CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ROME
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The script still wasn't ready.
Lying in bed with my laptop balanced on my lap, I stared at the latest version of the tracking code I’d created and resisted the urge to delete it and start again. This would work. It just needed to be tweaked.
Earlier, I'd tested it against one of my own devices. The results hadn't been encouraging. The moment the script activated, my security software detected it. My antivirus immediately flagged it as suspicious and started trying to remove it.
Which meant Juliet's systems would do the same thing. And that’s what I was trying to avoid. Leaning back against the headboard, I rubbed my jaw. The point of the script was to locate her without her finding out she was being tracked.
I would only get one chance at this, because if it triggered her spyware defenses, she'd start blocking this specific code, and I’d have to create another one and start the testing process all over again.
I didn’t have that kind of time. I wanted this woman. Now! Maybe if I altered the way the script handled network requests...
No.
That wouldn’t work.
I stared at the code for several more seconds before sighing heavily. The script wasn’t my only issue. The second issue was getting it onto her device. The only way this would work was if Juliet hacked me again.
She’d been quiet since our last video chat. Not a single probe. Not a single attempt to slip past my firewalls. Nothing. The silence was driving me insane. I missed our lunch challenges. I missed our nightly chats.
I missed getting notifications that she was trying to access my emails and video files. The woman had become part of my daily routine. And now she was gone. Her absence left an empty space in my life that I didn’t want to get used to.
If I didn't hear from her soon, I was going to lose my damn mind. I needed to find her. It was as simple as that. I needed to find Juliet With Curves. To those around me, I looked calm on the outside, the same old Rome.
But on the inside, I was spiraling, heart and thoughts chaotic. Tilting my head back, I stared up at the ceiling. If she was going to ghost me like this, then she never should’ve teased me in the first place.
And if she was truly trying to distance herself from me, I would have to show her that you couldn’t poke a lion and not expect it to pounce. I was just about to close out of my apps when a notification chimed.
My eyes snapped to the message. For a second, I just stared at the screen, unable to believe what I was seeing. It was her. My Juliet. She’d sent a video chat request with a link. But there was a note included that read: voice only, no cams.
Why doesn't she want cams tonight?
Had something happened? Did she not want me to see her? Had someone done something to her? Gritting my teeth, my thoughts turned murderous. I needed to see for myself that she was okay.
Fuck no cams!
I stared at the request for several seconds before glancing down at myself. Damn. Bandages still covered part of my chest and shoulder where the bullet had torn through me. The wound was healing, but I didn’t want her to see me like this.
I didn’t know how to explain that I’d broken into my cousin’s house, killed most of his guards, and gotten shot while killing him. Yeah, that was more of a third-year anniversary confession.
I had my reasons for not being on camera, just as she had hers. I reached over, disabled my camera, and then activated the voice modulator. I looked back at the request. Heart racing, I took a deep breath and clicked on the link.
My eyes drifted shut the moment Juliet's voice filled the room. A strange sensation crept over me. I didn’t have a name for it. All I knew was in that moment, all was right in my world because my Juliet was back.
Fuck.
I was a goner for this woman.
“Hey, lover,” Juliet rasped. “Did you miss me?”
Even distorted by the modulator, I couldn't believe how good it felt to hear her again. For almost two weeks, I'd been staring at a blank screen, hoping for a message while replaying our old conversations in my head.
Now that she was talking to me again, I felt tongue-tied and didn’t know how to respond. So, I decided to just be honest.
“I don’t think I’ve ever missed anyone as much as I’ve missed you,” I admitted. “It's been almost two weeks. I was about to start going through withdrawals.”
Her chuckle drifted through my speakers. Damn. I missed that sound.
“I've been experiencing some withdrawals of my own,” she confessed.
For a second, I just sat there staring at the dark screen of my laptop, unable to believe how happy it made me to hear her say that. Then I got a hold of myself and cleared my throat.
“We can feed our addiction better if we could meet,” I said.
Silence. Seconds ticked by as my smile faded.
“Romeo, I'm just... so busy.”
“Everyone is busy,” I countered. “We can meet for lunch or dinner. You've got to eat. You may as well eat with me.”
And if I'm lucky, you'll let me eat you.
