Page 172 of Dark Romeo

My father bristled. “So it was okay for Roman to kill him?”

“No, I just mean…” What did I mean? This gray brand of justice was never going to rest easy with my father, with the law. Espo had killed Mercutio, an innocent. In turn he was killed. An eye for an eye. It was a clean brand of justice. “Roman doesn’t deserve to go to jail.”

“He killed your goddamn partner, so why are you protecting him?”

My shoulders sagged as tears sprang to my eyes. I was never going to get through to him.

My father grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “Tell me the truth or I swear to God I will have your badge.” His voice boomed out through the hospital corridor. Several nurses and orderlies gasped. I felt all eyes focused on our public display. My face flamed with heat. So much for keeping up appearances. “I’ll arrest you myself for obstruction of justice.”

My stomach twisted. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

I pushed his hands off me. My father hated the Tyrells so much it made him demented. It was like my father pinned all the world’s faults at the feet of the Tyrells. He gave evil a name, a pulse, so it’d be easier to pull down. He couldn’t see, blinded by his prejudice, that the world was more shaded than pure black and white.

He shook his head as he paced in front of me. “My own fucking daughter. What does he have on you, huh? What does Roman Tyrell have on you?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why won’t you speak up against him? Are you afraid of him?”

“No.”

“I can protect you. The system will protect you.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand.”

“He saved me from those attackers. He stopped them from raping me.”

“He what?”

“You see, he’s good. He’s a good man. He’s caring and…”

My father stared at me like he didn’t even know me. “I can’t believe it.”

“I love him.” It came tumbling out.

There, I said it. I spoke the words. Now I couldn’t take them back. I chose where I stood. I would not falter.

“You…what?”

I gripped on to the sides of my pants for strength. “I’m in love with Roman.”

“N-No.” My father staggered back from me.

I stepped towards him, reaching for him, pleading with him. “I love him because I know the real him. If you just took the time to get to know him, you’d see what I see.”

My father’s wide eyes locked on mine. For a second I thought I had gotten through to him. For a single sweet second my two worlds met and coexisted.

His lips curled into a snarl. And my fantasy was shattered. “You don’t love him, you only think you do. And he doesn’t love you, he’s playing you, you stupid little girl.”

“That’s not true.”

“How do you know he didn’t hire those men himself to attack you so that he could swoop in and play the hero?”

His words slapped me hard across my face.

---