Klaus stiffened, the weight of the words sinking in. 'A month ago? She was already planning my birthday this far in advance...' He couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt twist in his chest. I had thought of him and cared enough to plan. But he? He had let me walk away. He let me slip through his fingers because of her—Claudette.
Without another word, Klaus threw on his coat and drove straight to the jeweler, the anticipation growing heavy inside him. When he arrived, the jeweler handed him two small boxes. Inside, he found a pair of customized diamond rings, along with tie clips engraved with our initials, "K" and "M."
He ran his thumb over the engraving. His insides stirred again, the primal part of him yearning for the connection that the initials represented. 'We’re mates,' he growled softly within him.
The first gift I had ever given him, back when I was still an eager young twenty-year-old, was a simple tie. It wasn’t much, just a small, thoughtful gesture from a woman who loved him with her whole heart. He had treasured it, worn it to every important meeting, even when Claudette was still hovering around like a ghost from his past.