Page 92 of His Juliet

I nodded and turned to leave.

“And Romeo? I’d like to meet Juliet sometime soon if she’s going to be part of our family. Sofiya wants to have everyone over for dinner.”

“I’ll ask her,” I said over my shoulder, my lips curling into a smile.

47

JULIET

Once Romeo left,I tracked down my phone and called my boss.

“Juliet.” Arturo’s voice was filled with relief. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” The word came out in a squeak, so I tried again. “I’m okay.”

“That stronzo,” my unbelievably mild-mannered boss snarled. “Romeo fucking De Luca. What business does he have dragging you into this life?”

Hearing him confirm who Romeo was destroyed the final tendrils of hope that this wasn’t really happening. “You know him?”

“Not well, but I’ve seen him and the Don several times throughout the years. The little bastard, thinking he could ever deserve you.”

My chest tightened at Arturo’s care. “I can’t picture you as a mobster.”

There was a beat of silence, broken by his bark of a laugh. “You should have seen me back in my prime. The ladies loved me.”

I didn’t doubt it. Even in his late sixties, Arturo was a handsome man.

“But I was never a soldier,” he continued. “My father and grandfather used to smuggle things through the city for the previous Dons. They knew all the secret passageways, but unfortunately, my father died before he could pass on the knowledge to me. Now I’m just a regular bookstore owner.”

“I’m sorry to let you down,” I said hoarsely.

“What are you talking about?”

“The shop has to close because of me.”

He scoffed. “You’re the reason the shop is still up and running, and if you think for one moment that I care more about the store than I do about you, you’re mistaken.” His Italian accent thickened with his agitation.

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. Even though I knew Arturo cared about me, the strength of his words took me off guard.

“I’ll be back to work as soon as I can,” I promised.

“You’ll be back to work only when it’s completely safe. That’s one thing De Luca and I can agree on.”

I wandered around the apartment while Arturo told me stories of his grandchildren’s mischief. He sounded happy. In the past, I would have felt a burning jealousy to hear him talk so lovingly about his family, but now I smiled as I spun around Romeo’s home gym. I wasn’t alone anymore.

48

ROMEO

It waslate in the evening when I walked into the large gym on one of the lower floors of the building. Our soldiers trained here and were all gathered now, surrounding the boxing ring in the center of the room. This was part of the punishment—everyone, including the soldiers I commanded, was here to witness it.

Matteo stood in the center of the ring and I walked towards him, head high. This was a small price to pay for Juliet. I would pay much steeper tolls to keep her safe.

I removed my shirt before stepping underneath the ropes to stand in front of Matteo.

“Hands behind your back.”

He used a length of rope to tie my wrists together.

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