And they would be right.
“My mother has advised me to execute you. So has the senior administration.”
Julian’s eyes are a dead, cold blue. “It doesn’t matter what they want. It matters whatyoudecide to do. I rather like being alive, Sandro. I like fucking and drinking and enjoying myself. And I can make myself useful to you. Ciro took advantage of my hedonism; why shouldn’t you?”
The more I learn about my dead father, the less I want to know. I can’t mourn him. But I still need to find his killer, to appease the senior administration.
“And let’s be honest,” Julian is going on. “You have one great drawback that I don’t have.”
“What is that?”
“A conscience.” He smiles. “Sometimes you’ll need someone who is willing to put aside ethics. Put asidehumanity. Jack certainly won’t, and we both know you’re hamstrung by your honor. I can be the dark thing that makes nightmares come true. And I’ll make sureyoualways have plausible deniability.”
When Angelo Messina and Baxter Flynn were here, Julian did things that my father denied he had ordered. I always wondered, though—especially after the Caroline Jar disappeared, that urn of his mother’s ashes that Julian had always wanted.
Payment from our father, perhaps, for taking the blame?
“I have no intention of pimping you out,” I tell Julian bluntly, “but you can be useful to me in other ways. And if you put a finger on Teddy again, I will flay you alive myself.”
“Excellent,” he says. “Now, since we’re coming to terms, there’s just one more thing I want…”
* * *
When I go back into the salon, where Teddy and Jack are waiting, Teddy is drinking some more of that honeyed tea.
“Where’s the doctor?” I demand.
“Been and gone,” Jack says calmly. “Teddy got the all-clear.”
Teddy smiles uncertainly at me, his hands wrapped around the warm mug. “What happened with Julian?”
“He stays alive for now.” I steel myself for Jack’s reaction, but if I’m not mistaken, I see relief in his eyes. “You have something you’d like to say?” I ask him. “Some advice for me?”
“I ain’t your Consigliere,” he snorts. “I’m just the guy who’s got your back. And I never thought Julian killed your dad. Well—except for those first few seconds when I thought hedid.”
“And you don’t think his lover did it, either? This Vincenzo Esposito?”
Teddy pipes up. “It’s not the Esposito style.” He looks between Jack and me, and when we don’t say anything, he continues. “An Esposito would never sneak in and assassinate someone quietly like whoever did this. They’d consider it…”
“Dishonorable,” Jack and I both say at the same time, and share a look.
Teddy is right about that. The Espositos have a reputation for being up-front about these things. And my discussion with Julian has only compounded my personal suspicions about the killer.
But I’ve had enough for today. Enough of Julian, enough of this whole place.
“I’ve sent Julian back to his wing for now,” I say, “with guards who have been incentivized.”If my brother leaves here without my permission, you will answer to me, I told the four of them, and they all looked suitably alert after that.
“Oh, yeah?” Jack’s brow furrows. “Well, I hope they’re happy to die for the cause. If Julian wants out—”
“Julian is not a fucking supervillain,” I say firmly. “And he gave me his word that he would behave himself.” Off Jack’s skeptical look, I add, “He explained what he wanted from me, and I have agreed to give it to him—as long as he follows orders.”
Jack is still wary. “What does he want?”
“That’s between the two of us for now. You’ll find out soon enough. I’m…asking you to trust me, Jack.”
Shifting on his feet, Jack looks away, his eyes searching the room as he tries to find the words he wants.
“Just tell me,” I sigh.
