"You think he'd do that?"
I thought about Julian sitting on that bed at 2am, looking lost and terrified and alone.
"No. But I've been wrong before."
"Keep monitoring him. Let me know if anything changes." Sandro paused. "And Elio? Be careful. I see the way you look when you talk about him. Don't let this become personal."
"It won't."
Another lie. I was getting good at those.
***
That night I went to Julian's room again.
He was reading when I entered. One of the thrillers from the bookshelf. He looked up and marked his place with a finger.
"Is this going to be a nightly thing?" he asked.
"It might be."
"You should bring better conversation then. The reading's getting boring."
I sat down in the chair by the window. Same spot as last night. Same careful distance.
"Tell me about the assault charge."
Julian went pale. The book slipped from his fingers onto the bed.
"How do you know about that?"
"I know everything about everyone who stays here."
"Are you going to use it against me?"
"No. I just want to understand who you are."
Julian was quiet for a long moment. His hands twisted together in his lap—the first sign of nerves I'd seen from him since he'd walked into my office yesterday.
"What do you want to know?"
"The truth. All of it."
He took a breath. Let it out slowly. When he spoke, his voice was steady but empty of emotion.
"My fiancé tried to rape me. I was sixteen. We were at a family dinner at his house. His parents left us alone in his room to 'get to know each other better.' He pushed me onto the bed. Told me I needed to learn what he liked. That I was his and he could do what he wanted." Julian's jaw clenched. "I fought back. Broke his jaw. Cracked his ribs. Gave him a concussion when his head hit the nightstand."
"Good."
Julian looked up. Surprise flickered across his face.
"Good?"
"You defended yourself. That's not a crime. That's survival."
"My father didn't see it that way. He said I'd caused trouble. Embarrassed the family. Damaged an important alliance. The Carusos demanded compensation. My father paid them off and had the charges dropped. Then he told me the engagement would continue once Dante recovered. That I'd learn to behave properly." Julian's voice was hollow. "That's when I knew I'd never be safe in my family. I started planning my escape that day."
Five years. Julian had spent five years planning this. Five years living with the knowledge that his father would force him to marry the man who'd tried to rape him.
