Page 165 of Dark Romeo

Espinoza’s blood turned to ice as he listened to what Julianna was about to do. Throwing herself in between the Tyrells and the Veronesis! He knew something had been off with her for the last few months. He should have listened to his gut. He should have gone with her to her apartment for dinner from Ming’s. Now she was acting crazy. Practically suicidal.

He had promised to look out for Capi when they had first been partnered, but he didn’t count on how much he’d grow to like her. She’d practically become like a little sister to him. It wasn’t about his duty anymore. If anything happened to her…

“I’m on my way.” Espo sprinted to the driver’s seat and slammed his foot on the accelerator before his door was even closed. “I won’t let anything happen to her, I swear.”

ROMAN

____________

The present…

They say your life flashes before your eyes during those cold, stark moments just before death. Instead of my life, I saw the faces of those who had been cursed to love me. Proof that the money you wasted or hoarded, the women you fucked, the parties that had you drinking and dancing until dawn meant nothing, reduced to ghosts and ashes before life’s ultimate humbler. I had convinced myself I needed no one. How funny that at the end of it, the ones you have are all that matters.

Bullets chiseled the flimsy crates that I hid behind into splinters. The faces of those who had imprinted onto my soul haunted me like the ghost I would soon become. How clear things were now. I saw every lost chance for me to tell them what they meant to me, shining like fallen gems. I saw how I had pushed them away instead of pulling them closer. Stupid, Roman. If only you hadn’t wasted your time on Earth.

I shot out wildly over the side of the crates. A barrage of bullets was immediately returned. With my back against the crate, my hope running out, I sent out the last messages I wished I’d been able to deliver in person, hoping that somehow my silent thoughts reached them.

My mother. I’m sorry I wasn’t a braver son.

Nonna and Mercutio. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you these last eight years.

And…Julianna. My perfect Julianna, her honey-hair and angel’s soul shining brightly in my mind. My heart twisted with regret most for her.

I’m sorry I hurt you.

I’m sorry I lied.

I’m sorry I couldn’t deserve you.

I’d spent my entire lifetime running away from the people that mattered because I had been afraid to lose them. I would lose them anyway. I almost laughed out loud. Hindsight can be cruel in her clarity.

But no matter. I wouldn’t feel a thing soon. Even my regret would soon be dust and ash.

I fired another shot and crouched back behind the crates. Shit. I was running out of bullets. Only half a dozen left in my last clip. I wasn’t going to hold them off for much longer.

“Police,” a loud female voice commanded from behind me. “Nobody move.”

Bullets start shooting towards this newcomer. I heard a curse from behind me. Then a return fire. For a few terse seconds the lady cop and I fired together at the Veronesis. I almost felt like we were on the same side.

Now that I had backup, I could get off a few more accurate shots. I heard a cry and knew I had managed to hit one of them.

Someone must have called the cops. Or more likely, an unlucky beat cop was patrolling the area and heard the gunfire. You should have called for backup, sweetheart. We’re both dead now.

Headlights suddenly flooded the alleyway from behind Dante. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the ghostly light. A police siren began to wail, the flicker of red and blue lights reflecting off the glass windows. Someone had called the cops. The police car accelerated straight through the alleyway with a squeal of tires.

Dante and his men scattered, running like rats from the sudden attack, just a blur of silhouettes to my eyes. They darted into dark hidden doorways in the abandoned buildings around us.

The car kept gunning forward towards me. Shit! I sprinted aside to the closest doorway in the wall of the alley. The damn thing was locked. Even as I kicked the metal enclosure, it would not yield. I was going to be hit. There wasn’t enough room.

An awful skidding noise tore through my ears as the car braked to a halt, meters from me. The mist swirled up around the headlights. The sirens cut off, the red and blue lights still flickering. The silence was deafening. The driver did not move to get out.

“Hands up where I can see them, Roman,” the lady cop yelled from behind me.

My heart gave out a kick. That voice. The way she spoke my name.

I turned slowly, my breath held in anticipation, my hands in the air. It couldn’t be Julianna. It was just my mind thinking she sounded like Jules, a byproduct of my desire to see her. You’ll see, idiot. You’ll have been busted by a beat cop who looks nothing like Jules.

I squinted through the dark at the lithe figure pointing a gun at me. Julianna Capulet. My stomach turned to lead.

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