“Mad?” He let out an incredulous laugh. “I’m more than mad. You’re ruining our lives with your long legs and shiny blonde hair. Now he has to forfeit the Lipton fight.” Jules gaped in horror. “God, really? What’s wrong—”
“In case you missed it, Daisy Duke”—Nova’s dark eyes narrowed furiously—
“you’re bad for my brother’s health.”
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Jules completely ignored the Daisy Duke jab when she considered Romeo hurt to the point that his fight had to be forfeited. “Please lemme see him.”
“No,” Nova said with a look of disbelief. “I want you the fuck outta our lives.
Disappear, Juliet, before I’m forced to get mean.” Jules pulled back, hearing the warning in his voice. She let her gaze run over Nova for one long minute before she pulled herself to her full height and asked, “Are you threatening me?”
“I don’t threaten. I give advice,” Nova assured her with unnerving confidence.
“I’m telling you to stay gone, and I suggest you do it.”
“Well, I don’t respond to threats or heavy-handed advice,” Jules told him simply.
“It’s all hot air to me. Now you listen to me—”
“Romeo’s not taking visitors. I’ll be sure to forget to mention you stopped by.” Nova left before Jules could finish, making it obvious he’d said all he’d planned on saying.
Jules focused on her breathing, hearing Romeo’s voice in her head counting to twenty in Japanese in a vain attempt to center herself. The rage she felt was making her vision red-hazed, but she knew this was the wrong place to cause a scene. She wasn’t Romeo’s family. She couldn’t demand to see him, and what argument did she have when her own twin was the reason he was hospitalized to begin with?
Jules was always solution oriented, but right then, the solutions to this problem seemed few and far between. The deep breathing wasn’t working. She was angry and scared, and she turned to leave, thinking now would be the perfect time to give Wyatt a piece of her mind.
* * * *
Jules pushed at the men’s locker room door and called out, “Wyatt Fredrick Conner, you better get your ass out here or I’m coming in!”
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Shaking in anger, Jules waited impatiently, wondering how much time she should give him before she embarrassed the few other men who worked out in the early afternoon. Instead of her brother, it was Clay who rushed around the corner after a minute, tying a towel around his waist unselfconsciously considering he’d lived with Jules since he was a teenager.
“There’s other fellas in here besides us. Ya can’t just come stomping into the men’s locker room. Talk ’bout bad for business.”
“Ask me if I give a shit,” Jules snapped, still leaning against the open door.
“Romeo’s brother just told me off for even thinking ’bout seeing him, and who the hell can blame him? Have you lost your good sense? How could you just stand there and let Wyatt do that?”
“I’m sorry.” Clay used his bulk to back her into the hallway, allowing the door to close behind them. Standing there naked save the white towel around his waist, Clay ignored the giggle of two women walking toward the women’s locker room. He grabbed Jules’s arm and leaned down to say earnestly, “I should’ve stopped it, I know that, but I didn’t think it’d go that far.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Jules swallowed hard, fighting tears once more. “What am I gonna do now? They won’t even let me see him.”
“He’s sick over the fight y’all had,” Clay said softly. “He wants to make up, Jules.”
“Really?” She turned back to Clay hopefully. “He said that?” Clay gave her a weak smile. “Course then Wyatt showed up.” Jules put a hand to her forehead and took a shuddering breath as she fought to pull herself together. She didn’t know how to handle the surge of emotions that left her feeling unusually scattered.
She spun around when the locker room door opened and Wyatt came out wearing only the tan pants from his sheriff’s uniform. He held up his hands in a form of surrender, but Jules didn’t care; she launched herself at him. Furious, she let her raging emotions flow at her as she punched her brother. Then she kicked his shin with her 260
heel, forcing him back against the wall because he was oddly passive. Usually he fought back, blocking her blows rather than endure them, but this time he just let her lash out.
She thought about how powerless she’d felt at the hospital and stomped on Wyatt’s bare foot in retaliation.