Page 71 of Devil's Deal

The man sputtered. “I most certainly am?—”

Romeo stepped all the way into his space, peering down at him. “I don’t take kindly to people like you,” he said in a harsh whisper. “You have two strikes against you. One, it sounds like you’re trying to make a girl I’m rather fond of feel badly about herself. I can’t have that.” He leaned closer. “Two, you’re yelling at my man. Disrupting his peace. I won’t have that.”

The man looked around, searching for someone in my office to be on his side. What he found was that Dante had joined the party. I had to admit, I wasn’t unhappy when he unbuttoned his suit jacket and pulled it back just enough for his gun to show. The unwanted guest stumbled back toward me.

Romeo growled deep in his throat. “You don’t want strike number three, friend. It won’t go well for you.”

Red-faced, the customer hightailed it to the door. Dante stepped in front, blocking him. “Make sure you don’t leave any negative reviews. As a matter of fact, leave a real good one.” Then he smiled in a way that sent shivers down my spine.

Applesauce. It was a good thing he was on my side.

I ran for Harlow and Charity. Romeo up-nodded Dante, who disappeared back out the door. He’d make sure the man checked out. “Are you okay, Charity?” I asked

Tears streamed down her face. “Are you going to fire me?” she asked in a small, shaky voice.

“Why would we do that?” Harlow asked before I could respond.

She swiped both hands at her cheeks. “What if it happens again?”

Romeo huffed. “We’ll handle them, too. Don’t you worry about that.”

“I’m so sorry. He came up to me at the desk and started taunting me and threatening to tell the owner about me, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“Coming to get me was exactly what you should’ve done,” I assured her. “And if I’m not around, get Harlow or Romeo.”

“Or Dante,” Romeo added, whipping a handkerchief out of his pocket for her to dry her face.

“Okay. If you’re sure.”

Breaking my rule again, I hugged her tight. “Ab-so-lute-ly. Now, let Harlow take you up to your room so you can pull yourself together.”

“But—”

“It’s the end of your shift. It’ll be fine,” Harlow said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and directing her out. “I’ll see you later, big cheese.” He gave me a strained smile before they disappeared down the hall.

Romeo shut the door, and I eagerly stepped into his warm embrace. “I’m so glad you found us.”

“Me, too. Dante was showing me the changes he made in the elevator when someone told Everest some guy was picking on Charity at the desk, and they’d headed for your office. I checked my app, and when we saw the?—”

“App?” I asked, stepping back and cutting him off.

Romeo’s jaw tightened. “Yeah, so…” He rubbed his beard.

My gaze narrowed in on him, then I looked back toward the wall that supposedly led to the tunnels. “Romeo. How did you know where to look for me the night that Huey took me?”

He cleared his throat. “So. Uh. I may have installed a camera in your office to keep an eye on you.”

“You what?” I yelled, startling myself. Speaking softer, I moved closer to him.

“Explain.”

He huffed, but all signs of remorse disappeared as he puffed up his chest. “I can’t protect you if I can’t see you. Look what’s happened already. You had a homicidal maniac, and then this guy stormed in. Who knows what would’ve happened in here if Dante and I hadn’t come in.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I paced my small space. I wasn’t pissed that Romeo had access to me and my office so much as annoyed that he hadn’t just told me. Not the night of Huey’s attack, nor the day after, or in any of the weeks since. It made a part of me weak in the knees that he was so…virile.

On the other hand, he still hadn’t moved his stuff from wherever it was, and the only reason his duffle bag had been emptied and the clothes put away was because I’d done it as I did our laundry. “You send mixed signals,” I said without preamble.

“How?”

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