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ROMEO

Fuck fuck fuck.

Juliet was here.

The second she walked through the door, my eyes flew to her like my body was specially calibrated to always notice her.

I couldn’t believe she was here. My heart was split open because my Juliet had gone somewhere new, even though it scared the shit out of her. She was so fucking brave. I wanted to leap out of my chair, pick her up, and spin her around. I wanted to buy out the entire bakery in celebration of my girl. I wanted everyone to know how badass she was before telling them all to get out because I wanted her all to myself. She looked so pretty today, too, in the green jumpsuit and matching jacket I’d gotten her, her nose all pink from the cold wind.

But I couldn’t do any of that because I was here doing business with the fucking Serbians. Matteo didn’t want to leave Sofiya home alone with a newborn, and I didn’t blame him. But that meant more idiotic meetings for me. These were dangerous men who couldn’t be trusted around my girl. It would put her at risk if they knew how important she was to me. They could use her as leverage against me, and it would fucking work because I would rather die than see Juliet harmed.

I’d suggested the bakery for our meeting to throw them off kilter—I thought it might get them to let some things slip versus meeting at the office. Now, I regretted everything. Why had I thought it was a good idea to bring them anywhere near where my girl lived? I needed to do better, be better for her, unless I wanted history to repeat itself. The image of my father’s prone corpse flashed before my eyes, and I fisted my hands.

I quickly turned my attention back to the men—Vlad and Dragan. Hopefully Juliet wouldn’t see me, and she’d leave, never having known I was here.

“The thing people understand is these rich idiots will spend almost unlimited amounts of money for Black Market art specifically because it’s Black Market. They want something so exclusive that not only are they the only ones who have it, but no one else could even dream about getting it,” Dragan said.

“No one has a firm hold on the art market in the states right now,” Vlad added. “The Russians have expanded their stronghold over diamonds and other gems. The Yakuza commands parts of the Asian art market. But we have access to the Middle East and Northern Africa. And once we finalize our alliance with the Nigerians, we’ll have access to central Africa as well.”

“We would bring the art in through the New York ports under your control and distribute them through exclusive underground auctions.”

I leaned back in my chair, feigning nonchalance while my heart was pounding out of my chest. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Juliet ordering from Marco at the counter. He might have been close to eighty, but it still made jealousy burn through my chest that he got one of her smiles. My heart ached with how much I missed her.

“And why would we give you access to those trade routes?” I asked. “What do you have to offer us?”

Both men clenched their jaws. The Serbians didn’t have the power of the Italian Mafia, especially not with our new Bratva Alliance, but it was clear they didn’t like to be reminded of it.

“We have a lot we can offer the Don—” Dragan started.

“Hi!”

My heart dropped and dread filled me when I turned to see Juliet’s beaming face. She walked over to my table, eyes flitting to the two men before turning back to me. “Sorry for interrupting, I just can’t believe?—”

“And who are you?” I asked harshly, cutting her off.

Her mouth snapped shut, hurt clouded her eyes, and my heart broke in two.

“Yes, who is this?” Vlad said. His eyes raked down her body and my hand twitched towards the fork on the table. It would take me only seconds to pluck his eyes from their sockets.

Juliet’s face burned red, and she took a little step back.

“I didn’t know this was your type, Romeo,” Dragan said, chuckling. “We can certainly gift you some girls if you’d like. We have access to some of the finest escorts in the world. We’ll even find some fat ones if that’s what you’re into.”

I forced a laugh. “No, thank you.” I met Juliet’s gaze. “You’d better run away, little girl. You’re not going to find whatever you’re looking for here.”

She swallowed hard before turning on her heel and rushing out the door. A scowling Marco met my gaze from behind the counter, lifting Juliet’s box of baked goods that she’d left behind.