68. Chapter 68
Cate
Present
The house was quiet when I got back.
Not empty, just… waiting.
Trevor’s car was already in the driveway.
For a moment, I sat behind the wheel, staring at it.
He was home earlier than he’d said he would be.
Of course he was.
I slipped the ring deeper into my pocket before stepping out of the car.
The front door unlocked easily.
The smell of garlic and rosemary drifted toward me the second I stepped inside.
Dinner.
Trevor appeared in the kitchen doorway like he’d been expecting the sound of the lock.
“Hey,” he said easily.
“You’re home early,” I replied.
“So are you.”
His gaze flicked over me, like he was checking for something. Fear. Panic. Guilt.
I gave him none of it.
“I had coffee with Seth,” I said, shrugging. “I needed to get out of the house.”
His eyes lingered for half a second too long.
“And?”
“And what?”
He smiled faintly. “Did it help?”
“Yes,” I lied.
Or maybe not.
It had helped, just not in the way he would’ve wanted.
He stepped closer and kissed my cheek. His lips were warm. Familiar.
Intimate.
My body didn’t recoil, and that surprised me.
“I’m glad,” he said. “I didn’t like how we left things earlier.”
Earlier. Like it had just been a disagreement.
“I didn’t either,” I said.
He studied my face, searching. “Are you still upset?” he asked.
“No.”
That one wasn’t entirely a lie.
I wasn’t upset.
I was… alert.
He relaxed, just slightly. “I may have overreacted,” he admitted smoothly. “The detective blindsiding you like that… I didn’t like it.”
“It wasn’t a blindside,” I said evenly. “I called him.”
Trevor paused, a tiny, nearly imperceptible pause.
“Right,” he said. “You did.”
He returned to the stove, stirring something slowly.
“I don’t want you thinking I’m trying to control you,” he added lightly. “I’m just trying to protect you.”
There it was again.
Protect.
I walked into the kitchen, leaning casually against the counter.
“I don’t need to be protected from conversations,” I said.
Trevor’s shoulders tightened, only for a second, then he smiled over his shoulder. “That’s fair.”
The word felt placed, like a chess piece.
We ate at the table, wine in our glasses, soft music playing from the speaker in the corner.
It would’ve looked normal from the outside.
Just a married couple having dinner.
Trevor talked about work, about a case he was “handling.”
About logistics.
He always liked logistics.
I listened and I nodded.
And underneath the table, my fingers traced the edge of the ring in my pocket.
It felt warmer now.
Or maybe that was just my skin.
Trevor reached for my hand at one point.
“I hate that this is happening now,” he said. “After everything we’ve built.”
Words that once would have felt comforting, felt different tonight.
“What did we build?” I asked softly.
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I mean,” I clarified lightly, “after John disappeared. Everything changed so fast.”
He set his fork down. Carefully.
“What are you asking?” he said.
“Nothing.” I smiled faintly. “Just thinking out loud.”
He watched me longer than he should have.
“You’re not… second-guessing us, are you?” he asked.
The vulnerability in his voice was convincing.
Convincing enough that, if I didn’t have the weight in my pocket, I might have believed it.
“No,” I said.
That, too, wasn’t entirely a lie.
He leaned back slightly, studying me.
“I stepped in because you were drowning,” he said quietly. “Do you remember that?”
I did.
All too well.
“You weren’t sleeping. You weren’t eating. You couldn’t walk into a room without looking for him.”
My throat tightened.
“I wasn’t trying to replace him,” Trevor continued. “I was trying to keep you alive.”
Alive.
The word hit something deep.
I swallowed and nodded. “I know.”
He reached across the table and covered my hand with his.
“You don’t owe anyone your suffering,” he said. “Not Seth. Not the detective. Not some memory that refuses to stay buried.”
My pulse stuttered.
He didn’t notice.
Or maybe he did.
I withdrew my hand gently.
“I’m going to get some water,” I said.
I stood, moving to the kitchen.
My heart was beating too loudly.
He hadn’t slipped.
Not exactly.
But the edges were sharper tonight.
I opened the cabinet, pouring a glass slowly.
Behind me, Trevor’s chair scraped softly against the floor.
“You seem different,” he said.
I didn’t turn around. “How?”
“Quieter.”
“I’m thinking.”
“About?”
I faced him then.
“About everything.”
His gaze sharpened. “Is that why you went through my office earlier?”
The world stopped, just for a second.
My pulse roared in my ears.
I hadn’t told him, I hadn’t said a word.
“How did you know I went in there?” I asked.
He smiled, soft, and measured. “There was a drawer slightly open.”
My heart skipped.
“You’re not subtle when you’re distracted,” he added gently.
I forced myself to shrug. “I was looking for a pen.”
“And did you find one?”
“Yes.”
His eyes held mine. Searching. Calculating.
Then… “Good,” he said.
Just that.
Good.
He stepped closer, brushing his fingers lightly down my arm.
“You don’t have to go digging, Cate,” he murmured. “You don’t have to carry this.”
His words felt deliberate. I focused, urging my breath to remain steady.
“I’m not digging,” I said.
He studied me for one long moment, and then he nodded.
“Of course you’re not.”
He kissed my forehead.
Gentle.
Possessive.
Certain.
But when he pulled back, his eyes were colder than they’d been all night.
And for the first time since I’d found the ring, I wasn’t sure whether I was ahead of him.
Or already two moves behind.