AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I rolled my eyes.
“No, Todd certainly deserved to have his nose broken. No doubt he’ll have it broken many times with how he treats people. The world is filled with Todds, I’m afraid.”
I stared back skeptically.
“So, movie?” he asked.
“Um, sure,” I said.
At the theater upstairs Romero bought two large buckets of popcorn and a soda for each of us, along with a box of my favorite candy, Buncha Crunch. He let me pick the film. Something with Anna Kendrick, because she’s gorgeous.
He didn’t complain, even knowing it was a chick flick.
We found center seats in the middle row and sat, waiting for the room to go dark.
“Does my mom know?” I asked after a few minutes.
Romero gusted a breath. “No.”
I nodded, stuffing a handful of popcorn into my mouth. I didn’t want her to know. She’d been clean for over a year and I worried that the tiniest misstep would set her off again.
We didn’t speak. He checked his phone several times before the film began to play, and I was able to forget the ordeal at school.
Thankfully the school year would be over in a few months. Regardless, I hated that I’d have to go back tomorrow. And the day after. And every day until the end of the year.
When the film was over and my belly was sufficiently sore from laughing so hard, Romero took my empty popcorn bucket and refilled it on the way out. I smiled to myself. That was something I usually did, which he either knew somehow, or it was something he did too.
In the car on the way home, he finally spoke again. “My dad left me and my madre when I was too young to remember him. She was an addict too. Him leaving her sent her into a tailspin. She was never not high. And she was never around. In the end, I found my mother with her skull splattered on the walls. She killed herself because she couldn’t live without him. Iwas only five, but I still remember it clearly. Her dealer had taken me in, and the guy was the worst sort of scum imaginable.”
My stomach dropped. I threw him a glance, but he stared straight ahead. “I know what it’s like to be neglected by the ones that are supposed to love you the most. Going through foster care made it abundantly clear that no one was ever going to give a shit about me. I made peace with that at a young age. So I built myself an empire. I made people respect me.” He turned his head to meet my gaze. Those eyes were unfathomably dark, yet I still saw the tiniest glimmer of sadness in them. “Your mother may not always seem like she cares, but she does. And just know that even though it feels like no one can see you, I can. I’ll always protect you, Julietta. You can count on me.”
His words stopped my breathing. My throat burned and tears pricked my eyes.
I simply nodded and turned to stare out the window. He didn’t need my words. He just seemed to get me. And I kind of liked that.
Chapter Eight
JULIETTA
Rafael hit the table. And laughed.
When he lifted his head, I saw the drops of crimson falling from his split lip, splashing against the wooden table. Romero’s drink was spilled across the gleaming surface. The others froze while the Russian wiped the blood from his lip, smearing it on the back of his tattooed hand.
Romero glared at Rafael, who turned and straightened. “I know you feel like you have to protect her,” he started in his thick accent. “But it is her body. Her decision to make. I will of course stand down if you wish it, but the girl would have the money to begin her own life. She could run a business, do whatever she wished. After all, she is not your girl. Not your daughter.”
My heart still thudded hard, trying to slow its pace. Romero didn’t look at me. I, however, couldn’t seem to look away. He radiated a fury so potent it clouded the room. I noticed the other men had taken a step away from me, proving they weren’t touching me, just as they’d promised. After such an erotic act, I almost wished someone would. My pussy still ached, and I knew my vibrator and dildo would be getting a workout later.
Romero turned to Eli, Darren, Kieran, and Aaron. “She just made enough money to get her out from under my roof, which I’m certain was by design.”
Then his wrath homed in on me, and the images from my fantasy came rushing back, making my nipples harden. Still, I felt a tremor of fear at the intensity in his gaze. He’d never looked at me like that before.
“Go upstairs and go to bed,” he snapped like I was some petulant child that had disobeyed him one too many times. “And lock your damn door.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “From you or them?”
Something hotter than anger flashed across his features. I sighed and plucked the dildo off the chair as gracefully as I could, given that my other arm was full of cash and checks. “Fine, but I’m taking this.” Waving it over my shoulder, I stalked to the stairs, swaying my hips as I went. The full view of my ass did not miss its mark.
Sniggers and low whistles followed me up halfway, then they stopped immediately—most likely Romero silencing them with his menacing glare. I knew they didn’t obey him like some kind of leader. Rather, they respected him inside his home. It made me wonder what they were all like in their own elements.
