Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74291 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74291 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“Then let’s go back to my house. I have some engagements coming up. We’ll spend our time there and enjoy the beach.”
“Your maid hates me, Roman.”
“She’s paid help, Ana. I’ll make sure she knows you are in charge, if she plans to keep working for me.”
“Whatever you want,” she whispers, her voice sounding very tired.
I relax back into the seat, Ana still in my lap. It’s not but just a few minutes later her breathing evens out and I know she’s sleeping. I gently maneuver to get my phone out while not waking her up—not an easy task. I punch the number in.
“Yeah?”
“Change of plans. I want the package delivered to me.”
“That’s a lot of bread. I’m not in the curbside delivery business.”
“Money…”
“Is not an object. I get it. Did I mention the fact that you’re a needy fucker?”
“Later,” I tell Marcum, not commenting further.
“Later,” he agrees and hangs up. With that done, I hit the intercom to tell Robert to just drive me straight to my house. I have a new wardrobe there for Ana, and anything I need will be there too. I suddenly don’t want to wait one more minute to get her out of this damn car.
Chapter Forty-Two
Ana
“Roman?” I moan, waking up. When he doesn’t answer, I look around the bed to find I’m alone. I glance at the clock and notice it’s a little after midnight. Stretching, I get up, wanting to immediately find him.
We’ve been back at his house for two days, two days that have truly been the best in my life, two days that I truly needed. Seeing Allen almost killed me. Since being undercover, I’ve been pulled into a million different directions. I feel like I’ve lost myself. And maybe going back to Roman’s house and hiding out is running away, but I don’t care. I know things will come to a head with Paul and his crew—and probably very soon. Hell, my brother will be the one to tell Roman before Paul even gets a chance. So, I’m going to take what time I have with Roman and enjoy it. Maybe I can make him so happy that when the truth comes out, he’ll not care. He’ll know I was… Jesus, what was I? In love with him, while setting him up to go to jail?
I love Roman. That revelation makes my heart physically hurt and drum erratically in my chest. I love Roman. I push the thought back before I give myself a mini heart attack. My hand goes to my stomach, resting there. I have so many secrets. So many. I just don’t know how to get out from under them.
I wrap the sheet around my naked body, taking a breath. I pad quietly down the hall, searching out Roman, but careful not to make too much noise. If there’s one dark spot on my time spent here, it would be Mayra, Roman’s maid. He made it clear to her that I am, in fact, her boss now. You would think that would change her attitude towards me. It has, but only in front of Roman. When it’s just me and her, there are waves of hate coming off of her. If I weren’t keeping a million secrets, all of which will blow up in my face soon, I’d call her on it. As it is, right now, I don’t feel I have the right.
“Roman?” I whisper again, this time at his office. I turn the knob and see him sitting there at his desk talking on his phone. His hair is rumpled and he’s wearing slacks and nothing else—and he looks sexy as hell. Roman has a tattoo on his chest. It’s the only mark he has. It says: “Strength and loyalty”. It’s beautiful and I want to lick it every time I see it, even if lately the word “loyalty” makes me feel horrible. Roman deserves my loyalty. He’s never done one thing to hurt me. He’s not the man I read about. That’s the thing. When I took this case, he was words in a file, a means to an end, a criminal. Roman is not that person to me now. Whatever happens, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I can’t continue this line of work because, if anything, it has taught me that sometimes the bad guys aren’t all that bad, and the good guys can be rotten to the core.
Roman motions me inside, but I hesitate. “I’ll just go back to our…”
“Sit, pet,” he orders while cupping his hand over the receiver of the phone. He’s smiling. But then, he’s been smiling a lot in the two days we’ve been here. I’m proud of each one because it feels like I gave that to him. When I start to walk around to the front of the sofa and sit, he stops me. “On the back of the sofa, Ana. Sit facing me so I can see you.”