Julian looks at me oddly. Fuck.
“He’s got no right to bring a civilian into this,” I snap. “I thought even a lowlife like Rico would understand that.”
“He didn’t come right out and threaten her, didn’t need to. Him just being there was enough.”
“How is she?” I ask, trying to make it sound casual. It’s anything but.
“Shaken up,” he says. “We had an argument… She demanded to know what was going on. I couldn’t tell her for obvious reasons. How can I?”
“If she already knows, maybe more specifics would help.”
“What?” The bluntness turns it into a statement, not a question. He leans forward.“What?”
“She’s not a kid anymore.”
“You want me to tell her I work for the fucking mob?”
I shrug. “I’m just trying to help.”
“Youcanhelp. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I wanted to visit in person.” He takes a breath, steadying himself. “You need to leave.”
I shake my head. “Not this again.”
“Yes–this again,” he snaps.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“You should’ve left the night of the attack. You were lucky to get away with a flesh wound and a scar.”
“They were lucky I only managed to put two of them in the ground,” I snarl, thinking of the alleyway, the setup. The masked men thought they could take me unaware.
Julian groans. “Staying here isn’t an option anymore. You need to get off the East Coast. Go to California and buy a house by thesea and build a new life, man. You deserve it. You’ve worked long and hard.”
“Ride off into the sunset and pretend none of this happened? Pretend Don Salvatore isn’t a twisted fuck who’s taken things too fucking far?” I hammer my fist against my chest, then point to my scar. “Pretend I wasn’tthis closeto losing an eye? Pretend they didn’t scar me for life? Pretend they didn’t turn me into a monster? They wanted the Beast, Julian. They’re going to get the goddamn Beast.”
Julian’s mouth falls open. He’s my best friend. Hell, my only friend. And even he looks frightened of me.
“What’s the alternative?” Julian asks somberly. “Eventually, someone will see you.”
“I don’t understand why you think this has anything to do with me.”
“Huh?”
“Rico visits Celine at work.” Just saying the words makes my blood boil. I calm myself down. Just. “And you automatically assume it has something to do with me being seen? I don’t get it.”
Julian opens his mouth, closes it. Furrows his eyebrows. There’s something he’s not telling me. I know it. But I hope I’m just being paranoid.
He was there for me, always there, after my parents. I was an orphan with no other family, and Julian became my brother.
“You’re the only thing that’s changed,” he says after a too-long pause. “Years, and no one’s ever messed with my family. Then you get hit and suddenly they’re all over her.”
Hmm.
“I can’t let anything happen to Celine,” Julian whispers. “But she’s pissed at me. Won’t stay with me. And if I tail her to make sure Rico tries nothing again, the Family will catch on. They’ll say I’m acting suspicious. Why do I feel the need to follow her? Don’t I trust them? You know how they get.”
“I can do it,” I tell him. “I won’t be seen. I’ll keep her safe.”
Julian’s eyebrows shoot up to his forehead. “You’d do that?”
