Chapter 39
Julia
We pull up to the penthouse, still in post-wedding bliss.
We don't make it three steps into the house before I hear the click of a safety being released.
Kai's body goes rigid behind me, and Mikey's hand slides from my waist to my back. Guiding me behind him without a word.
I recognize the man in front of us. He was at my father's house a lot. Silas Romano. He is the head of the Romano crime family here. They did a lot of business together, not that I was supposed to know that. I was a sneaky child who liked to eavesdrop on conversations that were not mine to hear.
He's looking at me, staring at my feet, and working his way up until he stops at my left hand that now has my wedding ring on it. His eyes jump to mine, and they are now filled with fury.
"Wait," Romano says, and I can feel a person behind us. It's one of his men; he has a gun in his hands, but it's not raised. He is tall, in a black suit, and looks like a damn brick wall.
Kai's voice breaks me from my stare. "You brought weapons into my house."
That's what he asks? Forget the fact that they are here uninvited.
"Insurance," Romano shrugs.
Mikey laughs softly, "That's adorable."
A gunshot cracks through the room, but I can tell it's not from Romano's man behind me; this one comes from the balcony.
Glass explodes outward as one of Luca's men drops in like gravity itself, already on the move. Romano's guard goes down hard, his gun skidding across the marble floor, before I can process what just happened.
Chaos detonates through the house, and Kai shoves me back, holding onto my waist firmly.
"Bedroom. Now." He growls, but I don't move.
Romano spins, reaching for his own weapon, but Mikey is faster.
He crosses the room in three long strides, grabs Romano by the collar, and slams him into the table hard enough to crack the wood. I look to the side, and Luca’s guy is still there, gun drawn, waiting for the signal from Mikey or Kai.
“You don’t threaten my wife,” Mikey growls. “You don’t get to breathe around my unborn child like that.”
Romano wheezes through Mikey, choking the shit out of him, but still manages a smile. “Your problem,” He coughs, “is that my son is still expecting what was promised to him years ago.”
Kai steps in and draws his gun. I blink at him. When the fuck did he get a gun? I didn’t feel it on him.
“Listen to me,” Kai says. “That deal died the moment her father signed it without her consent. It died again when De Luca took his last breath, and you decided to walk in here like you owned the damn place? And it will stay dead.”
Romano’s eyes flick past Kai and lock on me. I step forward and feel the twins tense through the air.
“Julia…” Mikey starts.
“I need him to hear me,” I say.
No one stops me, but Kai finds my hand. I bend down to get closer to Romano’s face. Mikey has loosened his grip on his throat so he can breathe… for now.
“You want payment?” I ask, tilting my head to the side, studying him. “Take it from me. I’m ending this. Now.”
Romano laughs. “You think you have the authority?”
“I don’t think. I know I do,” I stop and look at Mikey, then at Kai. “Because if you touch me, if you touch my family, there will be nothing left of your legacy.” I take a second to watch him process my words, “Do you understand me?”
Romano doesn’t answer, just keeps looking at me.
Kai presses the gun into his skull to make his point clear. “This is the last warning.”
Romano looks between the twins, then around the room slightly. He stops at his man, dead and bleeding on the floor, then to Luca’s guy, who has his gun down to his side now, but you can tell he is still ready for anything.
Romano nods slowly.
“This isn’t finished,” he says hoarsely.
The front door opens with a loud bang, causing me to stand instantly, and in struts Luca. “Yes,” he says, “it is.”
He pulls out a gun and pulls the trigger. The shot tears through Romano’s shoulder, not killing him. As Mikey releases, Romano screams, clutching his wound.
Luca leans down next to Romano, “Listen here. You are leaving alive as a warning. Julia, Michael, and Malachi Monroe are a part of the Moretti family. You do anything to them, you will be declaring war on my family. Do you hear me?”
Romano nods and is then dragged out, bleeding and broken, by more of Luca’s guys.
When it’s finally over, my knees give out, and Mikey catches me. Kai kneels in front of me, running his hands over my face while his eyes frantically check for any injuries.
“Hey,” he says, grabbing my cheeks in both of his hands. “You’re okay. You’re both okay.”
I nod and press my forehead to his. “I didn’t know it would come back,” I whisper to him.
“What would come back?” He pulls back from me, looking at me, confused.
My heart is racing, and I look around the room to make sure they actually got rid of Romano. “The past,” I whisper, scared that if I say it too loud, something else will pop its ugly ass face out.
Mikey kisses my hair. “The past always tries.”
Kai’s hand settles over my stomach, “But it doesn’t get to touch what’s ours.”