Chapter 135
Evelyn's POV
Julian's gray eyes blazed with fierce protectiveness.
"Evelyn, I would have helped you. If you'd let me in, if you'd trusted me enough to tell me the truth, I would have helped you hunt every last one of them down. Would have made sure they suffered for what they did. But you didn't trust me. You kept pushing me away, kept trying to handle it all on your own because you're convinced that needing help makes you weak."
The tears finally spilled over. Hot tracks down my cheeks that I couldn't stop.
"I don't know how to be anything else," I admitted. "I don't know how to trust someone enough to—"
"Then learn," Julian said fiercely. "Learn to trust me. Learn to let me in. I'm not asking you to be perfect, Evelyn. I'm not asking you to have all the answers or to magically stop being afraid. I'm just asking you to stop running. To give us a chance to figure this out together instead of trying to carry everything alone."
Julian paused.
"I already looked into Reeves," he said quietly. "Your mother's case—it's old. Hard to build a murder charge after all these years. But the bastard's been busy since then. Fraud, extortion, a few assault charges that got buried with the right payoffs."
His voice turned cold. Clinical.
"I've got enough to put him away for fifteen, maybe twenty years. My lawyers are putting together the evidence package now. Should have it ready to hand over to the DA by end of week."
I stared at him. My mind struggling to process what he was saying.
"And if that's not enough," Julian continued, his tone utterly matter-of-fact, "if you need him to suffer more than what the justice system can provide—I can arrange for things to happen to him in prison. Make sure his time inside is particularly unpleasant."
He said it so casually. Like he was offering to pick up dry cleaning instead of orchestrating violence against a man who'd helped destroy my mother.
"You did this for me?" I asked.
Julian looked at me like I'd just asked if water was wet. "No. I'm planning to run for president. Figured I needed a high-profile case to boost my approval ratings."
His tone was so dry, so matter-of-fact, that for a split second I actually wondered if he was serious.
Then I caught the way his eyebrow arched slightly. The faint exasperation in his gray eyes that seemed to say are you really still asking me this?
Like the idea that he'd do anything this significant for any reason other than me was genuinely baffling to him.
"You're being an ass," I said, but I couldn't quite keep the smile out of my voice.
"And you're being deliberately obtuse." Julian's expression softened slightly, though the hint of wounded pride remained. "Yes, I did it for you. I'd do a hell of a lot worse than putting some bastard in prison if it meant giving you peace. So stop asking questions you already know the answer to."
The words hit me harder than any declaration of love could have.
Because he was right. I did know. Had known from the moment he'd walked back into my apartment after I'd pushed him away. Had known from the way he'd saved Adrian without hesitation despite his own feelings.
I'd just been too afraid to believe it.
"I love you," I said.
Simple. Direct. No qualifications or explanations or desperate attempts to articulate my fear.
Just the truth.
Julian went very still. His gray eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made my breath catch.
"Say that again," he said quietly.
"I love you," I repeated. Steadier this time. More certain. "I'm in love with you. And I'm sorry it took me so long to say it. Sorry I pushed you away when you were trying to help. Sorry I—"
He kissed me before I could finish the apology.
His mouth claimed mine with a desperate intensity that stole my breath. His hands slid from my face to my waist, pulling me against him hard enough to hurt.
I went willingly. My arms wrapped around his neck as I kissed him back with everything I had.
Pouring five years of loneliness and fear and desperate need into this one moment of connection.
Trying to show him with my body what I couldn't quite articulate with words.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Julian rested his forehead against mine. His hands were still tight on my waist like he was afraid I'd disappear if he let go.
"I love you too," he said roughly. "In case that wasn't obvious. I've loved you since the first night I saw you. Since I realized that under all that careful control and perfect manners, you were just as fucked up and dangerous as I am."
His thumb traced circles on my hip. The gesture was unconsciously soothing.
"And I know you're scared. I know trusting someone goes against every survival instinct you've developed. But Evelyn—"
He pulled back slightly. His gray eyes met mine with fierce determination.
"I'm not going anywhere. You can push me away, you can say cruel things, you can try every trick in your arsenal to make me leave. But I'm not leaving. Not unless you look me in the eye and tell me honestly that you don't want me. That you don't love me. And even then—"
His voice turned wry.
"Even then I'd probably stick around just to make sure you're okay."
A laugh bubbled up in my throat, surprising us both.
"That's incredibly unhealthy," I pointed out.
"Yeah, well." Julian's mouth quirked in a half-smile. "We're both incredibly unhealthy people. Might as well be unhealthy together."
"Take me home," I said quietly.
"Your place or mine?"
I thought about my Tribeca apartment—the carefully curated space that had never quite felt like home, the empty rooms that echoed with loneliness.
Then I thought about Julian's penthouse. The floor-to-ceiling windows. The cat that had learned to trust him. The sense of safety I'd felt there.
"Yours," I decided. "If that's okay."
"More than okay," Julian murmured against my hair. "I'll make you dinner. We'll feed Ghost. And then—"
His voice turned rough with promise.
"Then I'm going to spend the rest of the night reminding you exactly why pushing me away is a terrible idea."
I tilted my head back to look at him. A smile tugged at my lips despite everything.
"Is that a threat or a promise?"
"Both," Julian said, and kissed me.