Page 4 of Star Crossed
Chapter One
Five days earlier
“What the fuck, Romeo?”
Romeo shrugged and looked away from his brother. Casanova Moretti was thick, and cut, very Sicilian as he puffed out his chest in a way that was common whenever he wanted to start something. It was a mafia trick, something he probably learned from his grandfather to make him seem even bigger and more intimidating than he already was. Too bad for Nova, there wasn’t enough hot air in the world to change the fact that Romeo wasn’t just older, but also considerably bigger than his brother. It didn’t matter how bad and powerful he thought he was; Nova was still a little brother to Romeo.
“Chill out, Nova.” Romeo held up his bandaged hand. “I’m touched by your concern, but it was my left hand and it’s not that serious. No harm done.”
“You know this isn’t about your hand,” Nova said in Italian as he leaned into Romeo, who sat calmly on the emergency room table waiting to be seen by a doctor. “Rescuing Powerhouse’s girl from that lunatic made you look like his friend.” He lowered his voice, his breath warm against Romeo’s ear. “People could suspect you threw the fight.”
Romeo couldn’t help the way his shoulders stiffened. He was sick and tired of his brother reminding him of a truly painful loss to Clay “Powerhouse” Powers. That UFC heavyweight championship belt should have been his, but instead he had a concussion, a bum hand, and a family that was happy as fucking clams over the loss.
Sometimes Romeo really hated his life.
“What were you thinking?”
Romeo shrugged. “She was nice to me at breakfast, and I didn’t see any reason to let her get kidnapped and shot. Sue me.”
“There are reporters everywhere.”
Romeo glared at his younger brother. Nova was in a dark mood, all hard angles and dangerous edges, as if his defense mechanisms had kicked in the moment he got the call from Romeo in the hospital. Nothing but eyes and ears, he was absorbed with the heavy job of damage control, but Romeo had shit to be defensive about too.
“Last I checked, stopping a crazed gunman wasn’t against the law. So back off before I use your face to work off frustration. I’m not very happy with you right now.”
Nova’s shoulders slumped with a guilty wince tossed in Romeo’s direction. “You’re still pissed off about the loss.”
“Yes.” Romeo looked away once more as the back of his neck burned and his hand throbbed. “I’m still pissed off about the loss.”
Nova snorted as if Romeo was being juvenile, shaking off the guilt easily. “Big deal. You lost one fight.”
“It was a championship fight,” Romeo reminded him, not knowing why he was bothering to explain. If it didn’t revolve around family loyalty or financial gain, it was outside Nova’s realm of understanding. “I worked my entire life for that fight.”
“So you’ll win the next one. You win all your fights.”
He knew Nova left it unsaid that Romeo won all the fights he didn’t throw on purpose, but that’s what Nova thought. Romeo didn’t know what hurt worse, knowing his brothers had expected him to throw a fight he’d worked his ass off to win, or the fact that he’d decided to win it anyway and then lost legitimately.
Romeo couldn’t decide if he should hate Clay Powers for kicking his ass in that match, or thank him for keeping a bullet out of his back with that technical knockout. If Romeo had won the fight like he’d planned when there was so much dirty money riding on his loss, someone would’ve shot him. He didn’t believe his brothers would have pulled the trigger. They would have fought to save him, but the cold, harsh reality was one didn’t fuck with the mob’s finances and live to tell about it.
Now Romeo was free and clear until the next time his brothers decided to fuck with his career. He had a clean conscience. He’d fought tooth and nail for the title that meant so much to him not even a mob hit could scare him from it. Then he’d seen Clay Powers’s sweet little girlfriend get kidnapped by a gun-toting lunatic, and decided to step in. Now he was a hero.
It seemed his luck was changing for the better. Too bad Romeo felt totally fucking miserable about all of it.
“Where the hell is Powers anyway? Shouldn’t he be here kissing your ass for risking your neck? It took some friggin’stugotsto do what you did.”
“He’s got a bullet hole in him,stronzo,” Romeo told his brother. “He jumped that guy trying to kidnap his girl, and the scumbag shot him.”
“Maybe he’ll die,” Nova said indifferently. “Prick.”
Charming of him to be put out over Romeo’s public ass kickingafterNova collected on the loss.
Romeo sighed. “Those country bastards are made of lead or something. Nothing hurts them. He’s not gonna die.”
He was certain of that if nothing else. He’d fought Clay. He knew the guy was almost inhuman. He’d never been in the cage with someone who radiated that much raw power and determination, and he’d sure as shit never seen anyone jump at a guy with a gun like Clay had done in the casino. Where Romeo came from, people ducked when guns were pointed in their direction.
Romeo still wasn’t sure what had made him go after Melody Dylan, who was sweet and cute and certainly not his type. She was a littletoosweet for him, but Clay seemed taken with her, and he did save Romeo’s life by beating him fair and square in that title match. Even if Clay didn’t know it, Romeo supposed he owed him.
Romeo was still pondering his life and the bizarre turn it’d taken when the curtain was pushed open. He was hoping for an ER doctor and a free pass out of the hospital. Instead he got Valentino, his youngest brother. Like Nova, Tino wasn’t as tall as Romeo, but he still had the dark good looks of their mother and a cut, Italian build that served him well.
