“I did not.”
Rowan finally spoke. “You almost called it off.”
I stilled. No one should have known that.
Theo’s eyes narrowed. “You almost kissed her.”
Silence fell hard and heavy.
I didn’t deny it.
I couldn’t.
Theo stepped closer. “You’re not cold, Julian. You’re scared. And instead of dealing with it, you shoved her into a box and labeled itcontrol.”
I felt a volatile mix of anger, shame and something close to grief.
“She deserves better than this,” Theo said. “And if you don’t figure that out fast, someone else will.”
That did it.
My blood surged, violent and immediate.
“No one else will get anywhere near her. She is mine. My wife.”
Theo held my gaze. “Then stop treating her like she means nothing.
The door closes behind them one by one.
Theo last, lingering like he’s waiting for me to say something, or maybe waiting to see if I’ll crack.
I don’t.
I just stand there.
Hands braced on the edge of my desk.
Breathing through the unfamiliar pressure in my chest.
When the door finally clicks shut, the office goes quiet. No assistants. No movement. No witnesses. Like everyone knew to clear the floor.
Just me and the weight of what I’ve done.
I loosen my tie slowly, deliberately, like if I rush it something inside me might come undone with it. My jacket comes off next, draped over the back of a chair.
I cross the room and stop at the windows.
The city stretches out below, all steel and light and momentum, the same view I’ve had for years. The same skyline that used to make me feel untouchable.
Now, it just makes me feel… small.
I think about Lucy in my penthouse.
Ourpenthouse.
That realization feels different from what I expected. She isn’t a concept anymore. She isn’t a clause or a contingency or a carefully negotiated solution.
She’s a woman who signed her name while something fragile cracked open behind her eyes.
