Chapter 141
Julian’s POV
I had been wandering around like a possessed man, my mind a chaotic mess of Richard’s threats and Lucy’s presence.
All I wanted to do was find Catherine. I wanted to make sure she was okay wherever she was. That’s a lie.
The truth is that… I needed to make sure that she wasn’t in the hands of that Dante guy. After hearing what Kiera said, I haven’t stop imagining the worst of things.
I moved to the garden, walking silently on the grass, I didn’t stop until my eyes found moving shadows.
The world seemed to stop at that point, the air turning into poison in my lungs.
Catherine was in the shadows but I could still see her pressed against the wall, her blue gown glowing in the moonlight.
And she wasn’t alone. That guy “Dante” had her pinned. His hand was buried in her hair, his body crowded against hers, and they were kissing with a passion that felt like a physical strike to my chest.
My head began to shake in denial. No. Not Catherine. Not the girl who had looked at me with such devotion only days ago. She couldn’t be kissing this… this thug.
A voice in the back of my head screamed that he was forcing her. He had to be. Look at him—the tattoos, the unbuttoned shirt, the way he moved. He was a predator. He had found her at her weakest and he was taking advantage. He was harassing her. He had to be.
The thought snapped something inside me. The restraint I’d been clinging to all night broke into a million pieces.
I didn’t think of my actions, I just moved my legs to their direction in long strides. Once I was close to them, I shot my hand out and grabbed Dante by the collar of his shirt, my knuckles white as I jerked him backward with every ounce of strength I had.
“Take your filthy hands off her!” I roared, my voice echoing off the walls.
I shoved him away, my heart banging with a violent urge to put my fist through his teeth. I stepped in front of Catherine, my back to her, shielding her from the “threat.” In my mind, I expected her to move behind my back, to hug me from behind, and sob into my shoulder, before thanking me for saving her.
Instead, I felt a sharp shove against my arm.
“Julian! Stop it! Let go of him p>
Catherine didn’t hide. She rushed past me, but she didn’t go to the house. She went straight to Dante. She grabbed his arm, her eyes wide with concern as she checked to see if he was alright.
“Why the hell did you attack him?!” she shouted at me, her voice trembling with a different kind of anger than I was used to.
“Catherine, get away from him,” I commanded her, even though my voice was shaking with rage and confusion. “I have to teach this guy a lesson for harassing you. He was forcing himself on you, I saw it p>
Catherine froze. She looked at me, her eyes sweeping over my face with a look of disbelief. “Are you kidding me right now? Harassing me?” She tapped her temple with a finger, a gesture of frustration and annoyance. “For fuck’s sake, Julian! You are wrong, he wasn’t harassing me. What is your fucking problem p>
I felt the blood rush to my face, with a sharp sting of humiliation. “I saw you… I saw him p>
That was when Dante decided to speak. He smoothed out his shirt, his expression remarkably calm for a man who had just been assaulted. He stepped closer to Catherine, his presence massive and mocking.
“What’s wrong with you, bro?” Dante asked, his voice a smooth, dangerous baritone. “I know she’s your stepsister, it’s normal for you to feel overprotective, but you should ask questions at least… before you start swinging p>
The word stepsister felt like a slap. He was using the very label Richard used to keep us apart, and he was using it to dismiss my right to care about her.
I let go of his shirt, my hands trembling. I turned to Catherine, my fingers closing around her elbow. “Enough of this. We have to go back in. Now p>
She didn’t move, she pulled her arm back, her jaw setting into a line of iron. “No, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay here with Dante p>
The world around me blurred. Dante?
Wasn’t she just meeting him for the first time? Why was she acting like she’d know him for a long time p>
Dante moved closer to her then, his hand slid down to grab hers and they interlaced their fingers right in front of my eyes. He looked at me, with a challenging gaze, a smirk ghosting his lips.
“Dude, I said you shouldn’t worry about her,” his voice dripped with a casual arrogance. “I will not let anything happen to my girlfriend. Come on, Catherine p>
Girlfriend
The word hit me like a physical blow. My vision actually blurred for a second. I looked at Catherine, searching her face for the lie, for the denial. But she just looked back at me, her eyes cold and distant, offering nothing but silence.
“What did you just say?” I managed to ask, my voice sounding like it belonged to someone else.
Dante didn’t blink. He squeezed her hand, pulling her slightly closer to his side. “I said, she’s my girlfriend. Stop meddling. You have your business inside with Lucy… we have ours out here p>
I couldn’t breathe. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a bad dream that I needed to get out from. No way! None of this was true! The image of them together, the heat of the kiss, the word girlfriend… they were too much to be real.
I shut my eyes tight, trying to endure the sudden ache I was feeling. This wasn’t a dream, I had to stop fooling myself.
Without uttering another word, I turned to leave. I couldn’t stand there and watch her get claimed by someone else. I couldn’t watch her look at him the way she used to look at me.
As I walked out, I got drowned by the sound of my own ragged breathing, swallowing every question I wanted to scream at her.