Love Beyond Words (City Lights, #1)(75)

“What happened? I mean, what reason did she give?”

“She wants the writing instead of me. And…” he added, hardly audible, “she’s…afraid of me.” His jaw worked for a moment. “She’s afraid I’m violent.”

David opened his eyes wide, aghast. “What? But that’s crazy! You’re the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful—”

“My temper is bad,” Julian said, without hearing. “I told her that I struggled with it, with being hurtful and cutting with words. But I never…I don’t know how it got into her head that it’s worse than it is.”

Yes, I wonder…David stood beside Julian and laid his hand on his shoulder. “What are you going to do?”

Julian’s eyes flickered to David’s hand and back. His tone was dangerously casual. “I’m not sure, David. What do you recommend I do?”

David turned his caress into a hard pat and then withdrew. “I recommend you do what any man would do in this situation, and that is get good and drunk.”

He watched as some of the tension eased out of Julian, his eyes lost their suspicious glint and all that remained was pain. His sank down on the couch and laid his head in his hands.

“It doesn’t make sense. None of it. It’s not her. Something’s happened…”

David sat down on the couch’s arm, resisting the urge to touch Julian again. Julian’s sweater was fine, black cashmere, fitted to his beautiful physique. David loved him in black…

“Sounds like typical, fickle female behavior to me,” he said, and then regretted it. As if I would know. But Julian seemed not to have heard.

“What if she was…mistaken? Listening to bad advice from her friends…?”

David frowned. “Mistaken? Julian, she broke your heart. She accused you of abuse! Abuse that never happened! You can’t reconcile with her.”

“I can’t?” Julian asked from inside his hands.

“Why would you?”

Julian raised his head. He was defeated. The fire of his anger had gone out, and the formidable man was gone. “Because I love her.”

“Sometimes that’s not enough. Or maybe, in this case, it’s too much.”

“What do you mean?”

David kept his gaze straight ahead, speaking in a casual tone, as if his observations were just coming to him off the top of his head and not crafted out of Natalie’s own words.

“Maybe it was all too much for her. Her favorite author is Mendón. She falls for you. You’re Mendón. And then there’s talk of you coming out of seclusion…” David shrugged. “It was probably overwhelming to the poor girl. She was used to such a simple life.”

“If that’s true, then perhaps she just needs time…”

“No,” David said, “I think, maybe, she belongs to her simple life. She belongs in it and wants to keep it. Things were moving very fast for a while there, and even I was worried for you. I mean, the ring? Marriage?”

He watched those words strike Julian a one-two punch.

“You seemed to forget the reasons why you keep Mendón private, how dangerous it could be for you.” He slung his arm around Julian’s shoulders and squeezed in a half hug. “I hate to see you get hurt.”

Julian glanced up. “What danger? You think the world cares whether I’m some…writer?”

“You’re not just some writer. You’re a genius. Young and talented. Brought up in poverty by a single mother. Overcame incredible odds. Yours is a remarkable story, and the world would go crazy to hear it. They wouldn’t leave you alone.” He saw his words were having no effect on Julian. David swallowed and tried a different tact. “Your mother was a wise woman. I’m just thinking about what she would have wanted.”

The icy stare that met this comment could have frozen a desert. Julian slid off the couch and returned to his cross-armed post, staring out of the windows at the magnificent cityscape lit with a million lights. “It’s late,” he said tonelessly. “Go home, David,”

David tripped off the couch, his feet tangling clumsily. “Well, I came over because I have a bit of work to do in the office here…”

“Fine.”

David eased a sigh. “Okay, good. Maybe later you’ll be up for a drink or two.”

Julian said nothing.

“I hope you know I’m here for you should you need me.”

No reply.

He didn’t want to leave but Julian’s wintry silence was pushing him toward his office. “Okay, good night, Julian.”

Julian didn’t move or respond. David was inclined to feel hurt over Julian’s cold shoulder until he remembered his victory that day. He’d won. Natalie was gone and he had Julian all to himself again. All the man needed was time to realize who had always been there for him and who had smashed his heart to pieces. I would never do that to him. Ever.

On his way past the kitchen, he saw Julian’s cell phone on the counter. David snatched it without breaking his stride. In his office, he flung himself on the couch. The gun-wielding unpleasantness with Natalie had left him more drained than he realized. He patted his pocket where the weapon hung heavy next to Natalie’s cell phone. Julian’s cell phone joined it. Another precaution. Not enough, not by a long shot but it would have to do for now. His eyes immediately began to close. The worst was over but he still had a long way to go to keep Julian safe.