Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
ROME
Flashback
I drive the heels of my hands into my eye sockets to erase the memory from my mind.
It’s useless. I’ll never forget the way my father held the blade to the stranger’s neck, slicing him effortlessly from ear to ear like he was carving a fucking Thanksgiving turkey.
He insists he’s doing it for my own good.
He tells me it’s my birthright, my blood, but I’ve never wanted to escape my life more than I do right now
The original plan was to leave the day after graduation.
I have enough money saved that’s separate from my father’s accounts.
Enough to start a life of my own, far away from the crime syndicate he insists passing onto me.
There are a few minute details I’ve yet to work out, such as ensuring my father won’t send his men after me for betraying the family.
Then there’s Julianna.
I’ve been working out a way to fit her into my plan, knowing it will need to be executed properly for us both to come out alive on the other side.
“I’m so sorry I’m late.” Julianna emerges from the trees lining her family’s second home—the one I snuck into months ago.
I’ve been waiting outside, in the shadows, replaying the memory of what happened only an hour ago over and over.
I parked my blacked-out Benz down the road, out of sight from any security guards or cameras.
We’ve spent months arranging clandestine meetings any chance we get.
At least it’s no longer freezing outside and the rose bushes and trees are in bloom, the spring air warm and inviting.
Julianna runs toward me before leaping into my arms. She’s wearing a black, velvet mini dress with thin diamond embellished straps. The diamond tiara resting on her head reads ‘Birthday Girl’.
She grins from ear to ear, giggling as she wraps her hands around the back of my head and pulls me in for a kiss. Her pink-painted lips taste like strawberry, mingling with her signature scent of vanilla and patchouli.
The visceral memories of witnessing a stranger’s murder only hours ago immediately fade into the background because I’m here with Julianna, surrounded by her warmth.
“I left as soon as I could.” She keeps her lips close to mine as she breathes me in.
I pause, memorizing this moment.
“What’s wrong?” She pulls back, eyeing me with worry.
“Nothing.” I sigh, the squishing sound of my father’s blade slicing warm flesh filling my ears.
“Doesn’t look like nothing.” She frowns.
I hate that I’ve made her worry. It’s her birthday. She shouldn’t be worried about me.
“I’m sorry.” I give her a small, reassuring smile. “My father had me run an errand, and this one has taken a little while to forget. But I’m good now, I promise.”
She knows exactly what I mean by ‘errand’.
I’ve told Julianna the truth about my family and the mantel my father wants me to take up.
First step was turning eighteen. The next is graduating high school.
With graduation only two months away, he’s ramped up how many ‘errands’ he wants me to accompany him on.
Telling Julianna the truth about the origins of my family’s wealth was risky. Her father is the mayor of New York City, for fuck’s sake. Working with the police, it’s his sole job to break and uncover men like those in my family.
From what my father has told me, Kingsten Capuleti hasn’t ever been able to produce solid proof of my family’s crimes enough to put him away for life. That would be a Capuleti’s dream.
Maybe telling Julianna was risky, but only because of the name she bears. Not because of her heart. Not because of the love I know she holds for me.
She knows I want to escape this life, so I’ve been able to trust her with the torment I go through every day living in Dominico Montgomery’s shadow, and how badly I want to break free from it.
“How did you leave?” I nod toward the house behind her. “What did you tell them?”
“All the girls wanted to watch a movie in the theater before eating cake. I told them I wanted to take a walk.”
“Lark.” My expression falls. “What if Sola or one of them follows you out here?”
“They won’t.” She shakes her head confidently.
“So, it’s just a girl’s night, then?” I ask, hating how fucking insecure I sound, but my question isn’t without reason.
“Yes.” She grips the side of my face. “My dad wanted to invite William Trent, the senator’s son, but I told him no. I wanted it to just be me and the girls.”
“I hate how your dad is always trying to set you up on dates.” Rage simmers beneath my skin. “It’s so fucking weird.”
“He’s the mayor of New York City, Rome,” she tries to explain for the one hundredth time. I have yet to buy her excuses. “He’s just trying to ensure I find someone who will complement our family name.”
I pop a brow, trying not to let it get to me again. The last time she told me her dad was trying to set her up, it took me days not to let it send me spiraling. It was a mind fuck I couldn’t escape. But I trust Julianna.
