Page 2 of Roman and Jules
Chapter 2
Roman Verona was not welcome at his Aunt Collette’s party. Sure, it was disguised as a celebration for his great-aunt Verona’s fifty-year business anniversary, but it wasCollette’sparty. And her displeasure was clear the moment he strode into the luxe banquet hall at the top of the Benvolio Casino and saw the tightness of the woman’s surgically-altered face stiffen at his entrance. He snickered in return and came for her. He had every intention of living up to his reputation as the “bad boy” of Vegas tonight.
The beautiful Rosalyn glided next to him in a scarlet sheath dress, and she pressed light but possessive fingers over his arm. He’d thrown on an expensive jacket over his black cambric t-shirt before leaving his lavish roof-top apartment, though he pushed up the sleeves. They made quite the glamourous pair.
“You didn’t tell me that your aunt threw such extravagant parties,” Rosalyn murmured in her thick Italian accent.
Roman smirked. “I didn’t tell you that she hated me either.”
The lights glittered from the chandeliers above his aunt’s perfectly coifed platinum blonde hair and sparkled off crystal glasses overflowing with wine. His waspish relative had gone overboard tonight in her desperation to impress the rich and famous, and she flitted purposely away from him. The white fur at her collar flirted with her pointed chin as she greeted more newcomers with light kisses on their cheeks and loud exclamations that bordered on the obnoxious before pinning her nephew with a glare.
Rosalyn gave an intake of breath. “Well, isn’t that nice?” She was as rich as she was gorgeous, and lived life with an abandon that was common in all of Roman’s girlfriends. She turned to him with a laugh tumbling freely from her lips. “Is it me or does your aunt avoid you?”
His mouth twisted in response. “She won’t for long.” As soon as Collette figured out that Rosalyn was heiress of SeeingSun Cosmetics, she’d want to get in good with her.
Roman, on the other hand, was less awestruck. He knew better now than to date a girl who could break his heart. Though Rosalyn’s presence here was essential, a night out with the unparalleled beauty was not what brought him there.
No, he was out for alittlerevenge.
There was a rift in the Verona family. Long before he was born, Roman’s father, Monty, had fought with his sister when Colette got in good with their aunt and took control of the Capulet branch, the most prosperous one in the company—the one his father had always hoped to run. He’d had big plans for those day spas, and his sister knew it, but she was a greedy double-crosser and didn’t care.
After that, there was no way that Roman’s father would work for her, and he told his sister off before leaving for another branch, where he easily showed her up—so much that they named their line of products after him: Monty Hugh. She was jealous, of course, and her brother rubbed his success in her face whenever he could.
Roman’s gaze swerved to where his father stood, far removed from his sister. Monty was all in black, a shadow in a white room. He never came to any party his sister put on, which meant one thing: Great-Aunt Priscilla had insisted he come. The iconic tycoon of the Monty Hugh branch settled next to an oak table—the bare tabletop designed to look unfinished. It added to the simple décor of natural light and fresh flowers meant to show off the room’s opulence. No doubt Aunt Priscilla was behind that. She let out a loud shrieking giggle that made her brother roll his eyes on the other side of the banquet hall.
Roman had never understood why his family couldn’t get along until years later when his cousin, Tyson, had carried out his own personalized vendetta against him. He wasn’t sure why Ty had done it; only that stealing Bella away had been a game to him. Bella had been Roman’s childhood sweetheart, and he’d thought nothing could come between them. That was before Ty convinced everyone that Roman had cheated on her and broke her heart.
How Bella could believe his smarmy cousin over him, he’d never know, but Roman was even more hurt when she left to date him. It got worse as he watched Tyson grow bored of her and eventually dump her. By then, when Roman tried to get her back, it was too late—Bella wanted nothing to do with anyone in their family. She moved to New York and didn’t return. The last Roman had heard of her, she was in another terrible relationship.
Roman was done with love. Sure, he’d tried out a few things here and there, but his heart was never in it. His reputation as a “player” grew, even while his cousin became a respected member of the community with his charities and political grandstanding. The fierce rivalry started by their parents had been locked into place.
“Oh, my loves! I’m so happy you made it.” Aunt Collette clasped more guests’ hands, exclaiming shrilly over them, “Great-Aunt Verona will be thrilled to see you.” Her eyes darted to Roman as she danced expertly away.
Seeing that his aunt was successfully avoiding him for now, Roman approached his father instead. They saw each other most days at the Monty Hugh branch where Roman worked as his head marketer. He’d almost tripled their business’s capital with what he’d learned from school. It didn’t make him any more popular with his extended family, however.
“Father!” Roman hailed the man, who nodded with a brief smile that lit up his eyes when he saw his son. Lines caused from laughter and sobriety marked Monty Hugh’s face, but these smile lines were strained and slightly undefinable. He was clearly not comfortable here. “It was Priscilla, wasn’t it?” Roman guessed. “She made you come.”
His father leaned his head back in a laugh. “You too?”
Roman smiled. He’d made it a habit to ignore his Aunt Collette’s little “celebrations”—they were only trumped-up excuses to elevate herself—and he would’ve done it again had it not been for the latest news.
“I wasorderedto come tonight,” Roman said. Great-Aunt Priscilla Verona was the head of Verona Enterprises, the matriarch of the family, and (perhaps even more compellingly) she was the keeper of their trust funds. “She told me if I didn’t come, she’d boot me from the will.”
His father cast him a doubtful look. “I can’t see that working on you.”
Roman couldn’t hide his smile. His father knew him well. The paparazzi had blasted the news that his cousin Tyson had been dating someone for over a year. Great-Aunt Priscilla informed Ty to bring her this time. This mystery woman had been heavily guarded from them all—not even Ty’s mother knew. There could be a lot of reasons for that, though Roman suspected that this particular girl meant something to Ty.
Good.
Roman would do everything he could to ruin whatever happiness Ty thought he had. Looking over at Rosalyn and the storm in her passionate Italian eyes, he was impatient for the fun to begin.
He didn’t have to wait long. A commotion sounded at the doorway where his cousin walked in. Ty’s mother quickly excused herself from her shallow admirers and hurried over. Ty was a momma’s boy—and maybe a little bit of a pretty boy, too, with hair cut close to his head in the latest style and pale skin from too much time spent indoors.
The stunning beauty by his side was more surprising. Roman sucked in his breath when he saw her. What did these women see in his cousin? This one had long, curly blonde hair—probably extensions; there was just too much of it—and her blue skirt swayed over her knees as she practically danced into the room with her incredibly long legs. His eyes slid to her cowgirl boots, and he hid a smile. Roman had a hard time imagining Ty not freaking out about those. This girl had spunk; he’d give her that. As she came closer, he noticed her eyes. They were cobalt blue and made her look like a petulant cat, until she smiled and then her whole face was filled with sweetness.
It took him aback, and he wrestled his conscience down. The last thing he wanted was to feel sorry for her, but it only got worse when his aunt approached Ty’s girlfriend with her eyes hard and her claws drawn.
“Darling!” Colette purred.
