A crime romance with a closed-door twist.
Juliette has just moved to the bustling city of London, after landing a PA job for a well-known company, that will be the start of her new life away from the clutches of the small-town that she grew up in...
Stop overthinking... I've got it... it's just a simple text.
Thanks to the rogue who attempted to intercept my drop, my schedule has gone off the rails - making the text I've spent the last 10 minutes trying to compose come a whole 4 days late.
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"Who is she, Elio?" Enzo's voice cut through the air like a blade, casual but sharp enough to make me shift uncomfortably. He spent most nights here, lounging like he had nowhere else to be, even though he lived across the street. Usually, I didn't mind. His presence was good for a laugh or to vent when things got rough. Tonight, though, the last thing I needed was his questions.
"Who?" I mumbled, eyes glued to my phone. My thumb hovered over the screen, refreshing it over and over. My palms were damp.
The tightness in my chest made it hard to breathe, and the tension twisting in my gut wouldn't loosen until I cleared the air. This wasn't like me. I was always in control, detached. But now? My chest tightened at the thought of being... attached to someone. I'd been fighting it since the first time I heard her voice.
"Don't play dumb, Elio." Enzo's tone hardened, his eyes narrowing as he leaned back, casually taking in the room, but watching me like a hawk. "I was there. I got the intel. I didn't recognise the name. So, who the hell is she?"
I kept my voice steady, but I couldn't hide the edge. "Just some girl."
"Some girl?" Enzo repeated, his lips curling into a smirk that pissed me off even more. "Some girl who made you so blind, you didn't notice a guy with a knife standing right in front of you? Some girl who had me spending five hours convincing Dante not to slit your throat?"
My hands clenched into fists. "She didn't have anything to do with that." The words hissed through my teeth. "She doesn't know. That's all that matters."
Enzo's eyes darkened, unconvinced. He swirled the tumbler in his hand, the amber liquid sloshing against the sides as he leaned back, watching me with a lazy, calculating gaze.
"Doesn't know? Elio, come on. She works for Dante. You're telling me she's still in the dark? The same night you run into his manor, two of Dante's guys get nabbed by the cops? If she's still breathing, she knows something."
I couldn't let myself believe that. Dante wasn't the forgiving type-his patience was thinner than the hair clinging to his scalp-but I wasn't backing down. Juliette didn't know. She couldn't.
"She's just his assistant," I said, the words tasting bitter. "She doesn't know who I am, or who he is."
Enzo chuckled, low and dangerous. "You think that makes a difference? If she's just some 'regular girl,' she's already marked. You dragged her into this mess. And if Dante even suspects she knows something... well, you might as well hand her a death sentence."
