"It's mine now," he said, fighting for control over his voice and face. There was a cold weight of dread in his chest, his heart thumping painfully against it. Wrong, this is all wrong. But there was no other choice. Taking it off would be conceding the field, and he wasn't ready to do that yet.

"I told you there was a lot you didn't know," he said. His jaw was tight. "This is only a piece of it."