Cemetery Boys(74)

Julian stood off to his brother’s side, a gray-and-black plaid shirt balled up in his hands. He watched his brother with dark, smoldering eyes. “I just make his life more difficult. He’s better off.”

Yadriel clenched his jaw. He wanted to knock some sense into both Julian and Rio.

“The cops haven’t come by at all?” Yadriel ventured, trying to steer the conversation toward something that would help them find not only Julian, but Miguel, too.

Luca’s hand froze, a heaping forkful of cake inches from his mouth.

“No.” Rio’s forehead wrinkled. “Why would the cops come by?”

“He’s missing, so shouldn’t we go to the police?” Luca jumped in, his cheeks burning red.

Rio sighed deeply and rubbed his temple. “He’s not missing, Luca, he ran away.” He let out a short, bitter laugh. “He didn’t even tell us he was leaving,” Rio added, expression stormy.

Julian turned away from his brother, wringing the plaid shirt in his hands. His ears were turning red. The hurt was written on every tense muscle in his face, shoulders, and arms.

Anger sparked in Yadriel, and he clenched his fists, his fingernails pressing into his palms. He’d only known Julian a couple of days, but even he knew there was no way Julian would run away from his friends—his family. He wanted to yell at Rio, to tell him he was so entirely wrong.

Luca put down his fork and shook his head, sending his shaggy hair sweeping back and forth. “No, he—”

“Luca.” Rio’s voice was firm. “He doesn’t care.”

Julian flinched, twisting away from Yadriel, but it was impossible to miss his pained expression, or the shine in his dark eyes.

The spark in Yadriel flared.

“If that’s what you think, then you really don’t know Julian at all,” Yadriel said, the words flying from his mouth before he could stop himself.

All three of them turned to stare at him.

Julian blinked at Yadriel, surprised.

Rio’s stare was stony and unforgiving. Luca looked between him and Yadriel anxiously.

“You think you know him better?” Rio asked. “I’ve never even seen you before. I’ve known him his whole life,” he said, tapping a finger against his chest. “I kept him off the streets and raised him ever since—”

“Apparently!” Yadriel cut him off, forcing himself to stand his ground even though he was incredibly intimidated by Rio. “If you really think Julian doesn’t care about you all, then yeah, I do know him better!”

Julian openly gaped.

Rio straightened. “You—”

But Yadriel refused to let him talk. He wasn’t thinking about protecting his own secret, he just wanted to make Rio see how stupid he was being, how hurtful his words were. “Maybe he’s got a short temper and makes stupid decisions sometimes,” he went on. “But you should know that Julian wouldn’t leave you all unless there was something keeping him from coming back!”

Rio eyes grew sharp with distrust. “Who are you?” he said—an order, not a request.

“What if something happened to Julian?” Luca said to Rio, his chin wobbling.

“What are you talking about?” Rio asked, but Luca turned away, refusing to look him in the eye. Instead, Rio looked at Yadriel.

He couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t make Rio even more suspicious, or, worse, alarm him. Sensing his hesitation, Rio stood bolt upright.

“What happened?” His eyes shot between Yadriel and Luca.

“Don’t.”

The sharp word yanked Yadriel’s attention back to Julian. He stood there, the shirt twisted around his wrists like a rope.

“Don’t tell him,” Julian said.

Quickly, Yadriel looked away from him. He couldn’t draw Rio’s attention to Julian, or he’d see the shirt hovering in midair.

“Luca,” Yadriel said in warning, giving a quick shake of his head. Yadriel had promised not to out him, and he wouldn’t.

Luca tucked his chin to his chest, his cheeks burning bright red.

Rio’s tired expression had vanished. He was alert and protective as he stepped between Yadriel and Luca. “What do you want? And why did you drag Luca into whatever the hell this is?” Rio barked.

Yadriel’s heart thudded in the pulse of his neck. “I—I—” he stammered.

“But, Rio,” Luca interrupted, panic tightening his voice. “What if—”

“Luca.” Rio took a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips. He sank into a squat beside Luca so they were eye to eye. He gave Luca’s shoulder a squeeze. “He ran away.”

Yadriel felt the cold washing off Julian in waves. Under it was a palpable ache.

Rio’s voice was strange when he spoke, like he was trying to sound comforting but didn’t know how. “If he doesn’t want to be a part of this family anymore, then we need to let him go, okay?”

It happened in a blink of an eye. Yadriel was the only one who saw Julian bolt.

But they all heard his foot slam into the door, leaving a third hole. It flung open, clattering against the railing. As Julian stormed out, a gust of icy wind whipped in, sending papers flying.

Everyone jumped. Luca flinched. Rio was on his feet immediately.