Page 52 of From Rome, With Hate

Julianna destroyed me that night I caught her with someone else. Even after she’d explained why, it didn’t matter. I’d already lost too much at that point.

Losing my mother days later added more than insult to injury. It eviscerated me, and I haven’t been the same since.

“Yeah.” I clear my throat while unraveling the roll of gauze. I gently press the end of it to her leg and start to wrap it around her cuts. “But there’s a difference when the murderer is your father.”

I can’t look Julianna in the eye. I already know I’ve wounded her without having to look at her face.

White knuckled, she grips the edge of the tub, and I sense her reacting to what I’ve said. She’s vibrating with anger.

“So, what?” she asks, her voice sharp. “You’re comparing our mothers’ murders now? Yours was worse because it wasn’t committed by a stranger?”

Once I’ve reached the top of her ankle, I use the tiny scissors from the kit to cut the end. I tear off two pieces of tape and apply them to the end of the gauze. Closing my eyes, I breathe in a deep sigh. Fuck, it’s difficult not to slip back to how we used to be. I’ve barely finished placing the tape when she tears her foot from my leg and practically leaps out of the bathtub, despite her obvious pain.

“What is wrong with you?” she says once she’s turned back to me. Her voice is unsteady and her eyes are lined with tears. “No matter how much time has passed, you just can’t help it, can you?”

The sight of her breaks my heart. Why do I always hurt her then immediately regret it? I want to kiss her wounds, stitch them back together—wounds caused by me.

“I’m sorry, Lark.” I step out of the tub and meet her on the other side.

She backs away and limps out of the bathroom, holding out her arm for me to stay back. “I’m so tired of your apologies. You never mean them.”

“I always mean them. I didn’t mean for it to come across like that.”

Her eyebrows slant together. “Then, how did you mean it? Because comparing our mothers’ murders doesn’t exactly sound like casual, friendly conversation.”

“I don’t know.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, stepping closer. “I think I’m just confused.”

“Confused about what?” She asks, her voice slightly softening.

“Being here with you,” I confess. “In this place. Feels like we’re dancing in a cemetery, doesn’t it?”

A tear slips from the corner of her eye, and my heart breaks all over again. We go from this intense insatiable need to be with each other to pouring gasoline on a fire and burning ourselves in the process. If I’m going to stay in this cabin with Julianna, I need to find a way to break free from this Montgomery curse.

The curse of hating a Capuleti.

She’s crying silently when I step forward to wipe her tears away. Suddenly, her phone rings, the shrill sound echoing from the foot of the bed.

Sniffing, Julianna wipes her cheeks and takes the call.

“Hey, Dad.” She turns away from me, then looks over her shoulder, eyeing me.

I can hear his voice on the other end when he asks, “Hey, Jules. What’s this I hear about you landing a major client? Your brother tells me it’s going to be a long project, and you’ll be gone a while.”

My stomach churns as I run a hand down the side of my face. I don’t want to leave her like this, but I can’t stay here and listen to her lie. Especially when she’s talking to Kingsten Capuleti.

I inhale a deep breath and do the right thing.

I leave.

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.