Dark Romeo: A Dark Forbidden Romance (Dark Romeo Universe Book 1)

Julianna

One hour earlier…

The second I stepped out of Espinoza’s car, the smile slid off my face. Lately it hurt to smile, like I was somehow out of practice. As I made my way into my building, my thoughts turned to Roman. I wondered what he was doing tonight. He probably wasn’t alone like I was. He had Rosaline to keep him company. His fiancée, I thought bitterly.

I had barely gotten my key into my door when a deep male voice called my name. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t heard him come up behind me.

Startled, I spun, drawing my gun at the same time. I didn’t expect to see him. Mercutio Brevio was standing behind me, a serious look on his face.

“Whoa,” he said as I pointed my weapon at him. He raised his hands, showing me his palms in an act of placation. “Don’t shoot.”

“Mercutio?” I frowned. He didn’t like me. The last time we saw each other he told me in no uncertain terms to leave his best friend the hell alone. The reminder of Roman throbbed like a wound across my heart. “What are you doing here?”

Mercutio’s dark eyebrows drew together. He looked away. Whatever he was here for, he was struggling with telling me. Whatever it was, it took a lot for him to come here. I lowered my weapon but I didn’t put it away, my eyes darting over his shoulder to make sure we were alone. “What is it?”

He shuffled his weight, his eyes darting around the hall. “Can we talk?”

“Talk.”

“Inside your apartment?”

I flinched. Was this a trick?

Mercutio must have sensed my hesitancy because he opened his jacket, then patted his body. “Look, I don’t have any weapons on me.” He eyed my gun, now pointed at the floor. “I hate the damn things. Besides, I’m positive you’d kick my ass if I tried anything.”

I didn’t move. Mercutio might not have a record, but that could just mean that he’d never been caught.

Now who’s being prejudiced, Jules?

“Please. It’s about Roman.”

Fuck. My heart felt scraped raw, my nerves fraying over just hearing his name. God, when would I be able to place him in the past? When would the wound stop feeling so fresh?

I tried to remain as calm as possible. I was sure that I failed. I nodded, my throat in a knot. I unlocked the door and let us in, holstering my gun.

“What about him?” I asked as soon as we were inside, my voice steadier than I expected it to be.

“Roman’s in trouble.”

“Trouble?” My stomach felt like someone was wringing it out.

“In less than an hour he’s going to be facing off against Dante Veronesi. A duel to the death.” My heart skipped a beat at the word death. “Dante is a ruthless cheater. Killing the only living heir to the Tyrell empire will cement his place as favorite with his father. He’s never going to let Roman walk away.”

“But the truce?—”

“The truce means jack shit. They both blew that sky high. I can’t go to his family. They’d turn the duel into a bloodbath and use it as an excuse to incite a war.”

I cursed. Damn you, Roman. I swallowed hard, as bloody images ripped from crime scene photos flashed before my eyes. What the hell was he thinking by challenging Dante to a duel? They were illegal, first of all; a modern-day flashback to when men used to duel with pistols that the local Mafia had copied to sorting out their feuds. Second of all, what a stupid thing to walk into without backup. “Why are you coming to me?”

“I have no one else to turn to. No one else to help. I know…I know you care about him.” Even though you shouldn’t, was the accusation. “He’ll listen to you.”

“I don’t know if he told you but he…” I hesitated. How much of our relationship did Mercutio know about? I chose to play it safe. “Roman and I don’t exactly talk anymore.”

“Just call him. Talk to him.”

“He won’t listen to me.” I said, my voice coming out flustered. I wanted to help, but Mercutio was kidding himself if he thought that a call from me was going to convince Roman not to do such a stupid thing. He always did what he damn well wanted. “We didn’t exactly leave things on good terms.”

“He still…still cares about you.”

That was a lie. Why would he break up with me? Why would he say those horrible things to me?

“Please,” Mercutio said, “he is the only brother I’ve ever known. I know he can be an asshole at times…”

I snorted.

Mercutio gave me a wry half-smile. “Ok, he can be an asshole most of the time, but he doesn’t deserve to die alone at the hand of the Veronesis. And he will die if you don’t do something.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Could I put my pride aside?

My mind sent me an image of Roman on the ground, bleeding out, reaching for me. “Jules…” his voice croaking before his eyes went dead. My heart seized. Mercutio was right. I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. I had to try. Even if I was the last person he’d ever want to hear from. I couldn’t live with myself if I did nothing.

