Star-Crossed(110)

“Stocks,” Romeo said with a grin. “He’d been watching the trends and doing whatever the hell he does for a while. Playing with mock money, tracking how much he could make, pretend trial and error. Then one day he just set me up an account and started trading in my name.”

Jules turned to him again, her eyes lighting up in comprehension. “That’s where all the money comes from.”

“Yeah. Nova invests what I make from fighting. It’s not dirty.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jules said solemnly. “I never should’ve assumed it was.”

“It was an honest assumption, and Nova does launder his fair share of dirty money. I dunno if that makes my money dirty by association.” Jules shook her head. “I don’t think so. If I have a stockbroker, and Frankie has the same stockbroker, that ain’t making the money I earn any less legally mine.” Romeo was surprised just how good it felt to know Jules wasn’t judging him anymore. He didn’t need her approval, but it was still nice to have. It really grated on him to know she’d thought he was doing something illegal for his cash.

“So it was my fault Frankie started to get wind of the money Nova was making for us.” Romeo cringed over this part; the wounds still cut too deep to talk about without hurting over it. “We’d just been broke for so long. I wanted the kids to look good. I wanted to look good. I wanted a car. I was sick of the friggin’ subway. If I knew then what I know now, I’d have kept us in ratty clothes, ’cause Frankie knew I wasn’t making that much from stripping. He knew Nova was doing something, and he started putting the squeeze on me.”

“How so?”





285

“Threatening me. Slashing my tires. Showing up outside the club. Intimidating my employer. If I didn’t make so much for them, they would’ve fired me. Believe it or not, that was him being low-key ’cause he didn’t want to upset the kids when he needed them. I was about ready to quit and just live off what Nova was investing, maybe move somewhere outta the city, but I never gotta a chance.”

“What happened?”

“Four of Frankie’s soldiers caught me after work one night.” Romeo’s stomach clenched at the memory. “They attacked me, but I fought back. It’s instinct—”

“Except with Wyatt,” Jules cut in. “Clay told me you just stood there.”

“I didn’t wanna hurt your brother.”

“The next time my brother comes at you trying to put you in the hospital, you have my full permission to fight back. Wyatt’s a big boy. He can hold his own, and if he’s starting shit, he better be prepared to deal with the consequences.”

“Anyway”—Romeo shifted uncomfortably, the talk about Wyatt and the old memories making his ribs hurt worse—“cops showed up, but instead of nailing the guys who jumped me, they tried to pin it on me instead.”

“What?” Jules gasped, sounding horrified. “If it was four on one, how could they assume it was your fault?”

“It was a setup, and the cops were in on it,” Romeo said, thinking it was obvious.

“They knew I’d fight back, and ’cause of all my martial arts training that makes the charges more serious. All Frankie’s soldiers were sporting injuries and just sorta pointed a finger in my direction.”

“You would’ve gotten off,” Jules argued. “Even a bad lawyer could get you off the hook.”

“Yeah, that’s what Nova said later.” Romeo sighed, closing his eyes once more.

“But I knew the cops were dirty, willing to haul me in just to put a few bucks in their pocket. It was part of Frankie’s bullshit to scare me into letting him borrow Nova’s 286



brain, but I was just so pissed and sick of the injustice, I fought back. I put the one cop in the hospital. I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just nailed him, and his head hit the pavement too hard, fucking blood everywhere, and I knew I was going away. Even before they forced me into the cop car, I knew.”

“God, Romeo.” Jules’s voice cracked with emotion. “Was he okay?”

“Eventually, but it didn’t matter that he recovered. I was up for assaulting an officer. A dirty cop’s still a cop when there’s nothing to prove otherwise.” Romeo shrugged. “The injuries were serious enough to do hard time. I had a good lawyer. I got lucky with two years and ten fucking years of probation. I thought that shit would never end.”

“And you lost Nova and Tino,” Jules said sadly.

“Yeah, Frankie took them rather than let the state have them. My ma put his name on the birth certificate. They had his last name. They were legally his. His wife wasn’t happy, but she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Frankie had custody until Tino turned eighteen. I never got them back.”