By the time she’d pulled into her office, she was almost sane—almost.
She looked in the rearview mirror and tried to wipe some of the mascara off.
Clay’s SUV was in her parking lot, which meant Melody was probably with him too.
She knew they were there for her birthday, but that just made it worse. She didn’t want to walk into a whole office full of well-wishers looking like she’d been crying as if she’d just broken up with the love of her life.
That thought caused a pain in her chest that couldn’t be denied, and she buried her face in her hands. She was so upset she didn’t even look up when someone opened the passenger-side door.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a hazard to the road? I drive a Ferrari, and you still lost me. For a cop you’re not exactly law-abiding behind the wheel.”
“Go away,” she rasped, her shoulders shaking under the wave of heartbreak.
He sat in the car and closed the door. “Juliet—”
“Don’t call me that,” she whispered vehemently, hating her hormones and the show of weakness because she’d really like to be kicking the shit out of him, not sitting here crying. “Please just leave me alone.”
232
“Listen to me,” Romeo said softly. “You can’t say anything about the fight to your brother or—”
“Oh my God.” Jules opened her door. Who cared if someone saw her crying?
Knowing Romeo was more concerned about his reputation than her shattered heart felt like the last straw. “Go home, Romeo.”
She got out of the car and slammed her door without locking it. She was at the steps before Romeo caught her arm. She turned around and punched him, catching him hard in the jaw. His head snapped roughly to the side from the force of her anger, but for a guy like Romeo, who got punched on a regular basis, it didn’t leave quite the impact she was hoping for.
“Do you feel better?” he asked simply, completely unfazed by the right hook.
“Can we go back to the car and have a calm conversation?”
“No, we can’t.” She stared at him in disbelief, for the first time really noticing that Romeo was still wearing only his jeans. “What the heck are you doing? You’re standing in front of my office half-naked. Anyone could see.”
“Who gives a shit?”
“I do,” Jules said as an insane sort of laughter burst out of her. “I don’t want everyone in town to think I’ve been fucking a criminal!” Romeo sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes narrowed to emerald slits before he said in a deadly whisper, “Well, guess what, Juliet, you have been fucking a criminal and you knew it. Now you gotta deal with the consequences of it. You wanted to talk.
Let’s talk, ’cause there’s a whole fuckload of miscommunication going on here and running your mouth about shit you don’t understand is gonna get us all in trouble.”
“What is there to explain? You threw the fight with Clay. There ain’t a whole lot to misunderstand ’bout that.”
“Obviously there is.” Romeo snorted. “I never threw that fight.”
233
“I heard Tino say you did.” Jules was honestly offended he was insulting her intelligence by trying to convince her otherwise. “And I’ve been on the mat with you. I know how good you are. There is no way you lost that fight legitimately.”
“I appreciate your faith in my abilities.” Romeo ran a hand through his hair, looking past Jules’s shoulder to the front door to the office. He took a shuddering breath and said more clearly, “I didn’t throw that fight.”
“Stop lying.” Jules turned to walk up the stairs, seeing that Wyatt and Clay were at the door, but what did she care. It felt like all the joy in her life had just crumpled at her feet. “Just leave me alone, Romeo.”
Romeo reached out to her, grabbing her arm. “Listen, this is important—”
“She told you to leave her alone,” Wyatt said, his voice razor sharp and icy.
“Touch her again and that could be considered assaulting an officer. I ain’t got to explain the consequences for that offense, do I?”
“Fine.” Romeo let out a bitter laugh as he let go of her, holding up his hands in surrender. “That’s the reason I didn’t tell you, Juliet. Fucking Nova, he’s always right.” Jules walked past Wyatt, brushing aside his hand when he touched her arm in concern.
She wasn’t surprised when Wyatt stiffened and turned back to Romeo. “I suggest you find somewhere else to be, Wellings.”
“Why don’t you tell me to stay away from your sister next?” Romeo taunted. “Be totally predictable about it.”