Page 20 of Roman and Jules
A reporter thrust a picture of her driving away with Roman on his bike with her veil blowing behind her in the wind. “Did you get married at the Chapel del Frate last night?”
“Are you married to Roman Verona now?”
She tried to wave an ineffectual hand and heard a yelp from Mercutio. They were trampling the poor puppy. She dove into the mob to gather him closer and almost lost her footing. A hand landed against her shoulder and dragged her out of the crush, and she gasped out in relief when she saw that it was Tyson. He’d come to save her.
“Come with me.” He guided her away while she tugged Mercutio with her. He was wearing an expensive pinstriped suit, which meant he’d come from work, though he hadn’t bothered with the tie and he’d missed a few buttons. “What have you done?” he shouted. He tried to keep the reporters back from her, lugging her to his limousine. There were too many cameras and people in the way. “Roman told me that you’re on your honeymoon!”
She had nothing to say to that. Her hand was already in his and Ty lifted it to check out her fingers. When he found Roman’s ring, he glared at it. “Is that what you’re wearing? One ofhisrings? You’re just as bad as he is.” It was so loose on her finger that he stole it easily and chucked it far.
Her heart lurched. “What did you do?”
“It’s worthless. He doesn’t mean anything by it… how could he?” She was well aware of the cameras focusing in on his rant. He was making the scene that they wanted, and the reporters stepped back, giving him plenty of room to do so. “Have you no decency? You’re still wearing the dress that I gave you. How could you be so stupid to fall for Roman’s tricks?”
Her back prickled with defiance. “Youdo what you want. I can do what I want too!”
Ty’s face changed from anger to something undecipherable, and she was surprised to see him watching her with longing. “Is that why you’re doing this? I was afraid of that.” His hand slid to her arm and he tried to ease her closer to his limousine. Ty wanted her for himself. For once. The paparazzi was catching that too. “Just come with me and we’ll talk this over.”
She wanted to cry out “yes”—Roman’s plan was working so well—but then her doubts resurfaced as Ty glanced down at a buzzing phone. His face screwed up in annoyance. “I’ve got a meeting this morning. I’m late, but maybe we’ll… no, tonight isn’t good either. I have a charity event. Just go to your apartment and keep your distance from my cousin. Maybe we can get together on Saturday.”
That was three days away! Ty hadn’t changed at all. He didn’t believe that Jules could possibly have any deep feelings for anyone but him. It was why he never fought for her, and why he’d always take her for granted for the rest of his days unless Jules proved to him that she would have to be won.
“No,” Jules said. “I can’t see you on Saturday. I have lots of things to do.Married things.”
“You want me to clear my schedule?” His voice rang with irritation. “Is that what you want me to do? I can clear my schedule!”
He was much too angry at the inconvenience of talking to her. He wasn’t cherishing her, at all… and yet, that’s what Roman said that he must do. None of this was working out the way she’d thought, and she didn’t know how long or how right it was to fake a marriage to get Ty to treat her the way that he should. Men from Ty’s limo poured out and got the door open while he tried to pressure her inside the vehicle. “Just get in.”
“Are you welcoming my wife into the family, Ty?”
She let out a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding when she saw Roman. He was in dark jeans and the black t-shirt he’d put on before leaving the house, his hair hanging carelessly over his creased forehead as he planted himself in front of the door of the limousine, blocking Ty from forcing Jules into the back. “How thoughtful,” he said.
Chapter 10
“Get out of my way,” Ty growled at him. “You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life.”
Roman’s eyes shifted to the cameras. He hadn’t expected Ty to trick him like he had, saying he’d meet him at the Chapel del Frate just so he could get Jules alone. Roman had been such a fool that he’d even taken a detour on his way home, but he should’ve known. His cousin was well aware of the terms of their new will. If Tyson fought him in front of these witnesses, it would be over.
But when Roman had seen Ty almost force the struggling Jules into his car, his soul had cried out, and for a moment it had very little to do with losing this battle against Ty, and everything to do with helping her. His chest heaved after his sprint over, though he tried to appear relaxed and in charge of the situation. That meant pushing away all his protective instincts and letting this play out. Roman just had to find a way to push Ty past all endurance.
His cousin still hadn’t let go of Jules. With his other hand, Ty grasped the wriggling Mercutio’s leash while he pinned Roman with a glare. “Let’s take this somewhere more private!”
No, Roman wanted the cameras on them if Ty tried to fight him. Stealing his cousin’s girlfriend only strengthened Roman’s bad boy reputation. Ty, on the other hand, had his clean-cut image to keep up. Ty lowered his voice, “You took advantage of her.”
Jules stiffened. “It wasn’t him! It was my choice.” She jerked her hand from Ty’s and retrieved the puppy’s leash from him. Roman felt a faint surprise mingled with satisfaction, even a little relief that she had enough spirit to stand up for herself. Maybe she finally realized that showing some spunk would make her more desirable in Ty’s eyes.
And Roman saw that it did—the glitter of desire was there, though Ty’s expression hardened on Roman as if he was the one behind her new defiance. “What game are you playing?”
“This has nothing to do with you,” Roman said. “We just hit it off.”
Ty glowered as his own words were flung back at him from the night before. If the roles were reversed and this had been Bella, Roman would’ve blackened Ty’s eye and lost everything because of it, but he suspected Ty lacked the passion. However, he made up for it in pride. If Roman played this right, he could have his revenge for everything that his cousin had ever done to him.
The reporters turned silent, and Roman knew that they were listening with baited breath for anything to blacken their names with. He gave the cameras what they wanted and shrugged. “Sorry you didn’t see what you had, Ty, but it’s just the two of us now…” Mercutio barked. “Three,” he amended, “so back off.”
“Like you did with me last night?” Ty’s watery blue eyes bulged, and his red, arrogant lips turned up in a sneer. “Maybe I’ll return the favor.” He stepped closer to Roman, his hands balled up into fists.
It was almost too easy.
Jules got in between them. “Ty, don’t fight. You can’t blame him for Rosalyn.”
