Page 170 of Burning Daylight
“Trouble,” I try again. “Why?”
That gets his attention, and his gaze flickers across my face like he’s memorizing it.
“All I can think about is what happens next,” he admits. “After we leave this spot, and you go back to your corner and I’m forced into mine. What this looks like if we stay.”
Something twists sharply behind my ribs.
He brushes his fingers along my cheek, his voice barely above a whisper now.
“What if we didn’t?”
I blink. “Didn’t what?”
“Didn’t stay.”
I stare at him, the weight of his words sinking in like I’m stuck in quicksand.
“Juliette…” He leans in, presses his forehead to mine. “Run away with me.”
My heart stumbles and then surges, kicking against my bones in a violent rhythm. “What?”
His hands frame my face, pulling me in until he can press his lips to mine. Once. Twice. Sweet, chaste kisses, but they taste of desperation.
“Run away with me,” he repeats.
The words strike like lightning this time, reverberating in the space between us like thunder.
“None of this matters without you,” he says. “I don’t give a fuck aboutanyof it. Not the money. Not the name. I only wantyou.”
I can barely breathe.
My brain’s short-circuiting, flinging images at me of possible scenarios that are too fast to catch. Roman’s hand in mine as we disappear into the night. An empty bedroom. My mother’s stiff, stern silence. My brothers pacing the halls, sending me varying levels of angry and sarcastic messages. Felicity sitting next to Alex, or maybe even Paxton, waiting for a reply I’ll never send.
I don’t even realize I’ve gone still until Roman’s thumb brushes across my cheek again.
Running away with him would mean ripping out the roots I’ve spent my whole life pretending were planted by me.
But maybe they’ve never been roots at all. Maybe they’ve been chains disguised as comfort.
“Say something,” he whispers.
“I’d lose everyone,” I reply. “If we do this… If we run. I’d lose everyone.”
He blows out a steady breath, warm against my skin.
“Maybe not forever,” he says. “Frederick said something to me once, about how he could help us if we asked. And Beverly…I think she’d help too, don’t you?”
“I hope you know, Juliette, that I am always on your side.”
Hope, dangerous and sharp, hits me in my sternum.
“We don’t have to disappear for good. Maybe it’s just for now. Just long enough for things to quiet down. If I leave, I lose the empire.”
I suck in a breath, my eyes widening.
“That could be the answer. Once there’s no Montgomery fortune to my name, and Frederick’s dispersed the inheritance back into the town, who cares if I come back? Would your dad?”
My throat tightens, forehead creasing as I think about what he says. “I don’t know… Maybe?”
