Page 157 of His Juliet

Matteo sat back, looking pensive. “Would you be okay with that, Juliet?”

She jolted, as if stunned to be consulted. She glanced back at me, a slight edge of panic in her gaze. “I don’t know. I just want everyone to be safe.”

I hugged her tighter. “I’ve got you, sweet girl.” Her breathing sounded fast and shallow. She shouldn’t be dealing with any stress right now. Or ever. I was determined to give her a soft and easy life.

“You will be allowed into our territory only for the purpose of rescuing these women,” Matteo said. “And you will work alongside my men.”

“We don’t work with men,” Elira said.

“I mean, it’s a good policy,” Leona muttered, drawing an exasperated look from Matteo.

Juliet let out a quiet laugh, and I wanted to bottle up the sound.

“We can’t give you free rein in our city,” Matteo said. “Either you cooperate with our requirements, or you can stay in Albania and send us your intel so we can free the women.”

There was a long silence before Elira responded. “We are open to discussing it further.”

The tension in the room dropped a few notches. I pressed my face into Juliet’s hair. Did she need a snack? Breakfast was less than an hour ago, but the urge to feed her overwhelmed any sense of reason. She had lost weight while she was in captivity, and I fucking hated the reminder of everything she’d suffered. I grabbed a pack of fruit snacks from my pocket and pressed it into her hand. Her lips tugged into an almost smile, and she popped a gummy into her mouth.

“How did the Butcher hack our security system?” Sienna asked, a frustrated crease appearing between her eyes. I knew it was killing her to have been bested by the Albanians.

“The Butcher did not do it,” scoffed a woman with a heavy accent.

“Who are you?” Matteo asked sharply.

“I am Arta, the hacker.”

Sienna sat forward in her seat. “You did all of it? Allowed the Butcher to access our building? Tracked our locations?”

“I did what I had to.”

Matteo jumped to his feet, face furious. “You put all of us in danger! Sienna and Romeo could have died when they were attacked. Juliet was beaten and kept in a cell.”

“I would think twice before raising your voice at the woman who saved your lives multiple times.” Elira’s voice was like ice.

Matteo froze, and silence blanketed the room.

“What do you mean?” Juliet asked.

“There were many occasions when Arta gave the Butcher incorrect information and falsified video footage. And, of course, she gave you the Butcher’s location so you could find Juliet. You would all be dead if she hadn’t been working with my coalition of women.”

Matteo sat back down and pulled Sofiya onto his lap. I held Juliet tighter, too. I believed Elira was telling the truth, and the realization of how close I’d come to losing Juliet filled me with panic. I refused to be complacent about her safety ever again.

“I want to learn from you,” Sienna blurted out.

“What?” Matteo and Elira spoke at the same time.

“As part of our alliance, I want Arta to teach me how to be a better hacker.”

Matteo put his head in his hands with a groan. Sofiya pressed her lips together to keep from smiling as she rubbed his neck.

Elira and Arta spoke in murmured Albanian. “Your work is not horrible. I will take you as student,” Arta finally said in English.

“We will need to discuss—” Matteo started.

“Thank you. I will not disappoint you,” Sienna said.

Matteo looked like he was on the verge of losing his shit.

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