Page 68 of Dark Romeo

The knot in my stomach grew. I kicked off my bed sheets. Damn you, Roman Tyrell. Another sleepless night thinking about you. It was too damn hot. I felt like I had a fever.

I got up out of bed and threw open my window, the cool night air like a balm against my burning skin. My fingers traced the window sill. He slipped inside through this very window earlier. My skin prickled as I gazed down the fire escape that Roman had climbed earlier to get to me. Was he down there? Watching me? Was he in the shadows staring back up at me?

I tore myself away from the window and fell back into bed, squeezing my eyes shut and demanding that I sleep.

“My father is a difficult man. My family is…complicated. We have a family business and the politics… The politics are killer. I didn’t want to be a part of it. I wanted to be my own person.”

“That’s very brave of you.”

“Or desperate.”

Could it be true? Did Roman Tyrell have nothing to do with Vinnie’s death? Or was this just what he wanted me to think? Was Roman Tyrell trying to manipulate me?

I recalled the desperation in his voice as he begged me to believe him. “Look past the last name I was given. You know me.”

I sat up in bed, my head spinning. What if… What if the world was wrong? What if the Roman I had met was the real Roman Tyrell? What if he wasn’t the monster everyone thought him to be?

“Thank you… For reminding me which side I’m on.”

Guilt stabbed at my gut. I had made him feel like a criminal tonight. I had to apologize.

Apologize, Julianna, are you nuts? He was still the prime suspect in Vinnie’s murder.

If he’s cleared of Vinnie’s murder, then you can apologize.

I couldn’t apologize. Even if he was cleared. I was a detective, the police chief’s daughter. He was the son of Giovanni Tyrell. I couldn’t apologize to him.

At least not publicly.

Roman and I could never be seen together, even if he were deemed innocent. We could never be friends.

Friends. As if Roman and I could ever just be friends. The ghost of the electricity I felt when he was near me coursed through my veins. Every time we’d gotten near each other we’d almost torn each other's clothes off.

I shook my head. Things were too complicated. My body had a mind of its own when it came to him. I couldn’t trust myself around him. Roman and I had to stay the hell away from each other.

JULIANNA

____________

“Detective Capulet.” The familiar deep voice called me.

I glanced up from my work desk. Police Captain Foster was standing at the doorway to the stairs, his thick eyebrows furrowed over his sharp gray eyes. He was only late forties, but the stress of the job had cut deep grooves into his forehead and dusted his hair with salt and pepper. Captain Foster had been almost like an uncle to me. He and my father had attended the Academy together. They had even been partners at one time.

“Yes, captain?”

“The chief’s office, now.”

Oh my God. My stomach dropped like a stone. Had someone seen Roman leaving my place last night? Had one of the witnesses from Club Luxe recognized me?

This was it. I was caught. What the hell was I going to say to the captain? To my father?

“Capulet?”

“Coming,” I called out automatically.

I pushed away from my desk, my breathing going erratic. Somehow I managed to follow him up the stairs. I felt like I was being led to the principal’s office, everyone turning to stare at me as I walked past, wondering what I did wrong.

I could turn around and run. Disappear. I wouldn’t have to face the consequences of my fated actions. Nor would I have to explain the intimacies I shared with Roman Tyrell.

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