Page 165 of Burning Daylight

Standing up, I jerk my chin at the woman, and she follows.

Merrick laughs, lifting his bottle and calling out, “Let me know how the old hag is, sweetheart! Maybe I’ll take her for a ride!”

“Ignore them,” I mutter, moving between the tables until we hit that back hallway I found Juliette in not too long ago.

Spinning around, I cross my arms and lean against the wall. “All right, let’s try this again. What’s your name?”

She looks behind her before finding me again. “Beverly. I’m here to give you a message.”

My eyes flare, and I straighten. Worry for Juliette bubbles inside me. “What’s the message?”

She eyes me. “I’m not sure if I should give it to you or not.”

“Then you’re wasting my time.”

“The opposite. I care about Juliette, love her, even, and if you’re just messing around to get in her head, just to leave her in it alone, then I need you to know something.” She leans in. “I might not be strong enough to hurt you, but I know people who can. And I’ll make sure you’re hurting for the rest of your life.”

My lips quirk, warmth filling up my chest. I worried that maybe Juliette didn’t have anyone in her corner, not truly, anyway, and knowing that at least there’s one person there with her beyond her family who she can trust makes me happy.

“I’m not playing games,” I say. “I promise you that.”

Her gaze softens. “She deserves someone who’ll fight for her. Even if it’s messy. Even if it seems impossible.”

Impossible is the right word for it, unfortunately.

“She needs to see you,” Beverly says.

My heart trips over itself. “Why didn’t she just text me?”

Beverly cuts me a look. “She didn’t suggest it, I’m just saying I can help make it happen.”

I swallow harshly, my hands going in my pockets as I nod.She’s brutal.Is this where Juliette learned it from?

“Did you truly save her life?”

“Kind of.” Memories of a simpler time, when I was just a silly guy with bad ideas and flirty lines. Before I became the thing she isn’t supposed to want. “Do you think she can meet me there tonight? Where I saved her?”

She blows out a breath and then nods. “I’ll make sure of it. But Roman, don’t justshow upfor her, and think she should continue to wait for you in the dark.”

I frown.

“If you want her,reallywant her, then you must take her.Chooseher. Don’t look back. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

The silence is thick.

“I thought you worked for the Calloways,” I reply eventually.

“I do,” she confirms. “But that house will be the death of her. And I’ll do anything to get her out.”

My chest pulls tight, and I watch her closely.

Frederick’s words flow through my mind, the same as they have ever since he said them.

Sometimes the only way to protect something as precious as love…is to take it far from where anyone can reach it.

42

ROMAN