Sooner than bring Romeo heartbreak (6)

I believe the answer is:

rather

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'sooner than' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I can't explain the rest of the clue.

(Other definitions for rather that I've seen before include "On the contrary; sooner" , "More precisely; instead of" , "To a certain extent" , "Slightly, more so than not (6" , "with more justification" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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