Page 68 of Born Wicked

Elena nods. “Yeah, I kind of thought you hadn’t realized it yet.”

“What are you talking about?” I very nearly bark out.

Elena sighs and places her hands on either side of my face. “It’s not just the fact that you haven’t been able to stop staring at him since I woke up. I’ve worked hard to make you trust me since we met. But Roman…” she shakes her head. “You trust him. You trust him more than I think you’ve ever trusted anyone in your life, darling. You’re not dwelling on your painful past with him like you were with Sebastian. You’re healing, Juliet. I see it every time you’re around him.”

I think I feel scared as I stare back into the eyes of my best friend. But I realize then that your best friend is the person who knows you best. The person who knows every one of your darkest secrets. It’s the person you can barely stand to be away from.

If I think about all of those qualifications, that person is not Elena anymore.

It’s Roman.

“You’re in love with him, Juliet,” Elena says softly. Her eyes are soft, open, something they’re not very often. “And it’s okay that it’s taking you a long time to come to terms with it. He’s in no rush. The two of you have been on paths going the same direction for a long time, and those paths are finally converging.”

My heart starts beating very fast.

Thunder. Thunder. Thunder.

I step back from Elena. I think she says something, but blood is rushing in my ears, so I can’t hear her. My feet start moving, but my brain doesn’t have enough room in it to tell them any particular direction to go. The noise grows quieter, and the cold air of a Chicago winter is refreshing as I step outside.

No, I shake my head.There’s no way.

Roman and I have hated each other for so long. We’ve been at each other’s throats since I got my rose tattoos.

Except that’s not true. It might have been that way in the beginning. But Roman told me himself that he never hated me.

Elena’s words ring in my brain.He’s in no rush.

Please,Juliet, Sebastian accused once.We’ve all seen the way Roman looks at you.

No way. No freaking way.

My feet are walking down the sidewalk at a quick clip, having no idea where they’re going. I just need some air. I just need some space. I just need some quiet so I can think!

“Juliet,” a voice calls out behind me, and instantly I stop dead in my tracks. “What’s wrong?”

I hear his footsteps approach from behind. I feel the danger that constantly surrounds him, yet it’s so different than it once was to me. I squeeze my eyes closed, and his presence wraps around me, one of the most tangible things in my life.

And despite the hurricane in me, a calm washes through me.

With Roman, I never have to pretend. I never have to lie.

He knows every part of me. He knows every sullied truth.

And he handed me his heaviest secret in return.

“Juliet?” he asks again, hesitant. Worry creeps into his voice, and I know he’s scanning the street for danger, because it tends to follow me around.

Slowly, I turn, my heart picking up its pace as I do. My eyes trail from the sidewalk to Roman’s shoes. They slide up his toned legs. Across his narrow waist, over the strong, broad shoulders. And the entire world feels different when finally, I meet his eyes.

You’re in love with Roman.

“Juliet?” he questions, his brows furrowing in concern.

I shake my head. “I was so scared when it was you who witnessed me coming back from the dead that first time.” My voice shakes. “I was terrified that you were going to blackmail me. Because that’s what the vast majority of people I’ve known in my life would have done.”

The look in his eyes darkens. He hates that thought. He hates that this is what I thought of him.

“I was constantly ready to bounce, to leave the city at a second’s notice,” I continue. My insides are quivering. I stand there in the middle of the sidewalk, dressed in a golden gown, confessing the messy thoughts rushing through my brain. “But you never weaponized what you knew against me.”

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