Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Irina threw down her pencil and heaved a sigh as she rolled to her back. Her brain was fried, and she couldn’t come up with anything good to save her life. She had tried off and on to work on some new lyrics, but any motivation and inspiration had been zapped.
For the past three days, she had alternated between lying by the pool and watching whatever happened to be on TV, which most often seemed to be one reality show or another.
While she had enjoyed relaxing for the most part, she had pretty much reached her limit being stagnant, and she was ready to throw herself into the ocean.
God, how did people live like this? She was not made to be sedentary.
Her body vibrated with irritation, and she stared vacantly at the ceiling, debating what to do.
Things between them had grown even more tense than before.
Every night, he slipped into the role of protector, sleeping at the foot of the bed.
Each morning, he was gone long before she awoke, apparently to work out in the small rectangle of grass next to the pool.
She still harbored a fair amount of resentment toward him for refusing to show her any self-defense moves.
To her way of thinking, it made sense to know how to protect herself, and she couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t want to teach her.
Unless, of course, he just despised her so much that he didn’t want to spend one more minute with her than absolutely necessary.
She supposed that, given his attitude for the past couple of days, it was a distinct possibility.
Considering the house was so tiny they literally almost tripped over each other, they technically ate dinner together each night. Even so, she would bet they hadn’t exchanged more than a hundred words since their fight on the patio three mornings ago.
She couldn’t figure him out. One minute he was her white knight in shining armor, ready to leap to her defense; the next, he was an overbearing, arrogant prick who seemed to think that, because she was a woman, she was incapable of caring for herself.
That pissed her off more than anything. She had been on her own for most of the twenty-two years she had been on this earth, and she would still be on her own long after he was gone.
He was a chauvinist if she’d ever seen one.
She should probably consider herself lucky that he let her use the bathroom by herself, because she certainly wasn’t allowed to do anything else.
Although she had broken down and practically begged, he had staunchly refused to entertain any notion of going back to the beach.
As far as she could tell, the island was perpetually calm and quiet, exactly what they had seen when they arrived.
No one had approached them while they were out that first day, and she didn’t think anyone had been able to recognize her under the hat and sunglasses.
Unfortunately, Roman seemed to be taking his bodyguard duties more seriously than ever. There was no doubt in her mind that if she tried to escape to the beach on her own, he would drag her back and tie her to a chair for the remainder of their time there.
She hated that she was stuck there with him.
They were literally a thousand miles from home, away from whoever was stalking her, yet he refused to bend at all.
She had been too mad to even revisit the subject since yesterday, and even if she did bring it up, she was certain he would shoot her down again.
A thought suddenly occurred to her, and she wasn’t quite sure why she hadn’t realized it before.
She had some leverage here. If she made enough noise, complained enough, Louis would be forced to step in.
She didn’t really want to throw a temper tantrum after the conversation she had had with Knox at her house last week, but she was getting desperate.
Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself as she pushed up from the bed and stalked into the living room.
Roman sat sprawled on the couch, arms stretched over the back, feet propped up on the coffee table in front of him.
He glanced her way as she entered the room.
She paused several feet away and stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to speak.
Not surprisingly, he didn’t. Instead, one dark eyebrow rose in silent question, stirring her ire.
“I’d like to go down to the beach,” she said.
He was silent for a long moment. Then he shook his head. “No can do.”
“Why not?” she motioned toward the windows. “It’s almost dark anyway. Even if we did run into somebody, there’s, like, zero percent chance they would recognize me.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re staying here.”
“Fine. Then I want my phone.” She stepped forward and held her hand out expectantly.
His gaze dropped to her hand, then rose slowly again to meet her eyes. “What for?”
“This is ridiculous.” She made an aggravated gesture with her hand. “I want to call Louis.”
“Why?” Roman scoffed. “So you can call and throw a temper tantrum like the spoiled, self-righteous little girl you are?”
“Says the overblown, chauvinistic tyrant.”
He lifted one shoulder as if he couldn’t care less that she’d just insulted him. “Tough. This tyrant’s keeping you safe, which you would understand if you utilized that one remaining brain cell reserved for common sense.”
She sucked in an outraged breath. She knew she wasn’t the smartest person in the world, but neither was she stupid. The heat of humiliation raced through her veins, and she fought to shut down her emotions as she lashed out at him.
“Keeping me safe?” She let out a mirthless laugh as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at him. “How’s that working out for you? Because I’m pretty sure I could’ve been killed due to your negligence.”
His face darkened. “Are you this much of a brat to everyone, or am I the unlucky bastard who gets saddled with your bad attitude?”
“Pretty sure it’s just you,” she snapped. “I seem to get along just fine with everyone else.”
“You sure have them fooled, because you’re a spoiled brat when you don’t get your way.
” He gave a short laugh. “Since you seem so determined to throw yourself in harm’s way, maybe we should’ve left you at home where your stalker could find you.
I’m sure he wouldn’t have made it out of your subdivision before turning around and taking you back. ”
He was such a jerk.
She glared at him. “Believe it or not, most people actually like me.”
“That’s a lie if I ever heard one,” he snapped. “Your personality is as fake as those tits.”
Cold washed over her, and she could practically feel the blood drain from her face.
He may as well have reached out and slapped her.
Of all the things he could’ve said to her, that was the worst. She directed her gaze over his shoulder as silence fell like a lead curtain around them.
Tears burned the back of her throat, and she bit her tongue to keep them from rising higher and spilling from her eyes.
She dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand, using the bite of physical pain to distract herself from his hurtful words.
She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
Instead, she pulled her shoulders back and lifted her chin.
She refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing his words had impacted her, that they’d cut deeper than a knife.
Swallowing down the emotion that had risen in her throat, she fell back a step, then turned to leave. She almost hoped that Roman would stop her, but he didn’t. All the fight left her as her heart cracked wide open.
In the span of only a few seconds, Roman had solidified exactly where they stood.
He didn’t care about her at all. Though she had continued to hope that maybe he was just holding back, she knew in that moment she was wrong.
It hurt more than she wanted to admit, and she was furious with herself for allowing a man to dictate her happiness and self-worth.
Bypassing the bathroom completely, she headed straight for the bedroom and quietly closed the door behind her. As soon as the darkness enveloped her, the tears came, falling hard and fast. She fought to control her breathing as her lungs heaved and her chest constricted.
This whole thing had been a huge mistake. She had no idea how they were going to keep this farce going when he obviously hated her so much. She climbed into bed and hugged her pillow close, pouring every ounce of despair into the cotton fabric.
The remaining slivers of her heart shattered with each sob that racked her body. He made her feel horrible, insignificant. Worst of all, he’d just validated every negative thought she’d ever had about herself. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she really was as awful as he said she was.
Roman was about as brutally honest as a person could get, and if nothing else, she could always count on him to speak the truth… And the truth hurt.