Julian's POV
The moment I walked into the dining room and saw Catherine sitting there in the hoodie I had bought for her, my chest tightened and I froze mid‑step, staring at her longer than I should have, longer than someone like me, who was trying so damn hard to keep distance, should ever stare.
She was wearing the exact gift I'd planned to give her, the one I didn't deliver because the night I'd planned to hand it to her, I checked her room twice and couldn't find her. I waited, paced, and even rehearsed the stupid explanation in my head—"I want to apologize for not coming back that night. I got to my room and found Lucy there. She had a bad dream and needed me to stay with her,"—she would probably find it stupid, but I would be honest.
But that night, I saw her walking out of Gabriel's room, and a possessive, irrational rage took over me, making me let Lucy take the gift.
But now? Now that the hoodie was stretched across Catherine's body.
