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The others are all just as incriminating.
“I can explain.”
“Explain?” Sandro gives a disbelieving laugh. “I trusted you, Julian. I stayed my hand when the Family was baying for your blood. I gave you everything you asked for regarding your mother’s death. I even let you and Jack talk me into some ridiculous scheme. And this is how you repay me? By betraying me? Lying to me? Causing a war with another Family?”
I stare at him. “But surely you don’t think I did this?” I gesture at the pictures.
Sandro’s face is unreadable. “Did you or did you not kill Vincenzo Esposito?”
“Of course I didn’t!”
Sandro stares at me for a long time, and then at the photographs. “I’m sorry, Julian,” he says softly. “But this time, I do not believe you.”
I can’t blame him. Whowouldbelieve me? Vincenzo and I, ex-lovers, were seen having an argument that very night at The Cellar.
“You don’t understand,” I say mechanically.
But Sandro shakes his head. “Youdon’t understand. These pictures were sent not to me, but to the Espositos. Anna-Vittoria is the one who sent them on to me, with a note. A note detailing exactly what she plans to do about this. You have become a liability, Julian.”
“I didn’t do it!” I insist.
But Sandro doesn’t even listen. “You will go back to the cells while I decide what to do with you.”
I take a step toward him, but Pedretti moves forward and takes my arm.
“No,” I say again, but this time with more desperation than before. “I would never move against an Esposito without your explicit instruction—take your hands off me,” I snarl at Pedretti, breaking free of his grip. “If you touch me again, I’ll pull out your fucking voice box.”
Pedretti gives me a reproachful frown. “I’m just doing my job. Come on, now. You heard the Boss.”
“No.” I pull away again, and raise my voice. “Fine, Sandro. You want your villain, you can have him. Ididkill Vincenzo. I was tired of him following me around with those puppy dog eyes, so I pulled them out. Is that what you want to hear?”
For the first time, I see a hint of doubt in Sandro’s face. “I told you what I want to hear. The truth.”
I slam a hand down on the photographs. “Look at these.Reallylook. There’s not a single drop of blood on me in these photographs. Not evenIcould kill a man the way Vincenzo was killed without running up a considerable dry cleaning bill.”
I see, with relief, that Sandro is considering my words as he looks at the photos again. “I do take your point,” he admits. But then he keeps going. “I will call Jack in to look at these as well. See what he thinks. But in the meantime, I want to make sure I know where you are.”
“You will not put me down in those cells again, brother. Not while I’m breathing.”
He looks me over. I’m a hot mess right now, which doesn’t help. Ilooklike the kind of person who might have randomly murdered the Esposito Enforcer in an alleyway.
“Pedretti,” Sandro says, “stand down.”
“I can take him, Boss.”
“Come and try,” I hiss at him. “It’s about time you learned a few new tricks, old dog.”
“Hey, now,” he protests. “There’s no call to be rude.”
“Enough,” Sandro snaps. “I don’t want any more blood spilled in this house. Julian, I will not put you in the cells. But youwillbe confined to your rooms until I have sorted this out.”
My visceral reaction against his suggestion surprises me, since I spend so much of my time in my wing of the house anyway. “No,” I tell him. “I will not be imprisoned by you, and certainly not unjustly. Cells or splendor are the same damn thing if I’m not free to come and go.”
Sandro takes a step around the desk, intentions clear even before he speaks, dangerously calm. “I will take you there myself.”
“If you come any closer, I will kill Pedretti first, and then you, and then anyone else who tries to stop me leaving this house.”
Sandro shakes his head slowly. “I have already done more for you than I would for any other man in this Family. Now you need to give me something back. You have my word that I will be fair.”
