Catherine’s POV
We walked into Kiera’s room. I moved fast to sit on the edge of the bed, allowing the adrenaline from Dante’s presence to settle. Kiera was pacing in front of me, her eyes bright with a look I knew all too well. She wasn’t going to let the subject of her brother drop easily.
"I’m telling you, Catherine, I’ve never seen him like that," Kiera said, stopping to point a finger at me. "Dante doesn’t do ’sweet.’ He doesn’t do ’emotional intelligence.’ But with you, he’s like a different person. You look cute together. Honestly, it’s refreshing."
I sighed, leaning back on my elbows. "Kiera, stop. Don’t go getting any ideas. Dante is great, and he’s incredibly mature, but we are just friends. I just went to his room to apologize, then we ended up talking. That’s it."
Kiera scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she sat down beside me. "Just friends? Please. The air in that room was thick enough to choke on. Why won’t you just let yourself be loved by a real man? Dante has character. He knows who he is. He’s a man, Catherine. Not like that childish Julian who spends his life doing whatever his daddy tells him to do."
I looked away, the mention of Julian’s name sending a sharp cut through my chest. "Stop. It’s not about Julian," I lied, though the words felt heavy in my mouth. "I’m just not ready for... whatever this is. In just a few months, I’ve encountered enough boy-drama to last me a lifetime. The issue with Collins, Sasha, Lucy and my stepfamily acting like they own me, I’m done. I just want to give it a break now and focus on my studies. School will resume in 6 days, for now my grades are the only thing I can actually think of."
Kiera studied my face for a long moment, her expression softening slightly, though the skepticism was still there. "Fine," she said, raising her hands in surrender. "If you want to play the ’studious hermit’ card, go ahead. But don’t blame me when some other girl realizes Dante is a catch and moves in. He’s got everything: the looks, the music, the brain. He’s a breath of fresh air compared to the red flags you unluckily got involved with."
A laugh let me lips. "You look really funny with that smug expression on your face but trust me, I know Dante is different," I muttered. "He really is."
"So why hold back? He’s stable," Kiera added, clearly unable to help herself. "He wouldn’t stand on a stage and kiss someone else just to please a board of directors. He’d burn the stage down first."
I didn’t answer. I knew she was right, which only made the situation with Julian feel more pathetic. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, intending to check the time, but my face darkened the moment the screen lit up.
A text message from Julian was sitting right there on the lock screen.
Kiera noticed the shift in my expression immediately. She leaned over, squinting at the phone. "An annoying look just took over your face. Let me guess. The prince of the Vaughn empire is checking in?"
I gave a short, stiff nod. "Yeah. It’s Julian."
"Of course it is," Kiera said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "He just ruined the mood without even being in the room. What does he want this time? Is he calling for another public performance? Does he need you to clap while he holds Lucy’s hand?"
"I don’t know," I said, sliding the phone onto the mattress. "I muted him. I haven’t even read the last few messages."
Kiera’s eyebrows shot up. She looked at me like I had just told her I’d won the lottery. "You muted him? Catherine, I’m so proud of you. That’s a start." She suddenly lunged across the bed and snatched the phone out of my hand before I could react.
"Hey! Give it back," I said, reaching for it.
"No," Kiera said, holding it out of my reach. "Muting isn’t enough. Muting is for people you’re annoyed with. Julian deserves to be blocked. He deserves the digital equivalent of a door slammed in his face. It’s the only way he’ll learn that he doesn’t have 24/7 access to your life."
"Kiera, that’s extreme," I said, trying to grab her wrist. "Just give it to me. I’m not going to answer him anyway."
We began to playfully drag the phone back and forth, Kiera laughing while she tried to move to the settings and me trying to keep her from doing something I might regret. In the struggle, her thumb hit the screen with a forceful jab.
The room was suddenly filled with Julian’s voice.
It wasn’t a text. It was a voice note, and the tone was nothing like his usual arrogant or brooding drawl. He sounded breathless, his voice was tight with an urgency that made the hair on my arms stand up.
"Catherine, if you’re seeing this, answer me. I don’t care if you’re mad. I’m at the Estate gate. You need to meet me here right now. It concerns Tessa. She’s in trouble, Catherine. Please come, she needs your support."
The recording ended, leaving a deafening silence in the room. I froze, the air suddenly feeling very thin. Tessa. My mind raced through the last few weeks. I hadn’t heard from her in a long time. After the period she became distant, I chose to let her be. Besides, I had been so wrapped up in my own disaster with Julian that I hadn’t reached out to her for answers.
I scrambled to my feet, grabbing my bag from the chair. My hands were shaking unintentionally. "I have to go."
Kiera stood up too, but she stepped in front of me, blocking my path to the door. "Wait. Catherine, stop for a second and think. Are you really just going to run to him the second he snaps his fingers and mentions a name?"
"Kiera... It’s about my friend, Tessa," I said, my voice rising with anxiety. "You heard him. He sounded... he didn’t sound like he was playing a game. Something is wrong."
"He’s a Vaughn," Kiera reminded me, her eyes narrowing. "They specialize in making things seem urgent when they want something. What if he’s lying? What if this is just a trick to get you alone so he can explain away the gala? He knows you’ll always run for your friends."
I looked at the door and then back at Kiera. The doubt she was sowing was logical, but the knot in my stomach told me otherwise. Julian was many things; a liar, a coward, a puppet, but he knew how much Tessa meant to me. Using her as bait would be a new low, even for him.
"I have to check first," I said, stepping closer to her and placing my hands on her shoulders. "I have to know she’s okay. If I don’t go and something happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself."
Kiera searched my face, looking for any sign that I was just making an excuse to see Julian. "And if he lied?"
"If he lied," I said, my jaw tightening, "I am going to give him a hard punch to his face, right in front of whoever is watching, and I will run straight back here. I promise you."
Kiera stayed silent for a moment, her eyes moving between mine. She sighed heavily, her shoulders dropping in a sign of reluctant surrender. "You better keep your word, Catherine. If you come back here crying because he tricked you into a ’talk,’ I’m going to be the one punching people."
"I won’t," I said. "I’ll call you when I know what’s happening."
I didn’t wait for her to change her mind. I turned and ran out of the room, my heels clicking against the floorboards as I headed for the stairs. My mind was a blur of worst-case scenarios. What could be wrong? Did Sasha her? Did she get into any accidents?