Page 107 of His Juliet

I said a reluctant goodbye to Noodle and focused on Sofiya as she walked me through the basics. I’d never held a gun, never had the desire to shoot one, but everything in my life was topsy-turvy now, so I might as well embrace it.

The gun felt heavy in my hand as I took my stance and aimed at the target.

53

ROMEO

I slammedthe car door behind me, my skin crawling with how desperate I was to get to Juliet. I was too impatient to wait for the elevator, so I flew up the two flights of stairs from the garage to the gun range.

Angelo had said they were still here and that Juliet was doing well, but I needed to see for myself before my heart would settle.

A few soldiers were practicing at the far end of the range, but I only had eyes for my girl.

My girl, who was standing tall, shooting round after round, looking sexy as fuck.

My cock was already hardening as I approached her. I waited until she was done and had put the safety on before I wrapped my arms around her from behind. She tensed for the briefest moment before relaxing into me. I pressed my face to her hair, breathing in her sweet vanilla scent.

“You look so sexy with that gun.”

She tilted her head back and I rubbed my cheek against hers. She squealed at the roughness of my stubble.

“Thank you,” she said primly. “Sofiya’s been teaching me.”

I pressed the button to return the target paper to see how she did.

“Good work.” None of the holes had hit the center, but some were close, and all had hit the paper.

“She’ll be a pro in no time,” Sofiya said. Her expression transformed as she caught sight of something behind me. Matteo was striding towards his wife, wearing a fierce expression. Although, the baby in his arms—wearing a donut onesie and pink noise-canceling headphones—undermined how intimidating he was.

Sofiya squealed and held her arms out. Matteo transferred baby Clementine into her arms with careful, gentle movements. The kiss he gave Sofiya was anything but gentle.

I took the gun from Juliet and set it to the side before gathering her to my chest. I gripped her chin, my thumb brushing across her lower lip. “That’s Matteo and Clementine.”

“They’re sweet together.”

I brushed her hair over her shoulder, wrapped my hand around her neck, and did what I’d been dying to do since this morning. My lips crashed against hers and the little noise she made—something between a gasp and a moan—turned me the fuck on. I grabbed her ass, squeezing hard as I pressed her against my cock.

“I’m so proud of you. My brave girl.” She leaned into my touch, her dazed eyes meeting mine.

“Noodle helped,” she said hoarsely.

“Good.”

Juliet wrapped her arms around my neck. Her movements were still hesitant, like she thought I might push her away. Instead, I crushed her to my chest.

“I missed you.” Her whispered words cracked my heart wide open.

I cupped her ass and picked her up. Her arms and legs went around me, holding tight. “Let’s go home.”

She waved at the others as I carried her out of the room.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” Sofiya shouted.

“Tomorrow?” I asked, pressing the elevator button. Juliet buried her face into my neck, her eyes squeezed shut and fingers twisted in my suit jacket.

“Sofiya said you and Matteo will be gone all day, so she invited me over.” Her hold on me tightened and she let out a scared whine as I stepped into the elevator.

“You’re okay,” I murmured, my hand going to the back of her head. I hated her fear. Wanted to destroy it. I didn’t know how to best help her, so I just kept talking to distract her. “Matteo and I have meetings all day, but we’ll be in the city if you need anything. The Chicago alliance went through, so we’re working with them.”

---