I brush off the frustration and jealousy brewing in my veins, not wanting to ruin her birthday.
“And I’m not good for you?”
Her pretty mouth pulls into a wide grin. “You’re more than good for me, Rome Montgomery. You’re perfect.”
Well, fuck. There goes my heart.
I tuck her hair behind her ear and spin her around until her ass lands against my car. I pin her with my hips and pull back, taking her in. She’s glowing in the dark of night.
“Happy birthday,” I tell her, my cheeks aching from grinning. “For real this time.”
She giggles, and the sound makes me instantly hard. I press it into her, relishing in the feeling of being with her.
“Thank you.” She kisses me again, wrapping her arms around my neck. She tightens her grip on me.
I rub against her, a hungry groan rumbling from my chest. I want to keep going.
I want to sink into this feeling. Being with Julianna makes me feel a million miles away from the world I otherwise exist in.
It’s as if I’m living two separate lives.
I hope one day I can merge them somehow, no matter how foolish the notion sounds when I repeat it to myself.
She stops kissing me, running her glitter-painted nails over my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “I missed you.”
“Me, too.” I hum. “How’s the party?”
“Fine.” She lifts a shoulder, twisting her mouth.
“Just fine?” I raise my brow, shocked she isn’t jumping at the chance to fill me in on everything that’s been happening.
She tilts her head. “Remember when you told me you were glad once your eighteenth birthday was over?”
“Yes.” I swallow, tracing her cheek with my fingertip. “Are you saying you wish this day was over?”
“No.” She frowns, her smile falling completely. “But I wish you could be a part of it.”
“I am.” I drag my hand along her thigh and slip it under her dress to reach for her hip. “I’m here now.”
“You are.” She sighs heavily, her eyes half closing. “But I just wish you could have been in there with me. At my side.”
“I thought you said you wanted it to be a girls’ night.”
She playfully slaps me, scoffing.
I catch her hand and press a kiss to her palm. “One day, I will be,” I tell her, speaking it into existence.
“You promise?” she asks, her smile returning.
It makes my heart flutter. Fuck, I’m so in love with Julianna Capuleti.
“It’s a promise, Lark.” I squeeze her hip, rubbing myself against her again. “One day, we won’t need to meet in secret like this.”
“I dream of the day I get to wake up beside you.” She drags her nails across my scalp, threading her fingers through my hair.
“I dream of the day I get to wake up and hear you singing in the morning.” I smile against her mouth, dragging my tongue across her bottom lip, tasting her lip gloss.
“The perfect dream.” She grins against my mouth.
I slip my hand farther under her dress, spreading my fingers across her lower back.
“Do you have a birthday wish, Lark?”
“Other than being able to be with you without this silly little family rivalry hanging over us?”
“Yes,” I laugh. “Anything besides that.”
“I want you.” She removes one of her hands from the back of my head and dips it between us to unbuckle my belt and pop the button of my pants. She’s quick to lower the zipper and slip her hand into my boxer briefs.
“Fuck.” I gasp. Groaning, my eyes flutter at the sensation of her hand on me.
“Please, Rome.” She strokes me, the back of her hand rubbing against herself.
Although we’ve been seeing each other in secret for months, we’ve yet to have sex.
It isn’t that I haven’t wanted to. Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more.
But Julianna deserves more than what I can currently give her.
It isn’t that we haven’t done anything at all.
Julianna stole my breath away when we snuck away to a bedroom at one of Kiernan’s parties a few months ago and dropped to her knees in front of me.
The next time, I buried my face between her thighs.
Up until then, I didn’t think I’d hear a sweeter sound than her laughter, but she’d proven me wrong when she’d dug her nails into the back of my head and screamed my name.
Ever since, that’s all we’ve done. Although both of us have had sex before, we understand the difference. Sleeping with Julianna wouldn’t be meaningless. It wouldn’t be a case of one and done.
I know that, once we cross that line, there’s no going back. I’d never be able to flush her out of my system.
Now, here we are on her eighteenth birthday, and she’s asking for it.
I swallow as liquid heat wraps around my spine. “I don’t have a condom.” I deflate slightly. Of all the times I’ve had a condom on me. I can’t believe I’m a fucking idiot, not having one now.
“It’s okay.” She takes my face in her hand. “I’m on birth control.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, just to make sure. I need to know this is what Julianna wants.