He laughs. “You can’tso whatyour way out of this one, Sandro.Iam a Castellani, andyouare Don Castellani. And so…” He gives a shrug.
Teddy is trembling in my arms and I want to check him over, reassure him—and me—that he’s alright. “I have other things to worry about right now,” I tell him over my shoulder, and head for the door, stopping only when Julian’s forlorn voice carries over.
“But what about me?”
I glance back at him, my incredulity dying away as I see what he means.
I can’t keep him locked up in here, and it was foolish of me ever to think that I could. Besides, I’ve never thought he killed our father. Iwishedhe had—life would have been much simpler—but I’ve never believed it.
And while Julian is a walking weapon, he’s also shown a surprising degree of restraint, if it’s true that he’s been wandering around the house at whim.
Perhaps it would be better to keep him in eyesight.
I look down at Teddy, asking a wordless question. If Teddy won’t allow it— But he gives a small nod.
“You come with me,” I tell Julian. “But if you so much as twitch without my say-so, I’ll kill you.”
“Of course!” he says happily, and almost skips around the bars to follow us out of the cells.
* * *
Jack wrinkles his nose as he walks into the study. “Something stinks in here.” He stops dead as he catches sight of Julian sitting on a chair at the side of the room. I’ve called him in as backup, just in case Julian gets bored of playing nice.
Jack and Miller left my apartment after I texted him that I would see Teddy home myself. So he didn’t know the plan with Teddy, and I don’t tell him about it now. The way his eyes go narrow and hard when he sees Julian suggests he wouldn’t have agreed with it.
Ishouldn’t have agreed to it.
“You,” is all Jack says, and sniffs again in Julian’s direction. “It’s you.”
“Hello, Jack. How are you?” Julian’s angelic smile has fooled many men. Never Johnny Jacopo.
Jack looks back to me. “You found proof of innocence?”
“Not…yet.” I’m still standing over Teddy, whom I’ve put into the large leather chair behind the desk, and I check his eyes again. They’re bloodshot, but he swears he’s alright, or did until I told him to stop talking, his voice a hoarse, painful whisper. Later I might choke Julian into unconsciousness, just to see how he likes being on the other end of it, but at the moment all I care about is Teddy’s wellbeing.
I’ve never been so terrified in those moments where I thought I might lose him. Never.
“Ask him,” Teddy whispers.
He risked his life for this information, after all. He deserves an answer.
“What happened to the cameras?” I straighten up and glare at Julian. “The day our father was murdered. Did you loop the security footage?”
“What makes you think—”
“Julian.”
Jack and Teddy both flinch at my tone, but Julian gives a chuckle. “You never want to play with me. Fine. When I came in here and saw Ciro was dead…yes. The very first thing I did was log into the security cameras from my phone, loop a few minutes of footage, just to cover up my comings and goings.”
“I already had the logs from the gate.”
“These were cameras up at the house, not the gate. But it all had nothing to do with our father’s death, and you’ll understand that soon enough. Anyway, just after I did that, I heard Jack talking to the guards outside the door. I threw my phone straight into the incinerator, and pretended I was checking on the late lamented Ciro.”
Julian is not a talented liar. Or at least, he’s not acommittedliar. He gets bored with making up stories when he’s usually more proud of the truth. So I ask him outright, “Did you kill our father?”
“No.” He pauses at the desk, looking down at the stained wood. “‘Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?’” he quotes softly. “I’ll show you a video thatdoesprove my innocence, but you have to promise me you’ll let me explain everything after.”
I look to Jack. He gives a shrug. “I’ll take him up to the security room to set it up. Won’t watch it—just check it even exists.”
