Page 52 of Bound to the Crime Lord

This was a lot to take in. Not only had I just learned that my mother was alive, but now I had a brother who hated me simply because of the sins of our parents.

I took in a large breath, filling my lungs, and took time before I finally released it. I had no idea how to feel. On one hand, Ifinally had all the answers I had been seeking. But on the other hand, I had this whole other mess that I had not anticipated.

I drew the glass to my lips and down the bitter liquor. I felt it travel all the way down my esophagus and settle in my stomach.

I had no idea what to say. My head was spinning, and all I could think about was how was I going to sort this all out without leading to even more blood being spilled.

It had been different when The Triads was merely a nuisance pest that was causing me trouble.

But to know now that it was my brother… My own flesh and blood who hated me for things that were out of my control…

My phone buzzed, drawing me out of reverie.

“Excuse me, Uncle.” I got up from my seat and walked to the living room. My head was still reeling from all the information that had been dropped on me. “Yes, Rigo?”

“Boss… We have a problem.”

My heart stopped.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Juliette POV

“You’re pouting again,” Hilda smirked at me as I handed her the patient chart. “The man has been gone for two days.”

“First of all, I’m not pouting.” I was most certainly pouting. I had been pouting for the past two days since Manuel hopped on his jet and went to Mexico. “Second, I’m allowed to miss my boyfriend. It’s not a crime, now, is it?”

I knew that this was what he had to do for himself and his father. But I hated that he was going alone.

He is not alone, my brain tried to reason with me, but I was too needy right now to think logically.

I pulled my hair into a tight ponytail, trying to busy my hands so I wasn’t just standing doing nothing. “I just didn’t realize how accustomed to his presence I had become.”

I slept in his bed the other night and it felt extremely cold without him. I had even dug my way into his closet and pulled out one of his large hoodies so I could sleep in it.

Was I being weird?

“Can I just say in all my years of knowing you I have never seen you interested in a man of any sort? Who knew it would take a Mafia kingpin to melt away the hard exterior around your heart.” She winked at me and handed the chart to one of the nurses milling around the clinic.

“Shut up,” I glared at her mockingly. “It’s not even that big of a deal.”

“Not a big deal?” She gawked at me. “You literally just called him your boyfriend. You, Juliette Ballard, are dating Manuel Gomez. The Chicago mafia king who has politicians and criminals alike putty in his hands. The man is known to fuck women like dogs, not caress them and profess sweet nothings. This is a huge deal.”

I blushed. “Well, when you put it like that.”

If I was being quite honest, I still didn’t know how I ended up here. I had been adamant that I would not fall in love with this man. I had told myself to only view him as the devil himself. But somewhere between the near-death experiences and the gentleness he handled me with, I had fallen for him.

There were no warning signs or cautionary indicators. One minute I was on solid ground, and the next, I was falling into the great abyss that was Manuel Gomez.

“He makes you happy.” Hilda stared at me knowingly. “You glow from within now.”

“What do you mean?”

She lifted her shoulders and shrugged. “I mean exactly that. You didn’t have this light that you carry now, before. You had this heaviness in your heart due to all the issues with your brother and you having to place him first. But ever since that man walked into your life, you seem so light, like you aren’t carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore. Not that much, at least. As funny as it may sound, the mafia boss gave you a sense of peace for the first time in your life.”

I digested her words for a moment. The longer I mused over them, the more I realized just how true they were.

It was ironic, really, that a man who had brought about so much chaos and unrest in many people’s lives, particularly the authorities, was a source of stability forme.

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