Chapter 362
[ 521 words ]
Chapter 362:
The door opened, and Julian stepped inside. He looked different tonight—more disheveled than ever, his tie loosened, dark circles deep under his eyes. He closed the door behind him, and the soft click of the latch made Caroline’s pulse quicken.
“Long shift?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he walked over to the window and stood beside her, staring out at the rain. When he spoke, his voice was rough, barely above a whisper, frayed at the edges by exhaustion and something darker.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, Caroline.”
𝗝оi𝗇 t𝘩𝘦 𝖼о𝗺𝗆𝘂𝘯𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝖺𝘁 𝗴𝘢l𝗇𝘰𝘷e𝘭s.𝗰о𝗆
Every instinct in her body went on alert. His eyes—there was something wild in them tonight. Something raw, scraped clean of the careful restraint he usually wore. The fear she’d seen before was still there, but it had twisted into something else. Something desperate.
“Julian—”
“No, just listen.” He turned to face her, and the look in his eyes was one she hadn’t seen before—cornered, haunted, a man pushed past his breaking point by weeks of silent pressure and invisible threats. “I’ve been warned, Caroline. Told what would happen if I got involved with you. They’ve made my life hell. And I’ve tried. God knows I’ve tried to stay away.”
His voice cracked, and he ran a shaking hand through his disheveled hair. “But I haven’t slept in days. Every time I close my eyes, I see their faces—those people who warned me. And you. Always you. Alone. Suffering. And I—” his voice broke. “I can’t keep pretending I don’t care. I can’t keep walking past your room and pretending I’m fine when I’m falling apart inside.”
Caroline’s breath caught. She knew, with a cold certainty, who “they” were. The military. Jarrod’s people. The same force that kept her husband shrouded in secrecy. Julian wasn’t just overstepping. He was risking his career, his sanity, maybe more.
“Julian, you need to step back,” she said firmly. “Whatever you’re feeling—”
“I care about you,” he interrupted, his voice rising, desperation bleeding through every word. “And I know you’re married. I know I have no right. But I can’t stand seeing you like this. Carrying everything alone. While your husband—a man whose name I can’t even find in any record—is nowhere to be found.”
Before she could react, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. It wasn’t a violent grab—it was a desperate, clinging embrace, the kind that spoke of sleepless nights and fraying sanity. His face pressed against her hair, his body trembling with a despair that was genuine even if it was utterly misguided.
“I can’t stand it,” he whispered, his voice broken. “Seeing you like this. I can’t.”
For a frozen second, Caroline was too stunned to move. Then instinct took over. She shoved him back with both hands, hard. He stumbled, his eyes wide with shock.
The sound of her slap cracked through the room.
Julian’s head snapped to the side. He stood there, one hand rising slowly to his reddening cheek, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The wildness in his eyes flickered, giving way to something raw and horrified—a man waking from a nightmare to find the nightmare was real.
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