Page 22 of Star Crossed
Romeo ignored Nova and used the hotel shampoo to wash his hair. It was challenging using only one hand while trying to keep his stitches on his left palm from getting wet.
“You’re not gonna tell me what happened?”
Romeo squinted past the glass to see Nova sitting on the edge of the sink. “Since when do you give a shit what I do in my spare time?”
“You neverdoanything in your spare time. I’m just making sure everything’s kosher.”
“Everything’s kosher.”
Nova was quiet for a moment before he admitted, “I had Angelo run a background check on her.”
“Damn it, Nova!” Romeo pushed the door open. “You gotta lotta nerve—”
“She’s a cop.” Nova spoke with an exaggerated Southern accent, raising his eyebrows pointedly. “Did she tell you that?”
“Fuck off,” Romeo said to hide the sinking feeling in his gut. “She’s a lawyer.”
“Oh, even better.” Nova rolled his eyes. “A lawyeranda cop. I guess they don’t got an unemployment problem down home in Hazzard County.”
“I think it’s Garnet County.”
“It’s the same difference, trust me.”
“I don’t believe she’s a cop.” Romeo walked over to grab a towel and worked at drying himself off. “She doesn’t act like a cop.”
“Hang out with many cops?”
“Angelo,” Romeo reminded him. “He’s over at my place to bum food at least once a week.”
“Yeah, but Angelo’s dirty as hell,” Nova said as if their cousin didn’t count. “He’s a cop to collect a fucking pension when he retires. He’s not doing it ’cause he loves it or has any sense of social responsibility aside from helping me out by keeping his ear to the ground. These people fucking love it. They live for it. Redneck cops are scary as shit, and you just spent all night rolling around in the sheets with one.”
For some reason even hearing Jules was a cop wasn’t enough to turn him off, which would have shocked the hell out of him before yesterday. Romeo and cops didn’t exactly mesh, but Jules was different. He grabbed a second towel and scrubbed at his hair, deciding to go back to his original course of action of ignoring Nova.
“I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts she’ll be looking you up the second she gets back home,” Nova went on as he arched an eyebrow. “What’s your Juliet gonna think when she finds out you got a record, eh, Romeo?”
“What does it matter?” Romeo stopped drying his hair and threw the towel at Nova’s face. “She’s gone. It’s over. So drop it.”
Nova tossed the towel aside and narrowed dark, calculating eyes at Romeo. “You actuallylikethis chick.”
Romeo opened the bathroom door, finding Tino camped out on the bed with his cousins, Gino and Carlo. They weren’t Romeo’s family, just part of the baggage he’d inherited with his brothers. They were mob muscle, big and mean, not too bright and it seemed like all of them were named Carlo, Tony or Rocco. Nova had muscle that flanked him everywhere, because like it or not, Nova was too smart and cunning for his own good. He’d made himself valuable to his grandfather and was more important to organized crime than his own father now. Seeing Carlo and Gino reminded Romeo he could one day be brother to a real-life mafia boss.
Romeo kicked at the mattress next to where Gino was laying. “Get outta my room.”
Gino casually laced his hands behind his head, making it obvious he planned to stay where he was. “What’s your problem?”
“You’re my problem.” Romeo grabbed his wallet off the dresser and checked to make sure all his credit cards were still in place because he didn’t trust them. “You skeeve me on a good day.”
“We just helped you out, and this is how you repay us? That’s some shit.”
“You’ll be all right,” Romeo said dismissively. “Can I get dressed without youfanookswatching me?”
“He’s pissed off at me, not you,” Nova said as he walked out of the bathroom. “Go watch TV in the other room.”
“Whatever, man,” Carlo said, rolling off the other side of the mattress. “Still sore ’bout losing. I get it.”
“I guess,” Gino reluctantly agreed. “It was painful to watch. Talk about taking one for the team.”
Romeo turned and gave Nova a look that clearly said he was about to give Gino and Carlo something painful to watch if they didn’t shut up about the fight. Nova just shook his head in response, silently holding up his hand, expecting Romeo to obey him, which skeeved worse than anything.