My mouth watered at the thought. But there was no point in getting my hopes up. I already knew she wasn't going to agree. She'd been avoiding direct contact with me for months. Now she wouldn’t even let me see her on video.
She was pulling away from me. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I just couldn't push too hard. If I spooked her, she'd disappear again. And I couldn't handle another two weeks of silence.
“Romeo, I just need more time.”
Just as I expected.
“Okay, baby,” I said, knowing I needed to work harder to get that code running properly. “How was your week?” I asked, wanting to take her mind off meeting me.
“Busy,” she admitted. “I'm so glad it's over. But next week is going to be a busy week too.”
“I wish I were next to you so I could massage your feet for you.”
My own words shocked me. Mentally groaning, I stared at the ceiling. Had I really just said that? I'd never massaged anyone's feet in my life. Not once. Yet somehow, the idea of taking care of Juliet in that way sounded perfectly normal.
“That would be lovely, Romeo. I need a full-body massage. Every part of me is tense.”
I leaned back against my headboard. Though I'd never massaged anyone before, I'd give anything to massage her. Anything to help her relax. Anything to be the person she turned to when life became overwhelming.
If I could be this woman’s haven, I would make sure she never had to worry about anything. Shit. I was starting to sound like Raz and Cas now. Leo too.
“I know you're just as busy as I am,” she told me. “You deserve a massage too, lover. I would love to give you one to help you forget about all the stresses of your workday.”
Damn, her words made me want to kidnap her ass tonight and lock her away until she meant everything she was saying. She didn’t realize how much her words affected me. How their warmth chased away the coldness that clung to me every hour of every day.
She didn’t know how comforting they were, how dangerous they were. Nor did she know how much I wished what she was saying was true. I closed my eyes, a sense of longing creeping over me that was unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
If I had a woman like her to come home to, I’d probably never leave the house. I’d work from home so I could spend all my time with her. But that would make me clingy, and that wasn’t like me.
Plus, I had a feeling Juliet didn’t do clingy. One thing I was learning from Raz’s relationship was to follow your woman’s lead and anticipate what she wanted before she voiced it.
Raz had gotten good at that in the time I was away. And he was a clingy motherfucker, though he tried to blame it on Monique. Every time he talked, he ended the conversation with, I need to get home before my future wife starts missing me too much.
I think he was trying to rub it in that he had someone waiting for him at home, while I didn’t. I'd give anything to have what he had. But I wanted it with Juliet. No one else would do. It had to be her. It would be her. Opening my eyes, I stared at the dark laptop screen.
“Coming home to get a massage from you sounds... it sounds great,” I told her. “What do I have to do to make that our reality, baby?”
I hated how fucking desperate I sounded. How vulnerable it made me feel. I hated that she could do this to me. Make me resort to damn near begging her to step into my world fully. I fucking hated needing her this much.
But at the same time, I didn’t want to stop feeling this way. I just hoped she’d soon join me in this insanity. I understood she probably needed time. But I wished she’d tell me what to do to make her comfortable enough to let me into her world.
“Honestly, Romeo, with everything going on in my life, I don't know when we'll be able to see each other face to face.”
She wasn't saying no. But she wasn't saying yes either.
“Do you want that?” I asked. “Do you want to see me in person instead of behind a screen?”
Silence greeted me. At first, I thought she might dodge the question. Then her voice came through the speakers. Soft. Almost fragile, even with the modulator disguising it.
“More than anything,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
Every muscle in my body tightened. I leaned closer to the laptop despite knowing it wouldn't bring me any closer to her.
“Then let's make it happen, Juliet.”
“That's easier said than done, Romeo.”
“Let me handle it. I'll make it happen. Just tell me where you are. I’ll come to you. Wherever you are, I’ll get there.”
“The time isn't right, lover.”
Damn it!
I dropped back against my pillow and released a frustrated sigh. I was getting tired of screens. Tired of mystery. Tired of talking to a woman I couldn't touch. A woman I couldn't take to dinner and eat as my dessert.
A woman I couldn't look in the eyes while telling her exactly how happy I was that she’d chosen to hack me. I glanced to my right, to the empty space in my bed. I was tired of staring at that space and not finding her there.