her fully.
“I noticed.”
Bella let out a small breath of disbelief. “You’re serious right now.”
“I’m.”
“That was a charity event,” she said. “People talk to each other at those.”
Marcus didn’t respond immediately. His gaze lingered on her face in a way that made Bella feel like he was measuring something she couldn’t see.
“I don’t like him near you,” he said at last.
The statement landed quietly, but the weight of it was unmistakable.
Bella stared at him for a moment, surprised not just by the words but by the honesty behind them. Marcus rarely admitted anything that sounded remotely emotional.
“You don’t like him near me,” she repeated.
Marcus didn’t soften the statement. “No.”
Bella sat up a little straighter now. “That’s not really your decision to make.”
Marcus’s voice remained level. “It becomes my concern when someone positions himself that close.”
Bella felt a spark of frustration rise in her chest. “He steadied me because I almost tripped.”
“I saw.”
“And that’s the problem?” she asked.
Marcus’s gaze held hers steadily. “It’s one of them.”
Bella shook her head slightly, disbelief creeping into her expression. “You’re making this sound like something it isn’t.”
“I’m describing what I observed.”
“You’re interpreting it,” she corrected.
Marcus didn’t argue the point, but his silence suggested he wasn’t willing to concede either.
Bella leaned forward slightly, her voice firmer now. “You don’t get to control how I relate with Nathaniel.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed just enough to show the words had landed.
“I don’t control,” he said slowly.
Bella waited.
Marcus’s voice dropped just slightly, quiet but firm.
“I get to tell you what's right.”
Bella stared at him, stunned for a moment by how calmly he said it.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not right and I won't take it,” she said sharply.
Marcus didn’t seem bothered by the criticism. If anything, his expression remained frustratingly composed.
Bella shook her head again, trying to keep the irritation from spilling into anger.
“Nathaniel isn’t a threat.”
Marcus didn’t hesitate.
“He’s a variable.”
Bella let out a quiet, incredulous laugh. “A variable.”
Marcus held her gaze without flinching. “Yes.”
Bella studied him carefully, searching for some sign that he understood how unreasonable he sounded.
“He’s been nothing but respectful,” she said. “He didn’t criticize you, he didn’t pry into anything, he barely even asked me personal questions.”
Marcus said nothing.
“And somehow that makes him suspicious?” she pressed.
Marcus leaned back slightly, his expression thoughtful rather than defensive.
“People rarely show their intentions directly,” he said.
Bella stared at him. “You think he’s manipulating the situation?”
“I think he’s patient.”
“That’s not a crime.”
Marcus’s voice remained steady. “No. But patience is usually strategic.”
Bella folded her arms again, leaning back into the seat.
“You’re reading too much into this.”
Marcus didn’t argue.
The quiet returned, stretching across the car like a thin layer of pressure neither of them seemed willing to release.
Bella glanced out the window, watching the city slide past in a blur of headlights and shadows. Her mind replayed the moment on the terrace, the brief stumble, Nathaniel’s hand steadying her, the half-second pause before she stepped back.
It had felt harmless.
Normal.
But now, sitting beside Marcus, she realized how closely he must have been watching.
“You could have come over,” she said after a moment.
Marcus turned slightly toward her again. “To interrupt?”
“To join the conversation.”
Marcus shook his head faintly. “That wasn’t necessary.”
Bella studied him, sensing something deeper beneath the surface.
“You didn’t interrupt,” she said slowly. “You just watched.”
Marcus didn’t deny it.
“Why?” she asked.
His gaze drifted briefly toward the front of the car, the partition separating them from the driver.
“Because observation tells you more than intervention.”
Bella frowned. “That sounds like a unkind of you.”
Marcus’s expression softened just a fraction at that.
“Sometimes the two overlap.”
Bella sighed quietly.
For a moment she wondered if this was what life with Marcus would always feel like, measured, controlled, constantly analyzed like a negotiation.
“You’re not my security system,” she said gently.
Marcus’s eyes returned to her face.
“I’m aware.”
“Then stop treating every interaction like a threat assessment.”
Marcus was quiet for a few seconds before answering.
“That would require the world to be less dangerous than it is.”
Bella studied him, realizing the statement wasn’t just about Nathaniel.
It was about everything.
“Not everyone is trying to hurt us,” she said softly.
Marcus’s gaze lingered on her.
“Maybe not.”
“But you act like they are.”
Marcus looked away again.
The car slowed slightly as it approached a red light, the glow from the traffic signal casting a muted wash of color through the windows.
Bella noticed the faint tightening of Marcus’s jaw again.
“You’re not really worried about Nathaniel,” she said slowly.
Marcus didn’t respond.
“You’re worried about losing control.”
His eyes flicked back to hers.
Bella held his gaze calmly.
“Control is how things stay stable,” he said.
“Or how they become suffocating.”
Marcus didn’t argue, but the silence that followed felt complicated.
The light turned green and the car moved forward again.
Bella leaned her head lightly against the seat, exhaustion creeping into her voice.
“I don’t want to feel managed,” she said quietly.
Marcus watched her for a moment before responding.
“That’s not my intention.”
“Then what is?”
Marcus opened his mouth slightly as if to answer—
But before he could speak, a faint vibration cut through the quiet.
His phone.
Marcus glanced down at the screen.
The moment he saw the alert, something in his expression changed.
Bella noticed immediately.
“What is it?” she asked.
Marcus didn’t answer right away.
His eyes scanned the message once more, slower this time.
The shift in his posture was subtle, but Bella could feel it, the controlled stillness of someone absorbing unexpected information.
“Marcus?”
He lifted his gaze toward her.
His voice was calm when he finally spoke, but there was a new tension beneath the surface.
“Voss increased his position.”
Bella frowned slightly. “In your company?”
Marcus nodded once.
“To fourteen percent.”
The number hung in the air between them.
Bella felt a small knot tighten in her chest.
“That’s… a lot.”
“Yes.”
Marcus’s eyes drifted back to the phone screen.
Another line of the alert appeared beneath th
e first.
His expression darkened slightly.
Bella leaned forward. “What else?”
Marcus looked up again.
“The board is preparing a vote.”
Bella’s stomach tightened.
“A vote for what?”
Marcus’s voice remained controlled, but the weight of the words was unmistakable.
“Leadership review.”