CATRIONA
“How much did you hear?” I asked softly, though the answer already weighed heavily on my heart.
“All of it,” Jayden replied through the mindlink.
I stood slowly, grounding myself as I took tentative steps toward them—Jayden, Gabriel, and the others. If they’d truly heard everything… if they knew the truth of my past—would they still look at me the same way? Would they still want me?
Jayden’s face was unreadable, composed. That gave me a flicker of hope. But Gabriel… his expression shattered me. His eyes, once filled with warmth, now held something colder. Distant. Detached.
“Hey, baby,” Jayden said gently, placing both hands on my cheeks. “Are you alright?”
But my attention wasn’t on him.
It was all on Gabriel.
He hadn’t stopped looking at me—but it wasn’t the same. His s
