CHAPTER 89: GABRIEL KNOWS

Catherine’s POV

I was only a few minutes into my solitary breakfast when the knock came. I froze, my hand halfway to my mouth. Was that Julian? Why would he come now? He was supposed to wait until later.

I pushed the plate aside, annoyed by the repetitive knock which I couldn’t ignore; else it would only make things worse.

When I pulled the door open, it wasn’t Julian but Gabriel.

He looked serious, not angry, exactly, but closed off. His usual easygoing expression was gone. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," I said quickly, stepping aside and gesturing him inside.

He walked past me, glancing briefly at the plate of half-eaten food on the bed. Once I closed the door, he went straight to the bed and sat down on the edge, leaning forward, hands clasped between his knees.

"Are you feeling better today?"

"Yes, thank you," I replied, moving to stand near the dresser, giving myself a little distance.

He nodded slowly, fiddling with his hands. "Julian told me he spoke to you this morning about Lucy."

"Yes, he did," I confirmed. My voice was steady. "It’s terrible."

Gabriel lifted his head then, and the look he gave me was deeply unsettling.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, immediately defensive.

He didn’t look away. "I need to tell you what I heard last night, Catherine. I was going to check on Lucy." He paused, his gaze boring into mine. "When I heard her tell Julian that you were the one who assaulted her."

The air rushed out of my lungs. I felt a sudden, dizzying drop, as if the floor had disappeared beneath my feet.

Oh.

My eyes widened, realizing why Julian was persistent about me going to check on Lucy.

I swallowed hard, my throat became dry. My mind raced, grabbing for the most unbelievable, dismissive response I could find. I forced a harsh, brittle laugh. "Is she crazy? Seriously, Gabriel? Why in the world would she think that? That’s... that’s insane." The laugh was strained and high-pitched even to my own ears.

Gabriel remained perfectly still on the bed. "I don’t know, Catherine. You tell me. Why would she accuse you?" His eyes weren’t just curious; they were accusing. They were asking the question, but they already seemed to lean toward an answer.

I met his gaze, my defense mechanism kicking in instantly. I turned the question back on him. "Why does it feel like you think I did it, Gabriel?"

He sighed and stood up from the bed, moving closer to me, the room suddenly felt very small. "I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to think right now. But I do think it’s possible. You might have done it to get back at her for ganging up with Sasha and beating you up."

Well... He was right. That was exactly the kind of revenge fantasy I had entertained but I couldn’t let him know that. I stared at him, my expression hardening into one of absolute incredulous disbelief. My jaw dropped slightly, my eyebrows raising in perfect, wounded indignation.

He didn’t stop. He kept talking, listing things off like a prosecutor. "And it’s not just that, Catherine. There are other things that look suspicious now that I think about what Lucy said."

"Suspicious?" I repeated, my voice tight.

"Yes. You asked me for Lucy’s number recently. And then you came back really late last night with your friend."

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. The minor issues he was listing suddenly felt like damning evidence. Trying to not blow my cover, my voice rose in outrage. I went straight for the emotional jugular.

"Are you serious, Gabriel? You’re going to accuse me of something like this because of those minor, stupid issues?" I tried to inject as much hurt and betrayal into my tone as possible. "I was back late with Kiera because I was at her house. We were hanging out, we lost track of time! That’s it! If you don’t believe me, we can go over to her place right now and you can make inquiries since you are a detective now."

The suggestion spilled out of me, a desperate attempt to appear honest. But in my head, a panicked voice was screaming: Please don’t take me up on that offer. Please don’t. I hadn’t even been to Kiera’s house yet. If Gabriel accepted, my lie would expose me.

Gabriel stared at me with an unreadable face. Then, he moved a final step closer. He wasn’t yelling, but the quiet intensity of his voice made me nervous. "So why did you ask for her number?"

I had to come up with a good lie, and I had to come up with it now. It had to be petty enough to explain the request.

"I wanted to get back at her," I blurted out, the lie forming instantly. "I was planning to sign her up for tons of stupid junk. Send her number to all those awful websites, you know, those scammers and weird men who buy numbers. I wanted her phone to blow up with calls. I wanted to annoy her! That’s why I needed it."

He watched me, his expression flat. "Catherine, are you being for real right now?"

Shit! I must have told a very pathetic lie but it was out already and so, there was no going back. "Yes, I am. You can choose to believe me or not but that’s the truth."

Gabriel gave me a brief, slow look of profound judgment that held a sad disappointment; it was even worse than his accusation.

He finally spoke, his voice cracking with emotion. "For some reason, it just... it completely breaks me to see that you don’t trust me, Catherine."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Before I could process the meaning of that, he turned on his heel and walked straight out the door.

I was left standing there, totally shocked and short of words.