Catherine's POV
I stood between him and Julian, my heart hammer-knocking against my ribs. Julian's words—"I'm the one who will open the door for you"—rang in my head. He wasn't just stepping aside; he was fueling Ethan's rage.
"We are not doing this right now," I said, my voice low but sharp. I grabbed Ethan's arm, ignoring the way his muscles were bunched tight like iron cables. "Ethan, look at me. The doctor said zero conflict. If you go there and start a war, and it gets back to her while she's lying in that bed, you could kill the baby yourself. Is that what you want?"
Ethan's chest was heaving, his breath coming in jagged hitches. He looked over my head at Julian, then down at me. The mention of the baby seemed to pull him back from the edge just an inch.
"She needs to go home," I said, sensing the slight shift in his energy. "Tessa can't stay here. We discharge her now, we take her to your place, and then—and only then—do we deal with Lucy."
