Another minute I wasn't there to protect her.
The rage that had been simmering since I found her room empty was threatening to boil over. Roman had crossed a fucking line. Not just by taking Violet, but by making me doubt him. By forcing me to choose between my brother and the woman who'd somehow become everything to me in the span of a few weeks.
I'd chosen her, and I'd choose her every time.
The question now was… what would I do when I found the two of them?
33
Violet
I wipedmy eyes with the back of my hand, my mind racing. If Roman didn't kill Cal, then who did? And why?
I knew I didn’t have any tangible proof of Roman’s innocence; only his word and a very strong feeling that I’d been wrong to doubt him. But there was just too much sorrow in his eyes for any of it to be a lie.
“Roman,” I finally said, my voice hoarse. “I… I believe you. You really did love my sister.”
He lifted his head slowly, his face blotchy and wet with tears. For a long moment, he just stared at me. Then he nodded. “More than anything,” he said. “Now that she’s gone… I feel like I have nothing. I can barely even sleep, because all I can think about is her.”
“I understand,” I murmured.
He dragged a hand across his face, trying to compose himself. “I’ve tried so hard to find out who killed her. To get justice for her. But I’m stuck. Totally fucking stuck,” he said roughly. “I feel like I’m just living the same day, over and over again.”
“I know the feeling,” I said.
He swallowed hard and met my eyes. “So will you help me?” he asked. “Help me find her killer?”
I exhaled heavily, shoulders slumping. “I would if I could. But honestly, Roman, you were my one and only suspect.”
He let out a sigh. “I figured that might be the case when you pulled a knife on me and accused me of killing her earlier,” he said, rubbing his jaw. “I was actually pretty mad about that at first, to be honest. Kneejerk response to always being the suspect, I guess. But then I simmered down a little, and I realized… if I could get you to believe me, we could swap our stories and information. Pool our resources. There are things you might know that I don’t, and vice versa.”
“That’s actually a good point,” I said, nodding slowly. “Like her friends, for example. I’ve been able to talk to them, but you haven’t. Because they all—”
“Hate my fucking guts?”
“Yeah.” My lips pressed into a thin line. “They definitely think you did it.”
“But you don’t. Not anymore. You believe me.”
I nodded again. “I never thought I’d say this, but… yes. I believe you, and I’ll do what I can to help you.” I paused, choosing my next words carefully. “But… I’d like you to help me with a few things too.”
“Anything.” Roman sat up straighter. “Just name it.”
“Well, firstly, I’d like you to tell me why Julian put my name on the List.”
His forehead creased. “I haven’t directly asked him about it, so I can only speculate,” he replied. “But based on the conversation we had today… I think he did it to protect you.”
“Protect me?” My brows shot up. “How? And why?”
“I know how it sounds, but hear me out. When you transferred to BHU, the Council got worried. They thought you might start looking into what happened, and then you’d findout about me and the List. And from there, you might take it to the media. Or put it all online. Get the whole world to start speculating and poking around in Club business. That could be catastrophic for us.”
“Right,” I said, brows knitting.
“They tasked Julian with surveilling you. His job was to report back on your activities. See if their suspicions were correct.”
I knew it.
I’d been right about Julian all along. Hehadbeen trailing me to see if I was looking into Roman and the Club.