I grabbed my bag, rummaging through it for my phone. My phone, where was it?

Dammit. My phone. I must have left it at work.

Shit shit shit.

“Where’s your phone,” I demanded of Mercutio. I grabbed it from him and called Roman. I’d say anything. I’d beg, if that’s what he needed to hear.

Come on, Roman. Pick up.

It went to voice mail. My heart clenched when I heard Roman’s voice asking me to leave a message.

Shit.

I hung up and turned to Mercutio. His face was drawn, tension pulling his jaw tight. “He won’t pick up.” I handed his phone back to him. “We have to go stop them.”

Mercutio winced as he glanced at the clock on my wall. “We won’t get there in time.”

“Where is this duel taking place?”

“Dead Man’s Alley, Little Italy.”

Dead Man’s Alley. Shit. That place was dark, the buildings around it abandoned with plenty of places to hide. Dante could have snipers hidden anywhere. Walking into that with just Mercutio and me would be suicide. We needed help. We needed backup. I gritted my teeth. It meant doing something that Roman would hate me for later. Better that he hates me than him being dead.

“We can stop this duel in time if we call for backup.” I lunged for my cordless phone sitting on my counter.

“No,” cried Mercutio. He grabbed my hand, stopping me from dialing. “No cops.”

“I am a cop.”

“No other cops.”

“Merc,” I called him by the nickname I’d heard Roman call him, “if you want to save Roman, we need help. It’s too dangerous to do it alone.”

Mercutio shook his head and swore. “I knew I shouldn’t have come to you.”

“Merc, we are running out of time. Do you want Roman to live or not?”

He let out a curse. “He’s going to kill me…”

Us. He’s going to kill us for getting the cops involved. Better angry than dead. “At least he’ll be alive to kill us.”

He let go of my hand so I could dial. “You do what you need to do.”

I chewed my lip as the number rang, hoping to hell I was making the right decision.

My father picked up on the second ring.

I didn’t stop to chat. “There’s going to be a duel between the Tyrells and the Veronesis in Little Italy in less than an hour.”

“Where did you hear this from?”

“A source. We need to send a team there now to stop it from becoming a bloodbath.”

“A source?”

I withheld an exasperated noise. “A reliable source. Dad, we need to move on this now. I need a minimum of four units.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “I thought there was a truce going on between them.”

“Obviously it didn’t hold.” Why was he taking so long to agree to send backup?

“Dead Man’s Alley in Little Italy, you said?”

“Yes.” Finally.

“It’s abandoned there. Just a bunch of empty buildings overlooking the alley. No restaurants or commercial spots around the place.”

“Yeah?” Mercutio was frowning at me with a look on his face like, what’s taking so long. I turned my back on him. “So?”

“No innocents will be injured in the crossfire.”

“The Tyrells and the Veronesis will kill each other if we don’t stop them.”

“Perhaps that’s for the best.”

“What? What the hell are you talking about, Dad?”

There was a pause. A long, heavy pause where I held my breath, the hairs on my arm raising as the anticipation built. He sighed as if I was being slow. “Sometimes,” he said laboring over each word, “you have to know when to hold back, Julu. Sometimes you have to let nature take its course.”

Blood drained from my face. What the actual fuck? “Dad, you’re just going to sit back and send who knows how many men to their deaths?”

“They are criminals, not men. And I am not sitting back. I am allocating resources.”

“You have to send backup now.”

“I do not have the luxury of reallocating uniforms to stop a bloodbath between criminals when I have innocent people who need their attention more.”

Tears stung my eyes. My father— my own father—was going to let Roman die, a man I knew was good, because of all the bad ones. “One unit. Give me one.”

“I’ll send a unit there later to pick up the pieces of whoever is left.”

My stomach coiled into a tight spring of resolve. Screw him. He might not send anyone to help. But I wasn’t going to stand by and let this injustice happen. “Fine. Then I’m going in there by myself.”

“Julianna, don’t you?—”

I slammed down the phone, a prickly heat underneath my skin like a rash. I couldn’t believe it. My own father.

I turned to Mercutio, who was staring at me in despair. He wouldn’t have been able to hear what my father said, but he would have gotten the gist of it based on my reaction. “We’re fucked, aren’t we?”

It wasn’t over until it was over. “I have an idea, but it might get bloody.”

Something passed between us. I saw the deep love he had for Roman mirrored on his face. And I knew that we were both prepared to die for him.

Mercutio nodded.

I grabbed my car keys. “Let’s go.”