Page 42 of His Juliet

Uneasy murmurs echoed around the room as the Don’s statement sank in. I eyed the capos. They looked furious, especially Carlo—the two injured men were his. It was essential for us to trust each other, but I wouldn’t be complacent after our enforcer, Domenico, betrayed us last year. His betrayal had put Sofiya and the entire Family at risk. We couldn’t allow other organizations to sense any weakness or they would make an attempt to move into the city.

“I’ve tapped into as many cameras in the city as I can and am running continuous facial recognition software to track the Butcher and the other Albanians we’ve been able to identify. We get glimpses of them, but then they seem to fucking vanish into thin air.” Franco tore at his hair.

“Capos, double the patrols in your domains by tomorrow. Angelo will help you coordinate plans and schedules if needed,” Matteo said.

The capos nodded in assent.

“You’re dismissed. I will send more instructions soon.”

I turned towards the door, ready to take out my aggression on the men in the basement, when Matteo spoke. “Romeo, stay behind.”

Once everyone had left, I turned to my brother. I could speak more freely now that we were alone.

“You should ask for Sienna’s help,” I said. “Franco is good, but for whatever reason, he’s not a match for the Albanians right now.”

“I can’t involve her.”

“I know you want to protect her?—”

“I will not involve her unless it’s our only remaining option. I won’t do anything to jeopardize her safety.” Matteo’s hand slashed through the air in agitation.

I understood where he was coming from, but I still thought he was making a mistake.

“I just don’t understand this,” he said, shaking his head. “The Albanians were supposed to be a fractured mess after I killed Arben. We should have been able to destroy them easily, but now we need more support.”

I scrubbed my hand down my face, dread rising in me as I realized where this was heading.

“I need you to go to Chicago and meet with Dimitri Ivanov,” he said.

Dimitri was Sofiya’s brother and the new head of the Russian Bratva. We had spoken to him on the phone a couple of months ago to cement our alliance, but so far, neither of us had called on the other for backup.

“You want to bring Bratva soldiers into our city?”

“What other option do we have?”

I wished I could think of some brilliant answer, but I had nothing. I was just as infuriated and confused as Matteo. We owned New York. I had fought alongside my brother to win back the city from his corrupt uncle—had sacrificed so much in the fight—and we had held it ever since.

“You really wantmeto be the one to broker this deal?” I thrived off my work as second-in-command precisely because I could bring my brand of chaos to the position. Sitting around in long, tedious meetings to make deals and alliances was my definition of misery. I preferred action. Violence. And leaving New York would mean leaving Juliet. I shifted in my chair, discomfort clawing at my chest at the idea of being hundreds of miles away from her while the Butcher roamed the city.

“There’s no one I trust more than you.” Matteo fixed his steady gaze on me. “Sofiya said she would go with me to Chicago, but she’s just weeks away from delivering and I don’t want anything to stress her or the baby.”

“Can Dimitri come here instead?”

“I asked, but he can’t come in the next couple days because he’s waiting for a diamond shipment.” At my cocked eyebrow, he continued. “He made contacts in the diamond trade while living abroad and wants to bring it here. We spoke yesterday about the Bratva potentially using our trade routes. But this can’t wait until next week. We need to end the Albanians now.”

“Fuck.” I leaned back in my chair with a groan. “More fucking meetings.”

Matteo snorted. “Welcome to my world.”

“You sure you don’t want me to go out and shoot someone?”

“Hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to soon. Hopefully we both will.”

I grinned. “You chafing against your new domestic life, fratello?”

He rolled his eyes. “I just…” He swallowed hard and looked out the window. “I need the baby to be here and for both of them to be safe and healthy. I can’t stand feeling so out of control.”

It was a sign of the trust between us that he was willing to be vulnerable.

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