I fished in my purse for my keys, and Julian’s fingers briefly closed around mine as he took them from me. Then he gently pulled me away from the wall. My shoulder protested, but I bit back the wince.
“Your car?” he asked.
“It’s the blue Civic,” I said. “But… wait. What about him? Should we call 911?”
As I spoke, I gestured to Kane. He was still breathing—I could see his back rising and falling—but he was completely out.
“I’ll take care of him when I come back for my car,” Julian said. He reached for my hand again, lips curving in a ghost of a smile. “Come on, Violet. Let’s go.”
The sound of my name on his lips sent a shiver down my spine, and I let him take my hand, like an automaton with no choice.
We reached my car, and he opened the passenger door, waiting. The interior light cast a soft glow across his features, and I could see something flickering in his eyes. Something I couldn’t quite place.
"Go on," he said, his voice lower now. Almost gentle. “Get in.”
I did as he said, and he closed the door with a soft click and walked around to the driver's side. As he adjusted the seat and mirrors with practiced ease, I watched his profile in thedim light. The sharp line of his jaw. The controlled set of his shoulders.
The engine roared to life, and as I sat beside him, heart racing, I couldn’t quite tell if I’d just been rescued… or claimed.
14
Violet
Julian pulledinto a parking spot near my dorm building and killed the engine. The sudden silence in the car felt deafening after the low hum of the drive; five minutes where neither of us had spoken, the air thick with unasked questions.
He got out, walking around to open my door before I could reach for the handle myself. I took his offered hand and let him pull me out, but I dropped it as soon as I was upright.
We didn't speak as we crossed the parking lot and headed down the dimly lit walkway outside the Athena building. My pulse drummed loudly in my ears; a restless, traitorous rhythm.
What was I doing? Why was I letting Julian Valcourt walk me back to my room?
Because he saved you, a voice whispered in my head.Because he stopped Kane.And because, despite everything you think you know about him, you're notafraid of him right now.
Except… I knew better. Julian Valcourt wasn’t a safe person. He was one ofthem; the secretive brotherhood that was involved in my sister’s death. He might’ve even participated in the coverup. Mightstillbe helping out with it, in fact, if my earlier suspicions were correct.
We finally stopped at my door, and I forced a small, polite smile. “Thanks for helping me,” I said softly.
“Can I come in for a minute?” he asked.
I blinked. “Why?”
He gestured to my upper body. “I want to take a look at your back so I can figure out if you’ll need to go to a doctor. But it’s too dark out here to see properly.”
My breath caught in my throat. “It's fine. Really, it only hurts a little—”
“Violet.” He cut me off, the intensity in his gaze pinning me in place. “Let me see it. If it's just bruised, fine. But if you need medical attention, I'm taking you to the med center.”
I swallowed hard. There was something strange in his voice. Concern, yes, but something darker too. Something possessive. Like the thought of me being hurt and not telling him about it was simply unacceptable.
Every instinct screamed for me to say no to him, but the idea of doing that suddenly felt a lot harder than it should’ve. He’d helped me out tonight, and now he was offering even more help, so if I just said, ‘No thanks, bye’, it would come across like a metaphorical slap in the face to him.
Then again, that was how so many women got in trouble, wasn’t it? We were conditioned from an early age to do absolutely anything to avoid being seen as rude, and sometimes we ended up in awful situations with men as a result.
Julian must’ve sensed my hesitation, because his face softened, and he lifted a palm. “Look, I just want to make sure you’re okay. That’s all. I’m not like that asshole Kane.”
Finally, I nodded. If he actually wanted to hurt me, he'd already had plenty of opportunities tonight. In the parking lot. In my car. But he hadn’t. All he’d done was help. And that told me I could trust him… for now.
I unlocked my door, and we stepped inside my dorm. It was exactly as I'd left it this morning. Textbooks scattered across my desk, bed half-made, the faint scent of my coconut body lotion still lingering in the air. No evidence of a stalker having invaded my privacy again.
