Page 110 of His Juliet

Angelo let out another rich laugh. “The bastard is more than obsessed. I’ve never seen someone so thrilled to receive a punishment from the Don. I swear he swaggered out of the gym like he’d won a prize.”

That got me to look up. “What punishment?”

Angelo’s smile fell off his face and his eyes widened. “Shit.”

Sofiya shot him an angry look, and Sienna swore under her breath. A sick feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. Forget I said anything.” Angelo looked like he was considering leaping off the balcony to exit the conversation.

I turned to Sofiya. “What punishment?”

She gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sure Romeo didn’t tell you because he didn’t want you to get upset.”

A timer went off and she glanced at the oven. “Angelo, can you take the chicken out for me?”

The bodyguard jumped into action, relieved, I was sure, to have something to do.

“You’ve got to understand that Mafia men are not very evolved and think that violence solves everything,” Sofiya said. “When Romeo got the intel that your apartment was being watched, he abandoned the job he was doing for Matteo.”

A cold, sick feeling worked through my stomach. “So Matteo beat him up? That’s how Romeo got injured?”

“The Boss went easy on him,” Angelo said as he put the tray of chicken on a towel on the counter. “There was barely a scratch on him, but he’s the Don and needs to set a precedent with his men that we can’t abandon our posts without consequence.”

I blinked quickly against the burning tears in my eyes and looked down at Clementine. The weight of her in my arms was the only thing grounding me.

“Are you okay, Juliet?” Sofiya’s voice was soft and unsure.

I cleared my throat. “It was more than scratches.” Romeo’s broken nose had given him two black eyes, and his chest and back were covered in yellowing bruises.

Sienna moved and put her arm around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze. “It’s barbaric, I know. It must be so strange when you’re new to our world. If it makes you feel better, I chewed Matteo out when he told me what happened.”

I ran my finger down the bridge of Clementine’s nose. Her skin was so soft and perfect. I kept focusing on her as I breathed in ragged breaths. I didn’t want to be here anymore, and I certainly didn’t want to eat dinner with Matteo.

Just as I was going to make up an excuse to run back to our apartment, the door swung open, revealing Romeo and Matteo. The Don’s eyes went first to his wife and then to the bundle in my arms. He looked torn about who to go to first. In the end, he crossed the room to Sofiya and gathered her in his arms, kissing her on the head. “Where’s your wrist brace, tesoro?”

Sofiya wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to wear it.”

He tipped her head back with a stern expression. “It’s not optional.”

She huffed. “Tyrant. I’ll put it on after dinner.”

He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, which made her cheeks turn red.

“Fine,” she said with a scowl as he pulled away. He gave her a smug smile and lowered her down to the seat of her rollator. This was the man who had beaten Romeo? I couldn’t make sense of this man who ruled the Mafia with an iron fist but was so gentle with his wife and baby.

“It’s nice to see you again, Juliet,” he said as he rounded the island to me. His eyes were soft when he looked down at Clementine. “Hi, piccola.” He reached out to take her, and I lifted her into his arms. She looked comically small against his massive frame.

I swallowed, my throat too tight to form words.

I jumped when Romeo’s hand landed on my shoulder. He frowned and moved in front of me, his body blocking my view of Matteo. “What’s wrong, angel?” His voice was soft and he stroked his knuckles down my cheek, but his bruised face just served as a reminder that he had been hurt because ofme. My chest tightened and I dragged in air like it was filtered through a straw.

Romeo’s arms wrapped around me and he tucked me into his chest. “Talk to me. What happened?”

“I’m so sorry,” Sofiya said. “We didn’t know that she didn’t know about?—”

“The punishment.” Sienna finished her sentence.

Romeo’s hold on me tightened. “Great. Thank you for that.” His voice was harsher than I’d ever heard it, but it gentled when he spoke to me again. “Come here.” He picked me up and my arms and legs automatically wrapped around him. I pressed my face into the crook of his neck, just trying to breathe. I was dizzy with panic and embarrassment at being seen like this by my new friends. Romeo walked into a room with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and shut the door.

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