Page 57 of His Juliet

I got up from the couch. “Just let me know when you’ve wired the money.”

“You’d protect her, Romeo. She deserves the chance to choose if the risk is worth it.”

The door clicked shut behind me, but her words swirled in my mind as I headed back to my apartment.

32

ROMEO

Christmas Day had beenquiet for me since my father died and my mom moved to Italy. Matteo, Sienna, and I usually got Chinese takeout and watched shitty movies. But this year was different now that Matteo was married. Sofiya had never had a happy family Christmas, either, so she’d enlisted us to make today a big celebration. There was food, games, and hideous sweaters she’d made for us.

It should have been a perfect day with my family, but my heart was aching with Juliet’s absence. I’d texted herMerry Christmasa couple of hours ago, and she hadn’t responded. The sun set as we finished dinner, and Sienna had convinced us to play poker. I was losing yet another game because I was too distracted checking my phone. All my excuses for staying away from Juliet, for not even asking what she was doing for Christmas, felt flimsy and idiotic. I didn’t even know if she had anyone to spend the day with. Surely she did? How could someone like Juliet be alone on Christmas?

I pulled up the camera feeds to her building for the hundredth time. She hadn’t left her apartment, and no one had entered. My insistence that this was casual, that I couldn’t let myself get too involved, was biting me in the ass. A sick feeling was rising in my stomach as I realized I’d never heard Juliet talking about having anyone in her life.

“Show your cards,” Sofiya said, and I jolted back to reality.

I didn’t even care that I’d lost again.

We cleared the game off the table and went to the kitchen to grab the desserts Sofiya had made. I returned to the living room in time to hear Matteo swearing loudly as he looked at his phone.

Sofiya was perched on his lap. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Franco just messaged me. The Butcher was spotted in Albania.”

I rounded the table to look at Matteo’s phone.

There he was. The picture was a grainy black and white from a surveillance camera, but it was clearly him. The stronzo who had haunted us the past few months was gone.

My heart raced. We’d driven the Butcher from the city, which meant there wasn’t a threat to Juliet anymore. “I need to run an errand.” I was already on my way to the door.

Everyone turned to look at me with confusion.

“An errand?” Sienna asked, eyebrow arched.

I nodded. “It’s been a great Christmas. Thanks, Sofiya, for hosting. I’ll see you all later.”

They shouted after me, but I was already through the front door and into the elevator. I grabbed one of the armored cars from the garage and pulled onto the street. I wove in and out of traffic on my way downtown. There were way too many people out on the road today, and they were all keeping me from Juliet.

I parked in front of her apartment, not caring about the tow sign, and took the stairs two at a time until I was outside her door. It was only then that I realized I hadn’t brought her a gift. Fucking hell. What was wrong with me? Should I leave, get her something, and come back? That might take a while and it was already eight p.m.

The image of her sitting alone on Christmas was too much.

I knocked.

There was a rustle inside. I shifted impatiently as I waited for the door to open. It finally did, revealing a tired-looking Juliet wearing baggy sweatpants and a green sweatshirt with the bookstore’s name. Her red-rimmed eyes widened as she took me in.

“Merry Christmas,” I said.

She opened her mouth and then shut it again before finally speaking. “That’s quite the sweater.”

I looked down, realizing I was still wearing the hideous Christmas sweater Sofiya made me. It was dark green with tinsel glued onto it.

“Just getting into the Christmas spirit.”

She grinned, but her smile fell quickly. “Umm, how are you here? How did you know which apartment was mine? There’s like a hundred units in this building.”

Shit. SHIT.

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