“Pretty sure we got caught the last time,” I reminded him.
He closed the door and went out into the living room with the other guys.
After a few minutes, I heard the sound of the front door being busted in. Then it was followed by the sounds of fighting. I didn’t want to stay hidden, I wanted to go out and help. But I knew that if I did, the guys would be more focused on protecting me and less focused on fighting.
So, I stayed put.
It seemed like forever until the sounds of the fighting started to lessen, and then there was no sound at all. I waited to see if there would be footsteps searching the house, but there was no noise. When the guys didn’t come back to get me, I feared the worst. Slowly and quietly, I got out of the closet and walked along the hallway toward the living room.
There were bodies of men strewn all over the floor, at least four, maybe five or six. Some had kitchen knives still stuck in their chests, and others just looked like they’d gotten the shit beat out of them. No one seemed to be moving. I walked around quickly until I saw Julian first, then Adam and Michael lying near each other. They were all breathing, thank god, and Julian was the first one to open his eyes.
I hugged him, and my eyes welled with tears.
He groaned as he sat up and then got to his feet.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’ll live.” He looked around the room. “How are the other two?”
Adam grunted. “I’m alive, but not really awake.”
Michael only groaned, though. No words came forth from his lips.
“I’m going to take care of all these bodies,” Julian said as he waved his hand around the apartment toward the Lineage men that had come to kill us. “You take care of Adam and Michael.”
“What are you going to do with them?” I asked.
Julian scoffed. “I’m going to drag them all outside, kill the ones that aren’t already dead, and bury them in a big hole so that no one finds them.”
I literally almost threw-up when I heard what he said.
Then, Julian’s eyes met mine in a dark, hazy gaze I’d never seen before on his face. “You aren’t the only one with a dark side, Lisette.”
I was pretty sure Julian was trying to bring a bit of humor to the morbid situation, but it was way too real and disturbing to be funny, especially with that look in his eyes. I tried not to watch as he started dragging the bodies out the front door. It was a good thing that his apartment was so far toward the edge of the campus, or else it would be difficult to explain the fucked up situation happening.
I sat on the floor between Michael and Adam until they both woke up. Then I helped Adam on to the couch, and Michael back into Julian’s bed since he was beaten up the worst. Adam got by with a dislocated shoulder that I had to push back in for him, and a bunch of cuts and bruises. I found some alcohol and peroxide under Julian’s sink, along with some gauze and bandages, and cleaned up his wounds as best as I could. Then I brought him some water and leaned him back against the couch to rest.
Michael didn’t fare quite as well. He for sure had a few broken ribs, and there was a cut in his hand that went nearly down to the bone. He might have had a bit of a concussion as well because he kept drifting in and out of consciousness while I was trying to tend his injuries.
“The aquarium was nice,” Michael mumbled in one of his semi-lucid moments.
“Yes,” I said, trying to get him to just be still and rest. “It was.”
He snickered. “I meant the rooftop part.”
I clicked my tongue. “I know what you meant.”
“Not the part where I tried to throw you off the roof, though,” he laughed a little but stopped as soon as the movement of jarring his ribs caused him intense pain.
“Yeah, that part wasn’t so fun,” I agreed. “Now be still, I’m trying to take care of you, and you’re not making it easy.”
“You know what was easy?” he asked.
“What?”
He smiled, as if he were reliving his best dream. “When I made love to you. Making love to you was the easiest, natural, wonderful thing that I have ever done in my whole life. I want to make love to you every single day.”
I smiled at his words and how they warmed my heart.
Then I heard a sound behind me and turned to see Julian standing in the doorway.
17
“Julian, wait!” I called as he turned and stormed away.
I looked back over at Michael but had already fallen asleep again. I got up and started to chase Julian through the apartment. Adam was still asleep on the couch. All of the bodies were gone, so Julian must have finished burying them and then come inside to check on how I was doing. It was the worst possible moment for him to be standing in the doorway and to have heard what Michael just said.
“Julian, stop!” I said as he put his hand on the doorknob to leave. “Please, just let me explain.”
He took his hand off the door and turned around to look at me with a look of anguish on his face.
“What is there for you to explain?” he said. “I have loved you for my entire life. I’ve been there with you every single day without fail. I almost made love to you that night in your dorm, but we waited because it was supposed to be special. And instead, I find out that not only have you slept with someone else but that you chose to sleep with the man who murdered your mother?”
“It’s not what you think,” I said through my sniffles.
“Did you have sex with Michael?” he shouted at me point-blank. “Answer me: yes or no.”
