Great choice.
It wasn’t really surprising Romeo took his anxiety out on the first person who showed up—even if it was her birthday.
“Merda!”
Romeo opened the door, finding her already gone. He quickly grabbed his jeans and ran into the living room. “Juliet!”
“I’m done with you.” Jules opened the front door, her jacket hanging wide open, leaving her bra completely exposed.
“Don’t leave!”
“Oh, I’m leaving. Take a good look at my ass, ’cause walking out this damn door is the last you’re gonna see of it!”
“Jesus.” Romeo chased after her, heedless of his jeans still being in his hands instead of on his body.
229
Once outside, Jules and Romeo stopped short because walking up the driveway were Tino and Nova, who both had the wide-eyed look of two people watching a car accident, as if they wanted to look away but couldn’t.
“Move your car.” Jules pointed to Nova’s Cadillac Escalade parked behind her Mercedes. “Now!”
“O-kay,” Nova said slowly, tilting his head to give Romeo a look before he pulled his keys out of his pocket and went back to his car.
Tino stayed where he was, eyeing Jules’s tits that were still exposed to the afternoon sun with nothing but a white lace bra to cover them.
“Get inside!” Romeo attacked Tino, smacking the back of his head hard enough to make him wince.
Jules started working on buttoning her jacket. Romeo struggled with his jeans.
Tino walked to the front door but lingered rather than miss the show.
“I’m sorry,” Romeo said as he buttoned his jeans. “I have shit on my mind.”
“Obviously.” Jules buttoned the final button by her neck and then lifted her head.
“If I was spending dirty money like water, I’d be stressed too.” Romeo ran a hand through his hair and looked away, because that comment made him want to scream and break something. “I never said—”
“But you didn’t deny it,” Jules interrupted haughtily.
“How very cop-like of you,” Romeo said sharply. “To just naturally assume the worst. Guilty until proven innocent.”
Jules put her hand on her hip and gave him a menacing look. “Do you have a problem with cops?”
“Yeah, I have a huge problem with cops. I fucking hate them,” he assured her, unable to hide the rabid loathing he felt. “I have a lifetime of post-traumatic stress thanks to law enforcement.”
230
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you ain’t got to deal with this cop anymore.” Jules pointed to herself and then turned to leave.
She passed Nova on the way down the driveway and pulled out her keys when she got to her car, her hands noticeably shaking. He might have felt guilty if his body wasn’t positively vibrating with fury. He folded his arms, determined to let her go.
Tino came up behind Romeo and stood on his toes, saying into his ear, “Is this about throwing the fight? Did you tell her?”
He said it in a whisper, but Tino was naturally loud. His voice always carried. It was so quiet here, and sound traveled farther than they were used to in the city. Romeo stiffened when he saw Jules’s head snap in their direction, her eyes widening in horror.
“Holy shit,” Romeo said, turning to give Tino a horrified look before he called out,
“Juliet! It’s not—”
Jules got into her car and slammed the door so hard it was amazing it wasn’t broken.
“You gotta go after her now!” Nova said, gesturing to Jules’s car that was already peeling down the driveway. “If she tells her brother—”
“Motherfucker!”
Romeo turned and ran back inside to get his keys, telling himself a Ferrari could outrun a Benz. Not bothering with any more clothes, he snatched his keys off the dresser and dashed back outside, passing Nova, who was bitching out Tino.
“Why’d you have to say that shit in English?” Nova hit the back of Tino’s head.
“Why say it at all?” He turned to Romeo, who was already opening his car door. “You fix this! Shut her up!”
“Fuck off, Nova.” Romeo fell into the driver’s side, slammed the door, and then he looked behind him as he turned on the car and threw it into gear.
231
Chapter Fifteen
Damn her hormones.
Jules was crying again, and this time it wasn’t just a small bubble of emotion that made her eyes water. She was really sobbing, which didn’t make it any easier to drive.
She was almost thankful when she spotted the black Ferrari behind her. Eluding him made for a nice distraction. Flooring the gas, she weaved in and out of the lazy traffic in downtown Garnet as if her life depended on getting away from Romeo.