Page 43 of His Juliet

“They’ll both be fine. The doctor says everything’s looking good, right?” Matteo had insisted the doctor make daily house visits to check on Sofiya, going so far as to purchase his own ultrasound machine to ensure the baby was doing well.

He gave a jerky nod. “But what if they’re wrong?”

“You’ve got her the best medical team around. I guess this is when you just have to trust.”

“Not my strong suit.”

“No kidding. When do you want me in Chicago?”

“Tonight.”

Shit. That would mean missing my pizza date with Juliet.

“Unless there’s something else you have to do?” He steepled his fingers together, his gaze piercing.

My heart pounded in my chest. “What do you mean?”

He said nothing. An uncomfortable silence stretched between us until I broke.

“How the fuck did you find out?”

“I know everything.”

“But—”

Matteo rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Romeo, I know you. You’ve been smiling at your phone in meetings. Sneaking away at weird times. And then I overheard Sofiya and Sienna talking about a bookstore they visited.”

“What?” I snapped.

“Yes, and the lovely bookstore owner they met. Did you think you were going to be able to keep this hidden from them? From me?” Matteo’s voice grew louder, and I swallowed hard. I didn’t like keeping things from my brother, but it was dangerous to keep things from my Don. Our relationship demanded complete honesty and trust. I had broken that by keeping Juliet secret.

“So, who is she?” he asked.

“Her name’s Juliet,” I answered immediately. “She manages the bookstore where I hid from the Butcher.”

“She was there with you?”

I nodded. “We spent the night together.”

Matteo’s eyebrows shot up.

“Not like that,” I said with a huff. “We were both stuck there, so we talked.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “And what is she to you?”

That was the fucking question of the century, wasn’t it?

“We’re friends,” I finally said.

“Friends,” Matteo repeated dryly.

“Yes.”

“Since when do you have friends?”

“I’m not the antisocial one in this room.”

“You know what I mean. I’ve never known you to have a friend outside the Family, and certainly not a woman.”

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