Page 84 of Romeo

Me: Get some rest, Ma Belle. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Ma Belle: Promise?

One word.

That was all.

But she’d noticed something was wrong tonight. She’d noticed my answers were different and stayed with me until they weren’t.

Now she wanted to know I’d still be here tomorrow.

Me: Promise.

I set my phone on the nightstand and pushed myself off the bed.

Downstairs, I could hear the low murmur of the brothers talking. Club business was waiting for me, and I’d already taken longer than five minutes. I headed for the door, then glanced back at the phone.

I’d known Fiona was mine from the first night I saw her in Virginia.

What I hadn’t expected was how quickly pieces of me would start becoming hers too.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Fiona

I couldn’t sleep.

For more than two hours, I’d been lying in bed watching headlights sweep shadows across my ceiling whenever a car passed outside. Granny had gone to bed hours ago. The refrigerator hummed faintly downstairs, and every so often the old house creaked as it settled against the cool April night.

My brain refused to settle with it.

What was I doing?

What was this thing between Jasper and me?

And what did he actually want from me?

I rolled onto my side and stared at the phone on my nightstand. The screen was dark, but I knew exactly what our last conversation looked like without opening it.

Every day he was there.

Good morning.

How was school?

Did you eat?

How was work?

Text me when you get home.

Goodnight, Cher.

The rhythm of him had slipped into my life so quietly that I hadn’t noticed how much I depended on it until Georgie pointed it out.

Did Jasper like me?

Not as Georgie’s little sister. Not because Josie had brought home some upset girl one night and he’d felt sorry for her. Not because he was protective by nature and I happened to be someone he’d decided needed protecting.