CASSIAN
"What did Emilio do?" he asked. His voice was different now. He was demanding an answer.
"It doesn't matter now," I said.
"It does," he whispered. "Because you threw a file at the wall, and you never do that. Tell me."
I looked at him for a long time. "What did he do?" I asked back. I made it a demand of my own. I was going to be patient until I got the truth.
Julian went silent. He was deciding if he could tell me without the world ending.
"He tried to—" He stopped and started again, his voice even smaller.
"Outside. While you were with his father. He found me and kept bothering me. I tried to ignore him at first and even tried to leave but then he grabbed me... Without warning."
Julian paused again, exhaling deeply.
"He had men with him. They just watched. None of them moved. So I handled it myself."
A cold, hard rage started to bloom in my chest. It was slow and complete.
"I got away," Julian said quickly, seeing my face. "I'm fine, Cassian. Really."
