Julian’s POV
The stage lights were blinding, glare at me in a way that made the sweat on my neck feel like ice. I could feel the eyes of every power-broker, socialite, and predator in the state drilling into me.
"Put on a smile," Lucy whispered, her voice as sharp as a needle against the roar of the applause. She leaned in, suffocating me with her perfume. "I’m talking to you, Julian. You had better listen or you leave me no choice than to report to Richard you’re being difficult. You know how he gets when things aren’t perfect."
I didn’t look or blink at her. Looking at her could actually make me throw up. Her presence, her voice and her face, everything about her now irritated me.
"I am being serious, Julie," she hissed, her fingers digging into the fabric of my tuxedo jacket. "Everyone is watching, you don’t want them thinking that your dad is lying about us. So pleaseee..."
"Just smile," she added with a tight voice.
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and forced my lips to twitch upward into a hollow, practiced mask of a smile. I wasn’t doing this for her and I wasn’t doing this for the cameras either.
I was doing this because Richard had stood in his study some days ago and told me exactly what would happen if I didn’t.
"One wrong word tonight, Julian, and I’ll ensure Lisa suffers a ’nervous breakdown’ so severe she’ll vanish just like your mother did," he had said, his voice as calm as if he were discussing the weather. "And Catherine? I’ll strip her of everything. The name, the money, the future. I’ll make her life a living hell until she begs to leave this city. Do you want that on your conscience?"
He knew my weakness. He knew I’d burn the world down to keep Catherine safe. I couldn’t tell Catherine the truth because I knew she’d try to be the hero and if she tried to fight Richard, he would crush her like an ant. I had to be the villain so she could survive.
Richard stepped toward me, his hand landing on my shoulder like a lead weight. His smile was wide, but his eyes were black pits of malice.
"Your turn, son," he murmured, leaning in close enough for only me to hear. "Tell them she’s your girlfriend. Let them know that you love her. Tell them you were just hiding her because you wanted it to be private." He turned to Lucy. "Do you still remember your part?"
Lucy gave him an eager nod. I couldn’t believe that she was working with my dad.
I didn’t even care. Right now, my heart was hammering against my ribs with dread. I moved toward the microphone, my hand clutching Lucy’s. I felt her skin and wanted to recoil, but I held on.
My eyes searched the crowd, not for the senators or the donors but for the one person I cared about.
I found her.
Catherine was standing near the back, looking like a dream in a floor-length blue ball gown. The color made her skin look so outstanding, her dark hair fell over her shoulders in waves. She looked breathtaking.
I wish I could just tell her why I was doing this but I couldn’t.
The veins in my neck began to throb. My grip on Lucy’s hand tightened instinctively as I saw a man, a stranger with tattoos and an arrogance that radiated off him in waves, lean in close to her. He handed her a cup of water, his hand brushing hers, while his eyes fixed on her face with a look that made my blood turn to fire.
Who the hell was he? And why was he touching her?
"Julian! You’re hurting me!" Lucy’s hissed protest snapped me back.
I didn’t realize I was crushing her fingers. I released my grip slightly, my voice a low, jagged growl. "Sorry."
I turned back to the microphone, the silence of the room weighing a thousand pounds on me.
"Good day everyone. Everything my father is the truth," the words were like broken glasses in my throat. "There has been a lot of speculation lately. But the truth is that Lucy is my girlfriend. I’ve loved her for a long time, and I was only trying to shield her from the pressures of my family’s public life. That ’misunderstanding’ the other day? That was just a lover’s drama that got out of hand."
The lie felt like a death sentence. I tried my best not to fall apart.
Lucy must have noticed I was struggling because she stepped up to the mic in that moment, leaning into me, her voice trilling with a fake, girlish sweetness. "He’s right," she told the laughing crowd. "And I owe everyone an apology for what I said. I called Julian a thief on public TV and the truth is that I had no idea it was live."
"Many of you might be wondering why I did that but the truth is that he truly is a thief."
The few faces my eyes caught, showed surprise. Whispers broke out and Lucy stood there, smiling.
She wrapped her hand around my elbow and continued. "Julian Vaughn is a thief only because he stole my heart."
The room erupted again but this time around it was filled with people cheering and clapping. They were happy while I stood here trying to deal with the most disgusting thing I had ever heard.
At least the pretence was over.
I turned around to leave but before I could do that, Lucy turned and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down. I froze, my body turning to stone as she pressed her lips to mine.
My eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t push her because I could feel Richard’s eyes on me, waiting for me to make a move.
I forced myself to endure it, my eyes snapping back to the spot where Catherine had been standing. I needed to see her, to see if she was boiling. To understand the weight of what I had done but she wasn’t there anymore.
She was gone. The space was empty. She hadn’t stayed to watch me share a kiss with Lucy. And the guy that was beside her wasn’t there either. For the first time in my life, I felt the true weight of the cage I had stepped into.
I had saved her, but I had lost her.
The applause increased, making my head spin.