His Juliet: An Age Gap Hurt Comfort Mafia Romance (Empire of Royals Book 2)

I sighed, throwing my arm across my face. It was two in the morning. I should be sleeping, but like most nights, it wouldn’t come. I picked up my phone, half-heartedly flipping through some apps. Once again, my finger clicked on Juliet’s contact. I now spent every waking minute thinking about her, wanting to talk to her, but I had no idea what to say.

I can’t stop thinking about you.

Do you want more pizza?

Do you want a new place to live?

How about a boyfriend?

I punched my pillow. I’d never been a fucking boyfriend to anyone, and I certainly couldn’t be that to Juliet, an outsider. My jaw clenched as my thoughts wandered to my mamma. She’d called me earlier and I hadn’t answered. I told myself it was because I was busy, but I could have made time for her. Should have made time for her. Except whenever we talked, I was reminded of how I’d failed to protect her… and of the look of horror in her eyes when she saw the monster inside of me.

What if something happened to Juliet because of me?

I navigated to our text conversation again. Just looking at her name made my chest feel all weird and tight. I rolled over on my side, and in the process, I accidentally hit her name.

Shit shit shit. The phone was ringing. In my panic, I fumbled it, losing it in the sheets. I cursed again and managed to grab it just as Juliet’s voice came through the speaker.

“Hello?”

Kill me now.

“Hey. Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call. Did I wake you?”

I held my breath while I waited for her answer.

“Oh, no. I was awake. But, umm, if you didn’t mean to call, I guess we can just⁠—”

“No!” I jumped to my feet and started pacing. “I mean, no, if you want to talk, we can.”

The pause on the other end of the line was excruciating, but she finally responded. “Why are you up so late?”

“I have insomnia. I’m up late most nights.”

“Do you do anything to pass the time?”

I moved to the window and drew the curtain back so I could look out at the city. “Think brooding thoughts, mostly.”

She snorted, and the sound made me smile.

“Your laugh is cute,” I said.

“Oh, thank you. Um, your laugh is cute, too.”

That made me chuckle. “Oh, yeah?” I hummed. “What do you do to pass the time?”

“I mostly read until I fall asleep.”

“You sure it’s not the books putting you to sleep?”

“Well, it was nice knowing you…”

“Just kidding. What are you reading now?”

“Nothing interesting.”

“Oh, come on, tell me. It’s interesting to you, and I want to get to know you.”

She hesitated for a moment. “I’m reading a romance.”

I grinned. I’d seen some of the books Sofiya left around. “Is it dirty?”

“Maybe.”

“Cute little Juliet reading her dirty books.”

“Brooding Romeo, thinking his deep, dark thoughts.”

“You got me.” I turned back to my bed and sat down on the mattress. “Sometimes if I’ve finished all my brooding, I’ll play video games.”

“Ahh. A big Animal Crossing fan?”noveldrama

Now it was my turn to snort. “You got me. I spend my nights building an island or whatever the fuck you do in that game.”

“I’ve actually never played it, but it looks fun. What do you have going on tomorrow? I realized I’ve never asked what you do for work.”

“I’m the CFO of a real estate company.”

Don’t ask me the name of the company.

“You have a desk job? That’s the last thing I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“I was guessing CIA agent or secret spy or something.”

My insides twisted at how close her guess was to the truth. Except I was on the other side of the law.

I forced a laugh. “Nah, just a desk job for me. But it gives me lots of opportunities for brooding.”

“I’m sure the office loves that.”

An uncomfortable sensation rose in my chest at having to lie to her. I wanted Juliet to know the real me, but could she ever accept me the way I was?

“What keeps you up so late?” I asked, switching the subject.

“I’m not sure.” Her voice was low and there was an edge of vulnerability in it. “I’ve been like this most of my life. It’s like my body doesn’t want to let me sleep.” She took a deep breath. “Sometimes I have bad dreams.”

“I’m sorry, angel.” I had nightmares, too, but that seemed too vulnerable to share. “Anything I can do?”

“No, but it’s sweet of you to ask.”

“Not many people call me sweet.”

“Must be because they don’t know you well enough.”

I wished that were true, but unfortunately, I feared the opposite. The closer people got to me, the more clearly they saw my inner darkness.

“You should try to sleep. You’ve got a bookstore to run.”

Juliet hummed. “Thanks for calling. This was nice.”

That brought a smile to my face. “Sweet dreams.”

“You, too, Romeo.”