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

“You’re saying they were fucking triplets?”

It was rare to see Matteo shocked. After almost fifteen years as Don, not much surprised him, but secret triplets was some wild shit.

Everyone was gathered in our new living room, where an assortment of folding chairs supplemented the seating. I didn’t understand why we needed to have this meeting now when Juliet had only come home yesterday. She needed to rest while I spoiled and cuddled her all day, but instead, she sat stiffly on my lap while Matteo, Sofiya, Sienna, Angelo, and Leona sprawled around the room.

Juliet had slept through the night thanks to the drugs Aria gave her, but I had stayed wide awake. My mind wouldn’t stop reeling. Every time I closed my eyes, the image of her lifeless body haunted me.

Juliet leaned over to pet Queenie, who had claimed her perch on the back of the couch cushion. I tightened my hold on her automatically.

“Are you feeling okay, baby?”

She rested against my chest. “Still okay, just like I was three minutes ago when you asked.”

I groaned, burying my face in her hair. “I would promise to stop asking, but I’m not sure I have that much self-control.”

“That’s okay.” She kissed my cheek, her soft lips sweet and soothing. “You’re taking such good care of me.”

I hoped that was true. Aria called us an hour ago with the expedited lab results. The substance in Juliet’s system didn’t match any known drugs or poisons. She was recovering physically, but I was still scared the poison could have long-term effects. So much was unknown and out of my control right now, and I hated it.

We’d finished debriefing everything that happened since Juliet was kidnapped—she’d shared about her captivity, and we’d filled each other in on all the aspects of our raid of the Albanian castle. The more I heard about what she’d been through, the hotter my rage burned.

“Are you ready for this?” Matteo asked, eyeing Juliet carefully.

He’d set up this call with Elira Leka to discuss the terms of their alliance—the one they wanted to make with my girl.

She gave a little nod, and Matteo placed the call on speakerphone. Elira answered and they got through the opening formalities before Matteo asked, “What are your plans now that you are Krye?”

“We will focus on rebuilding here at home. Long have we been ruled by corrupt men, and it’s caused deep scars in our communities,” Elira responded, her words tinged with only a slight accent.

“If that’s your focus, what do you want out of your alliance with us?”

“Our alliance with Juliet,” she clarified.

Juliet twisted her fingers in my shirt as all eyes turned to her. “But why me? I don’t know anything about this stuff.”

“You are the daughter of the man who should have been Krye. The daughter of my sister, Hana. You are a princess by birth. If you ever decide to leave the Italians, our alliance follows you.”

“She’s not leaving,” I snarled while I clutched her even closer.

“You would keep her against her will?”

The darkness surged through me, demanding I protect Juliet. A gentle hand on my chest stopped me from lashing out.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Her lips brushed against mine. She turned to Matteo. “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take your power.”

His eyes softened. “Of course I don’t think that.” He sat back in his seat, his arm slung around Sofiya. “I will allow Juliet to form an alliance on behalf of the Italian Mafia, if she agrees.”

“As long as no one expects me to be some sort of Mafia badass,” she muttered.

“You are a badass,” I said, my lips brushing her ear.

“I am glad we are in agreement,” Elira said.

“If you wanted to form an alliance with us via Juliet, why would you put her at risk like you did?” I asked, bitterness seeping into my tone.

“This overthrow was the culmination of three years of planning,” Elira said. “We were waiting for the right time to strike, and Juliet provided the perfect distraction.”

“She is not a distraction for you to use,” I snarled. My dislike for this woman fueled my anger. Maybe it was wrong of me to place so much blame on her, but she had played with Juliet’s life.

“We did what was needed. The Butcher and his brother caused endless violence within the clans and worldwide with their trafficking. Sometimes, momentary suffering is necessary to save hundreds.”

Juliet squeezed my arm, which was the only thing keeping me from absolutely losing my shit. It would never be acceptable for her to suffer.

