Page 46 of Dark Romeo

The door opened to the right of me. This must be the partner. I turned in my chair to get a glimpse of the poor schmuck. My heart slammed against my chest at the sight of the woman in the doorway. Whiskey-colored eyes of my dreams. Perfect honey-gold hair pulled back into a no-nonsense ponytail, a conservative gray pantsuit covering the most incredible body that I’d ever laid my hands on.

The blood drained from my head.

Julianna was a detective.

Her gaze locked with mine and recognition filled up her widening eyes. Then came the realization.

Even though I had decided to let her go, even though I knew she deserved better than me, I had prayed that somehow, some way, in this city of four million people, that fate would somehow manage to drag her back into my life. But not like this. Not like this.

Julianna was the detective who was about to interrogate me.

Life could not get any fucking worse.

I forced my face into a calm mask. I felt the surface of me crack over as it froze. Underneath I was a whirling, furious current.

Detective Julianna Capulet.

Something in the newspaper clippings my father had sent over for me to read yesterday caught my attention. I hadn’t fucking put it together until now.

Montgomery Capulet was the new chief of police. My family’s enemy number one.

And the woman I couldn’t forget was his only daughter.

JULIANNA

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I hurried down the station corridor to the interrogation room. Espinoza was already in there with our suspect, Roman Tyrell. Espo had given me a rundown of what we knew about him. At twenty-six, he was the youngest son of Giovanni Tyrell. He didn’t have a record. Yet. At least not in this country. He’d been out of the country for the last eight years, no doubt breaking laws somewhere else. Which also meant we didn’t have any recent pictures on file for him. Wasn’t it funny that he had the same first name as my Roman?

I slapped myself internally. Roman Lettiere was not my Roman. I couldn’t think of him as my Roman. I had my chance to run off to Paris with him and I turned him down. He still hadn’t replied to my text. He’d probably hated me. I tried to bat away the sting in my heart.

I had to stop thinking about him. I could barely concentrate on this case. I had to stop replaying our night together at inappropriate times. Like right now. Right now, I was supposed to be in the interrogation room where Espinoza was already waiting alone with the dangerous Roman Tyrell.

I pushed open the door to the interrogation room, ready to break this new Tyrell heir. This is my town, Mr. Tyrell. You’re in for one hell of a wake-up call. I got my first look at Verona’s new Prince of Darkness.

Oh my fucking God.

Sitting in the chair opposite Espo, was Roman. My Roman.

My stupid heart began to beat in my throat at the sight of him. He looked incredible, like a GQ model. The strong body I had memorized with my hands filled out a tailored dark gray Armani suit. His thick dark hair, the hair I yearned to run my hands through again, was slicked back and curling at the collar.

I thought I’d never see him again. Here was the man I’d spent the most incredible twenty-four hours with, the man who I had been mooning over since he’d gone. He was the son of darkness, the heir to the Tyrell throne.

Anger spilled out over the lust rushing through my body. Did he know who I was? Did he screw me for information?

He never asked about my work, not once.

Was this supposed to be some sort of sick joke, then? Did he fuck me as some sort of bet, a prize, something to be bragged about later?

I knew some of the cruder cops had made such wagers when I had first joined the force—who would fuck me first. I wasn’t an idiot. I kept my nose clean and the stupid players soon got bored when they realized I was not here to fuck around, just to do a job and to do it well.

Had Roman played me?

Playboy Mafia prince, Roman Tyrell, fucked the police chief’s daughter and fucked her good.

Our connection had felt real to me. It had all felt real. And his invitation to Paris. Was that a lie as well?

Roman Lettiere was Roman Tyrell. Son of Giovanni Tyrell. The new Prince of Darkness. A criminal.

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