Page 200 of Juliet & Her Romeos

Silvanus’ head snaps to the side, and just for a moment, his eyes close. Blood splatters across the ring. Then Silvanus’ knees buckle, and he collapses to the padded floor.

Groaning, he tries to stand up again, but his whole body is quivering.

Thrilled, I leap to my feet at the same time as Swan does.

Ambrose has won.

He’s done it.

Swan cheers, and Vito whoops wildly.

Ambrose simply places his foot on Silvanus’ chest, keeping him down. “I win,bitch.”

“Wow,” Swan grins, “that was quick. I need to take lessons from Amby to improve my fighting skills. Perhaps, one day I could be as good as my brother.”

“Nobody’s as good as Link, but shit, Amby may be the better boxer.” Vito stares at Ambrose in admiration.

He doesn’t stop kissing Swan and me.

Silvanus, however, spits blood onto the floor.

He turns his head away, sounding resigned and broken in a way that breaks me too. “So, you’ve won…twice. I’m the loser that you want me to be, showed me up to be at school, and my family always said I was. Good for you. So, you wanted me to listen. Fucking talk already.”

My heart aches.

“Amby,” I say, quietly, “can I talk to Silas first?”

Ambrose lifts his foot off Silvanus’ chest. “Fine.”

Ambrose drags off his gloves and hurls them across the ring.

Swan helps me to climb into the ring. Then I walk over to Silvanus, before kneeling next to him.

“I’m sorry.” Silvanus wipes angrily at his split lip. “I tried to free you—”

“Stop.” Gently, I help him to sit up. I capture his gaze. I need him to hear me. “I know that you think I’ve been brainwashed. But I haven’t. Amby didn’t force a bond on me. He isn’t keeping me captive. Can’t you tell that he’s loved? Amby literally saved my life. Look, he could have asked for anything when he won. He could have destroyed you. But instead, he’s trying to heal this feud that was started generations ago.”

“Why?” Silvanus narrows his eyes, which are beginning to puff up and bruise.

“Because there’s no reason for us to live in hate. He loves me, and I was a Cinders. Amby intends to reform how dancers are treated. He wants to change how Betas are forced into academies and make sure that none are abused. But to do that, then weneed others to follow our example. You always treated Betas differently to—"

“Ambrose intends to reform…? An assholeRomeo?” Silvanus twists around to stare up at Ambrose like he’s never seen him before. “Have I traveled through a portal into an alternate reality? How is he the hero, while I’m the villain?”

Ambrose flashes a smile. “I’m no hero but I did win. And that means we’re working together to improve our companies.”

“You’re an Alphahole.” Silvanus’ expression brightens in a way that I haven’t seen since I was a kid. “We’re so similar. You and I should really have fucked and got this tension out of our systems when we were in high school.”

Ambrose looks so disgusted that he’d probably have lost the match, if Silvanus had psyched him out with this talk before it began.

Vito chuckles. “I may be revising my opinion of you, Silas.”

“Hey.” I bat Silvanus’ stomach, and he winces. “Wash your mouth out, cousin. Amby is mine.”

Silvanus pulls off his gloves, before snatching my hand. “It’s been lonely on the ranch without you, Juliet.”

I swallow. “Swan helped me through my time in the academy. It was frightening. But I have a lot to thank all my men for. Why were you trying to take us away from the Romeos?”

“Because they’re your fucking captors,” Silvanus growls. “It was my mission.”

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