"I don't care."
"You should care. I'm in a position of power over you. You're vulnerable. Inexperienced. This is exactly the kind of situation where someone gets hurt."
"You're not going to hurt me."
"How do you know that?"
"Because you've been protecting me since the moment I walked through those doors. Because you look at me like I matter. Because you've been trying so hard not to want me that it's been driving you crazy." Julian stepped closer again. Not touching but close enough to make his point. "You're not the kind of person who takes advantage of people, Elio. You're the kind of person who protects them even when it costs you something."
"You don't know me well enough to make that assessment."
"I know you better than you think. I've been watching you for two weeks. Learning how you move. How you think. What makes you careful and what makes you crack." His voice softened. "I know you want this. Want me. And I want you too. That's not taking advantage. That's just two people who want each other."
"You're too young to understand the complications—"
"Stop using my age as an excuse. I'm twenty-one, not sixteen. I'm an adult who can make my own choices. And I'm choosing this. Choosing you."
"Julian—"
My phone buzzed. Loud in the heavy silence.
I pulled it out. Text from Sandro:Need you in my office. Five minutes. Urgent.
The interruption was perfectly timed. Or perfectly terrible, depending on perspective.
"I have to go," I said. "Stefan's expecting you. Don't be late."
I turned and walked away before Julian could respond. Before I could do something even more stupid than kissing him in a hallway.
Behind me, I heard Julian call out: "This isn't over, Elio."
He was right. It wasn't.
But it should be.
***
Sandro's "urgent" matter turned out to be relatively minor—security footage from one of our warehouses showing suspicious activity that needed review. We went through the tapes together, identified the issue, made a plan to address it.
The whole thing took two hours.
Two hours where I should've been focused on security threats and operational concerns.
Two hours where all I could think about was Julian's mouth under mine. The way he'd kissed back with such enthusiasm. The realization that I'd been his first.
His family had controlled every aspect of his life, including denying him the normal experiences most people had by twenty-one. Dating. Relationships. Physical intimacy. All of it had been saved for Dante Caruso, the man who'd tried to rape him at sixteen.
And now Julian was here, safe from that future, finally able to make his own choices.
And his choice was me.
The thought made something dark and possessive flare in my chest. Something I had no business feeling. Something dangerous.
"Elio." Sandro's voice cut through my thoughts. "You're distracted. What's going on?"
"Nothing. Just tired."
"You're never tired. And you're definitely not the kind of distracted where you miss obvious security lapses." He paused the footage. Looked at me directly. "This is about Julian."
