EIGHTEEN - JAMESON
Roman had just dropped the biggest bomb on me. I could feel every drop of blood drain from my face as my world spun around me.
It was…my dad? He was the one who’d sent Roman away? No fucking way. I didn’t believe him.
And Roman had been only four hours away from me this entire time?Somewhere between his admission and my tears, I went from horny as hell and ready to bang his brains out right here and now—sorry, Dad—to wanting to puke in his lap.
“My dad sent you away? Why?” That didn’t make any sense. In what world would my dad send Roman away from here, and why?
This was the most defeated I think I had ever felt since this circus had started and I took over things. Now this?
“I quit trying to figure shit out a long time ago.”
“What were you doing there?” We didn’t have property out there or family business in Nashville.”
He closed his eyes and gripped the steering wheel. Come on, Roman. Talk to me. He was starting to piss me off with his secrecy.
He opened his eyes and gazed up at the house. “Scouting,” he answered flatly without adding any unnecessary details.
“Scouting for what? I’m gonna need you to elaborate. Maybe be a little more specific than that.”
He blew out a frustrated breath, but at least he was finally talking.
This was all I’d wanted since laying eyes on him again.
He was the only person who could offer up any explanation because no one else was going to tell me anything, even if they did know.
Roman was my last hope in figuring out my next move, and he’d just practically pulled a checkmate on me.
“Prospective clients, buyers, artwork, intellectual property. Anything that could be easily confiscated or rerouted and turned for a quick profit. Stuff that didn’t take up a lot of storage space or leave a trail that couldn’t easily be erased.”
My mind reeled with a million more questions that I knew wouldn’t be answered. Not tonight, at least.
“I don’t know what pisses me off more, the fact that you vanished without so much as a goodbye text or the fact that you’ve only been four hours away from me. All the while, I sat here thinking you were dead the entire fucking time.”
My life was a fucking joke at this point, and I was the ass end of it. Everyone was laughing except for me.
He shook his head. “I’m glad you think it was that easy for me.
Just like you, I did what I was told to do.
Except things end a little different for people like me if we refuse to do as we’re told.
” As much as I’d hated to admit, he was right.
We only ever did what we had to do to stay alive.
“Can we talk about something else already?”
“Sure,” I conceded, I’m sure much to his approval. Though this conversation was far from over. “What would you like to talk about?”
Roman stared intently at the house. I still didn’t know what he thought he was going to find. Quite frankly, I thought this whole excursion was a big waste of time. I had no reason to believe that there had been anything going on behind my back.
Roman reached across the console and grabbed my hand, threading his fingers with mine.
His tender gesture caught me off guard. My first instinct was to pull away, but his touch felt sincere, not invasive or manipulative.
“Okay, let’s see.” He thought for a second, and for a singular moment, it’d felt like the old Roman was coming back around.
The one who used to ask me random and silly questions, something to get my mind off everything.
“If you could’ve done anything differently with your life, rules aside, what would you have done? ”
Oof. I did not think we were going there. I could think of a million things I’d have done completely differently. “Honestly? I’d go to college.”
“Really? Yeah?”
“Yeah, I would.”
He nodded. “And what would you study?”
I already knew exactly what I’d have done. It was something I’d always been drawn to. “Psychology,” I stated. “Specifically, criminal psychology with a focus on forensics.”
He smirked. “I bet Elliott would have loved that.”
“Hah. Yeah, right. We both know he would have locked me in solitary confinement and tossed the key.”
Okay, maybe not really, but my dad had only ever wanted me to take over the family business one day. There was no room for higher education in my future.
Roman rubbed his thumb back and forth over mine.
God, I missed human touch. I missed his touch.
It’d been so long, though I never forgot what he felt like.
“Your dad loved you. I think if you’d fought hard enough, he would have covered you if you wanted it bad enough.
All he ever wanted was to see you happy. ”
I sighed. “Maybe. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, maybe Colorado, start over.”
“Then what?”
“Not come back here.”