Page 85 of His Juliet

“Alright. I’m on the nineteenth floor, so I would recommend the elevator, but we can walk it if you can’t.”

The way he said it was so matter-of-fact. No judgement laced his words.

“Don’t let go of me,” I whispered.

“Never.”

I pressed my face to his skin and squeezed my eyes shut as he stepped inside the elevator. Most of my childhood memories were lost in a nightmarish haze, but I would never forget the days I spent curled up alone in a dark closet as a toddler.

A soft ding and a whirring sound signaled our arrival.

“Good job, angel. We made it.”

44

ROMEO

Juliet stoodby the kitchen counter, looking devastatingly unsure as I pulled food out from the fridge. Accardi was leading a small group pursuing the Albanians who had been watching Juliet’s apartment. I should have been with them, but I wouldn’t leave Juliet alone.

I wished I had something reassuring to say, but my words were stuck in my throat, left behind on the blood-covered bathroom floor. I needed to fix everything that had gone wrong today, but I was out of my depth.

“What do you want to eat?” My words came out in a croak, but Juliet still jumped at the sound. I cleared my throat. “I have a cook who meal preps for me. I have lasagna, steak and potatoes, some chicken dish.” I stared helplessly down at the plastic containers lining the kitchen island.

“Anything is fine,” she whispered.

I heated the lasagna and put a plate in front of each of us. I barely tasted it, too focused on Juliet, who kept her eyes down as she ate methodically.

She finally looked up and caught me looking at her. A slight blush spread across her cheeks.

“You done, baby?”

She nodded, and I cleared the plates.

The silence between us was deafening. It was nine o’clock, too early to suggest bed, even though all I wanted right now was to hold Juliet. Images of her covered in blood kept flashing through my mind. I needed to go through the apartment and get rid of anything she could use to hurt herself.

“Want to play Mario Kart?” I blurted out.

Her lips parted and then a tiny smile tugged at the corner. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Thank God.

I took her by the hand, helped her off the kitchen stool, and led her into the living room.

“Wow, fancy setup,” she said.

My TV took up much of the wall and I had several top-of-the-line gaming systems. I handed her the Mario Kart controller wheel and she sat down on the couch. I set up the game and sat right next to her, our legs pressed together.

“Shit, am I hurting you?” I didn’t want to aggravate the cuts on her legs. I shifted away, but Juliet’s hand landed on my thigh, stopping me.

“You’re not hurting me.”

She removed her hand and gripped her controller. The loss of her touch was a tangible thing, and I wanted to demand she move her hand back. I couldn’t stop myself from pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head. Her hair smelled like vanilla. “You doing okay, angel?”

She leaned into me. “If you’re trying to distract me so you win, it’s not going to work.”

It was an evasive non-answer, but I decided not to push it right now.

“Bring it on. If you think I’m going to take it easy on you, think again.” I was all talk. I would do whatever I could to ensure her victory.

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