“Speaking of the trafficked girls,” Sofiya said, cutting off the sharp words I wanted to speak, “we’ve established a network of safe houses in the city and upstate, but we think there are more women we haven’t been able to find.”

“We know where the rest of them are,” Elira said. “We have records of all the trade routes the Butcher used and the buyers he worked with. This is why we need permission to enter New York. We will free them and bring them home.”

I wanted to tell them no. I didn’t want them within a hundred miles of Juliet, but it wasn’t my decision.

Matteo sat back, looking pensive. “Would you be okay with that, Juliet?”

She jolted, as if stunned to be consulted. She glanced back at me, a slight edge of panic in her gaze. “I don’t know. I just want everyone to be safe.”

I hugged her tighter. “I’ve got you, sweet girl.” Her breathing sounded fast and shallow. She shouldn’t be dealing with any stress right now. Or ever. I was determined to give her a soft and easy life.

“You will be allowed into our territory only for the purpose of rescuing these women,” Matteo said. “And you will work alongside my men.”

“We don’t work with men,” Elira said.

“I mean, it’s a good policy,” Leona muttered, drawing an exasperated look from Matteo.

Juliet let out a quiet laugh, and I wanted to bottle up the sound.

“We can’t give you free rein in our city,” Matteo said. “Either you cooperate with our requirements, or you can stay in Albania and send us your intel so we can free the women.”

There was a long silence before Elira responded. “We are open to discussing it further.”

The tension in the room dropped a few notches. I pressed my face into Juliet’s hair. Did she need a snack? Breakfast was less than an hour ago, but the urge to feed her overwhelmed any sense of reason. She had lost weight while she was in captivity, and I fucking hated the reminder of everything she’d suffered. I grabbed a pack of fruit snacks from my pocket and pressed it into her hand. Her lips tugged into an almost smile, and she popped a gummy into her mouth.

“How did the Butcher hack our security system?” Sienna asked, a frustrated crease appearing between her eyes. I knew it was killing her to have been bested by the Albanians.

“The Butcher did not do it,” scoffed a woman with a heavy accent.

“Who are you?” Matteo asked sharply.

“I am Arta, the hacker.”

Sienna sat forward in her seat. “You did all of it? Allowed the Butcher to access our building? Tracked our locations?”

“I did what I had to.”

Matteo jumped to his feet, face furious. “You put all of us in danger! Sienna and Romeo could have died when they were attacked. Juliet was beaten and kept in a cell.”

“I would think twice before raising your voice at the woman who saved your lives multiple times.” Elira’s voice was like ice.

Matteo froze, and silence blanketed the room.

“What do you mean?” Juliet asked.

“There were many occasions when Arta gave the Butcher incorrect information and falsified video footage. And, of course, she gave you the Butcher’s location so you could find Juliet. You would all be dead if she hadn’t been working with my coalition of women.”

Matteo sat back down and pulled Sofiya onto his lap. I held Juliet tighter, too. I believed Elira was telling the truth, and the realization of how close I’d come to losing Juliet filled me with panic. I refused to be complacent about her safety ever again.

“I want to learn from you,” Sienna blurted out.

“What?” Matteo and Elira spoke at the same time.

“As part of our alliance, I want Arta to teach me how to be a better hacker.”

Matteo put his head in his hands with a groan. Sofiya pressed her lips together to keep from smiling as she rubbed his neck.

Elira and Arta spoke in murmured Albanian. “Your work is not horrible. I will take you as student,” Arta finally said in English.

“We will need to discuss—” Matteo started.

“Thank you. I will not disappoint you,” Sienna said.

Matteo looked like he was on the verge of losing his shit.

“I think this is a good place to stop for today,” Sofiya said. “This week has been a lot. We’re all exhausted, and tensions are high. Let’s schedule a call a few days from now to iron out the details.”

“Agreed,” Elira said.

I smirked as I played with Juliet’s hair. We men were clearly superfluous to this conversation.

