Page 97 of Star Crossed
“You’re unique,” Romeo said with a soft, broken laugh. “You really are.”
“You’re not exactly ordinary,” Jules assured him as she tossed her bag over her shoulder. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” Romeo said as he grabbed the gun bag. “We’re not going to have much room in my car. I packed twice as much as you.”
“That’s not a problem,” Jules said dismissively as she brushed past him and walked down the hallway. “We’re leaving the Ferrari. My car’s got plenty of trunk space.”
“You expect me to leave behind my brothersandmy car?”
“What’d you think is less conspicuous?” Jules asked. “You’re six-six, two-hundred-seventy pounds, and a famous UFC fighter. You don’t exactly blend, and a Ferrari sure doesn’t help.”
“And you think I’m gonna leave my car in your driveway?” Romeo asked incredulously. “At your brother’s mercy?”
Jules turned and smirked at him on the stairs. “I think it’ll be okay.”
“He’s gonna come home and find you gone. He’s gonna know it’s my fault. My Ferrari is in no way okay.”
“I don’t think he’s capable of criminal property damage.”
Romeo gave her a look that said he thought Wyatt was more than capable of criminal property damage. “We’ll drive it back to Tino. He was gonna have to bum a ride off Chuito tomorrow to the car dealership and buy something. This’ll save him time and cash.”
“Does he know ’bout your dash for freedom?”
“He helped me pack.”
“That works. I’ll follow you to the lake house; then we’ll leave together in my car. Course you still shouldn’t be driving, but I guess it can’t be helped.”
Jules walked over to the desk in the corner of the living room. She grabbed a pen and worked on writing Wyatt a note. She put thought into it, making sure he knew she was leaving of her own free will. He’d be one to put out an APB on them in a heartbeat if he suspected otherwise. She signed the noteJu Ju Beanjust so he’d know she was being sincere, because no one except Clay was aware they still used the nicknames that’d carried over from toddlerhood. She wouldn’t sign it like that if she was being kidnapped, and he knew that.
She taped the note on the door, and without a backward glance she left her house and her life behind, not knowing when she’d come back. Something told her she’d see Wyatt again—twins didn’t separate forever, it just didn’t seem possible to Jules, but maybe it was time they started learning how to live on their own.
“We need cash,” Jules said as she and Romeo worked at packing her Mercedes. “We should stop at an ATM now. I got three separate accounts. How many do you have to drain?”
“I got cash, Juliet,” Romeo assured her as he tossed the gun bag into the trunk.
“No, that’s got to go in the front seat.” Jules grabbed the bag herself and headed around to the passenger side. “Easy access.”
“Are you expecting to be attacked on the road?”
“I’m not ruling it out, and you shouldn’t either. I still think we ought to get as much cash as we can. You don’t know how long we’ll have to operate without credit cards.”
“I got plenty of cash,” Romeo said as they worked at moving his luggage over from the Ferrari parked behind her car on the long driveway. “I’ve known this could happen for a while. You think being prepared means carrying a shotgun in your truck; I think it means carrying a suitcase with half a million in it.”
Jules turned to arch an eyebrow him. “Is that how much you got?”
“About that, yeah, maybe a little more. I’ve been adding to it for ten years. I save all my large bills. It’s like a hobby; one finds its way into my hand, and I stick it in the suitcase in my trunk.” Romeo held up his hands. “You’re always preaching about being prepared. Well, I’m prepared.”
“You’re driving ’round in a three-hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle with a suitcase filled with cash in your trunk? Do you want to get carjacked?”
“You know, funny thing about that, no one carjacks me,” Romeo said sadly as he loaded another suitcase into Jules’s trunk. “Everyone in our neighborhood knows us, and they sure as shit know my car. My brother is Nova Moretti. I could have twenty million in my trunk and it’d be safe.”
“People in Garnet don’t know Nova Moretti from Adam.”
“When was the last time a car got jacked in Garnet?”
“Good point.” Jules poked her head out from the backseat where she’d tossed her carry-on. She slipped on a thin sweater to combat the crispiness in the spring air. “Once we get on the road, we got some talking to do. If you’re carting ’round that much cash on the off chance you’ll have to run for your life, I think I deserve to know why.”
“We’ll talk,” Romeo promised her.
Jules nodded and walked around her car. Seeing that everything had been loaded, she got into the driver’s seat. Romeo came up to her open door and surprised her by leaning down and kissing her.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips. “I’m glad you’re coming.”
“Me too,” Jules said with a soft smile. “Now let’s get out of here before Wyatt comes home.”
