“You won’t get away with this,” I muttered, voice shaking. “Julian will find me.”
“I’m sure he will. But not for hours,” he said. “These little cells are everywhere beneath the estate. Hundreds of them.”
As he spoke, he rose from the stool and stepped closer. I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut as if that could somehow protect me from him.
“It’s okay,” he said softly. “I just wanted to give you this.”
I opened my eyes to see a tissue in his hand.
“Some saliva dripped onto your chin when you were passed out,” he went on. “I thought you might want to wipe your face.”
I kept staring at him, refusing to move. This was some sort of trick. As soon as I tried to accept the tissue, he’d probably grab my wrist, twist it, and pin it behind me on the wall. A power play to show me that he was in charge here.
He sighed. “I’m not going to hurt you, Violet.”
“You can’t seriously expect me to believe that,” I said in a low voice.
“I know how it looks, with me drugging you and all, but it ends there, I swear,” he said, lifting a palm. “I didn’t want to do it. Ihadto.”
“Isn’t that what all abusers say?” I shot back, my voice sharp despite the tremor in it. “Look what you made me do?”
“This isn’t like that,” he replied, head shaking. “I had to do it because I had to get you alone somehow, and I knew you’d never come willingly because… well, you clearly hate me. Knocking you out was the only thing I could think of on such short notice.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why did you need to get me alone?”
“So we could talk,” he said calmly. “There’s a lot that needs to be said between us. But I knew you wouldn’t agree to a conversation with me up there in your room, and I knew Julian wouldn’t let me be alone with you, either.”
“You want totalk?” I asked, eyes widening in disbelief.
“Yes. That’s all. I swear, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“If that’s true, then why wouldn’t Julian let you do it?”
He hesitated. “We had an argument earlier, and things got… heated. We both said things we probably didn’t mean, and I also learned a few things about the two of you that made me realize just how far he’d go to keep you safe. And so…” He paused, lifting his hands to gesture around the cell. “This is how it has to be. For now.”
“So you really just want to talk,” I said disbelievingly.
“I also wanted to ask for your help.”
I blinked. “Myhelp?” I said, unsure if I’d heard him correctly.
“Yes.” Roman nodded, jaw tightening. “I think you might be able to help me find Calista’s killer.”
I barked out a humorless laugh. “Sure, I can totally help you with that,” I said. “Go upstairs and look in a fucking mirror.”
He exhaled heavily, rubbing his temple. “I know what certain people think of me. What they’ve been saying,” he muttered. “My fellow members in the Club assumed it was me too. That’s why they went so hard covering it up, because it’s their imperative to defend me even if they think I’m guilty. Julian’s the only one who ever believed me when I told him I didn’t do it.”
“Of course he believed you,” I snapped. “He’s your brother. It doesn’t make him right.”
Roman looked at me steadily. “I didn’t kill Cal, Violet,” he said. “I never would’ve hurt her. Not in a million years. You have to believe me when I say that.”
I scoffed. “Why the hell would I ever believe a single word you say?”
“Because I loved her!” he said, voice cracking slightly. “Okay? I fuckinglovedher. I would never hurt her. Never!”
I swallowed thickly. “You’re claiming you loved Calista,” I said in a hollow voice. “But you put her name on the List, and you hunted her like an animal. You really call thatlove?”
“It wasn’t like that. I can explain,” he said. He moved a little closer, eyes bright with something that could’ve been grief or obsession. I couldn’t tell which. “I know it’s my fault she died. But I didn’t do it. I swear.”
