Page 32 of Born Wicked

“Are we victim blaming now?” Roman growls.

“This is looking dangerously close to libel,” Sylvano warns.

“I also received reports that Sebastian Vincent announced to the majority of his staff that your word was as good as his,” she says, and I see it in her eyes that she thinks this is the smoking gun. “They report that he gave you equal power in that hospital.”

Damn. Sebastian did do that.

“Do you have any paperwork that shows Sebastian giving Juliet legal authority?” Sylvano says, his tone low, a warning. “A man in love may say anything, but until it’s on paper, nothing is binding.”

“A man in love still went before his entire staff and told them they were to listen to Juliet as though she were the owner,” Teresa says, her own voice lowering. “Sebastian Vincent is reported to be serious, intense, and professional. What he does not seem to be is the type to resort to stalking. So, forgive my doubt, Dr. Doe, but I am not sure I buy that as the reason you ended things, not when all that power had been placed at your fingertips. Not when you were frequenting a certain nightclub without your fiancé’s knowledge.”

Her eyes slide over to Roman, and she looks at him intently.

She thinks I was cheating on Sebastian with Roman.

“Juliet could end her relationship with Dr. Vincent for any reason,” Sylvano says, bristling at the implications. “No matter what you are implying.”

“But Dr. Doe here has tried to clear her name in his disappearance with unsubstantiated claims about Dr. Vincent’s behavior,” Teresa says, cold and low. “It seems backpedaling is necessary.”

“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Roman growls. “Juliet is cleaning up his messes. She is saving lives. Yet you keep dragging her in here, and who knows who is going to need her while you’re throwing misled accusations.” His tone is rising, and there’s a little alarm that starts going off in the back of my brain. He’s angry. That savage I’ve witnessed before is rising up, ready to terrify all around him. “Juliet is everything Sebastian never could be.” He reaches into his pocket and withdraws his phone. “Your hero worship is a complete joke.”

He pulls up a saved video, and my blood chills when I realize what he’s showing Superintendent Day.

It’s the camera footage from when Sebastian trashed my apartment. On the screen, we see Sebastian going through my computer before he smashes it against a wall. He goes through my bedroom. He returns to the kitchen and proceeds to smash every dish. He tips the fridge over.

“Where are you, Juliet?”he says on the tiny screen in a nearly demonic voice.

“Sometimes people are different behind closed doors than they are in the public eye,” Roman says darkly.

My insides are tight. My hands want to shake and probably would if I were human. Watching that video the first time was horrific. It was terrifying. Seeing it again…

The video ends, and Roman slips his phone back into his pocket. He’s breathing hard, his eyes intense as he stares at the Superintendent.

Teresa sits there in silence for an entire minute. I can see the gears in her head spinning.

On paper, I should be the guilty party on every front. Her gut tells her I have something to do with his disappearance. But now that she’s seen the evidence of what he was really like, now that she’s seen that I wasn’t lying about his scary behavior… now what?

“You say his behavior had been going on like this for a while?” she asks. Her eyes don’t quite meet mine.

I nod. “It was a few days before this that I found out he had paid someone to follow me at all hours. I couldn’t go back to my apartment after that. I was too scared to tell him where I was.”

“And where did you go?” she asks.

Neither Roman nor I say anything immediately. I try not to, but my eyes shift over to Roman’s, and Teresa doesn’t miss it.

“Juliet and I might not have gotten along for most of the time we’ve known each other,” Roman says, being very careful with his words. “But I wasn’t going to let Sebastian do something stupid. I told Juliet she could come stay with me.”

Too many people are beginning to think that Roman and I were having an affair. Sebastian believed so, and he killed Roman for it. Superintendent Day now fully assumes it.

Roman was wise to point out that we couldn’t stand each other in the beginning. But him getting so angry and protective just a few minutes ago? It’s not going to help anything.

“And what was your relationship with Dr. Vincent like, Mr. De Luca?” she asks, fixing him with her eyes.

Roman’s gaze hardens. “We were associates. We weren’t friends. But I wouldn’t have called us enemies either.”

“Wouldn’t have, past tense,” Teresa points out.

“You need to stop leading this investigation based on assumption, Superintendent Day,” Sylvano says. “Good police work is based on facts and proof. Unless you have hard proof, you need to stop harassing my clients, or you’ll be looking at a lawsuit against the Chicago PD.”

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