“Juliet,” Elira said, making her jump. I soothed my hand up and down her back. “I’m sorry for how you got caught up in everything.” She sounded genuinely remorseful, not that it changed what I thought of her. “It’s not what I wanted. Maybe one day we can talk about your mother.”

Juliet kept her gaze on her lap, her fingers tightly interlaced. I covered them with my hand and gently squeezed.

“She will reach out if she wants to talk,” I said.

Matteo recovered enough from his stress-induced stupor to wrap up the call. He hung up, leaving us all staring at one another.

“We’ll figure out how to manage this alliance going forward.” Matteo’s words to Juliet were gentle. “But the important thing for you to know is that you have people on your side. We’re on your side, obviously, but Elira and her women are, too. If you’re ever in danger, you have hundreds of people to call upon.”

“That’s a really nice way to think about it,” Juliet said. She slumped against my chest, clearly worn out.

Matteo stood, holding his wife in his arms. “We’ll head out and leave you to rest.”

“Let us know if you need anything,” Sofiya said.

“I wouldn’t say no to a chocolate cake,” I said. It was Juliet’s favorite.

Matteo grumbled but Sofiya grinned. “You’ve got it.”

Everyone trickled out of the apartment and closed the door behind them.

Juliet let out a deep breath.

“You did good, sweetheart. I know that was a lot.”

She didn’t respond, and I didn’t press her to speak. For Juliet, I would learn to be patient.

“It’s weird knowing I have a family,” she whispered. “Or at least an aunt. It’s what I always dreamed of, but now I’m not even sure if I want to get to know her. All of it is wrapped up with so much pain.”

I kissed her forehead. I knew a bit of what it was to live estranged from family because of past pain and trauma, but my situation was not nearly as bad as Juliet’s. “You don’t have to get to know her if you don’t want to. It’s all your choice.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

I squeezed her hand. “Do you want to take a nap?”

She shook her head. “I’m tired, but I also feel wired. I don’t think I can sleep right now.”

“I understand, angel.” I felt the same. Every muscle in my body was tense, like I was preparing for a fight. “Do you want to play Mario Kart?”

Her eyes lit up, and a little smile curved her lips. “Yeah, I do.”

I got the game set up and settled beside her on the couch. She immediately scooted close to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

“Are you doing okay?” she asked.

I looked down at her, confused. “Me? I’m fine.”

She hummed and found her way back onto my lap. “Everything that happened must have been horrible for you.”

For once, I was speechless. She was the one who had been kidnapped and drugged. Why was she asking how I was doing?

She ran her fingers through my hair and my eyes floated shut with how good it felt. Her lips brushed against my cheek. “It’s okay to have a hard time with it. I don’t know what I would do if I thought you had died.”

I tightened my hold on her, crushing her to my chest. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever felt, thinking I’d never get to talk to you again and knowing I was the one who had failed you.”

“What are you talking about? You didn’t fail me,” she said fiercely. “You rescued me.”

“You should have been safe here.” The Albanians—or more specifically, Arta—had exploited a weakness in the New York City power grid to disable the alarm systems in our apartment building. Franco and Sienna had already made changes to ensure no one could do it again, and Matteo hired a private company to audit our security. But I was still on edge. I had exposed Juliet to danger by bringing her into my world. What use was I if I couldn’t protect her?noveldrama

“I had to accept a long time ago that the world is never completely safe. And that some risks are worth it.” She cupped my face, meeting my gaze intently. “The only reason I’m even remotely functional right now is because of you. Because when I woke up from the dead, yours was the face I saw.”

“Angel,” I said, my voice broken with emotion. “I will always find you.”

She leaned in and her lips met mine, sweet and soft. I cupped the back of her head, tilting it back to give me better access as I deepened the kiss.

I sank into the feeling of Juliet—the weight of her on my lap, the soft little noises she made, the sweetness of her mouth. The part of me that shattered when I found out she was gone began to mend.