A knock on her window startled Eve out of her thoughts.
She looked out and saw her mother standing there with a coat over her dressing gown and a rubbish bag in her hand.
How had she even got home? She was still in shock and was close to hyperventilating. Her head was a mess, trying to understand what had just happened.
Was she off the hook? Or was this another of Roman’s tricks? Was he about to hit her with something worse than her parents becoming homeless?
Her mother knocked again, making her realise she was probably worrying her by sitting there like an idiot. She was gripping the steering wheel so tightly she was surprised she hadn’t broken it. When she released it, her hands were still shaky and her heart was still pounding. But she plastered a smile on her face as she opened the door to get out.
The new place didn’t have a driveway so she’d parked on the street. She was probably going to have to think about securing the car somehow in this neighbourhood.
But not now. She couldn’t think straight right now.
“What happened?” Her mother asked.
She didn’t want to tell her about Roman. Her mother had seen how scared and paranoid she’d been when she came back home. The last thing she wanted to do was make her worry that the man responsible for that was in the same city.
“Nothing. I was just admiring my car,” she lied.
“What sort of mechanic takes an old banger and gives you back a car that looks better than the day it left the factory,” her mother asked suspiciously as she peered inside.
“I had the money to fix it up back then,” she lied.
She hadn’t looked at anything beyond the paint job and new tyres but her mother was right. Everything inside had been refurbished or replaced.
Was this another apology? Or something else Roman could hold over her head?
How had he found her? Was it by chance or he’d had people looking for her? Was she being watched?
Her eyes darted around the street but didn’t see anything that stood out.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” her mother asked.
“Of course,” she lied with a smile, putting her mask back into place. “But why are you up already? You need to rest when you can.”
“My phone rang and woke me up. They’ve cancelled my shift tonight,” her mother said sadly as she turned to walk to the bin at the front of the house.
Which meant they would be counting the pennies again this month while Roman’s money burned a hole through her bank account. But she knew her mother would never take a penny from Roman, and neither would she.
Maybe it was too late to find her principles but giving that money back would be the only way she would ever respect herself again.
“We’ll be okay,” she said. “I’ll pick an extra shift this week.”
This morning had been her only one day off for the week which meant she would have to ask for a night shift at the care home, her second job, when her mother was off. At the other house, her mother had been able to work because her father had had some independence. He’d been able to get around in his wheelchair. Now his father was stuck in bed most of the time because there was no room to swing a cat let alone get the wheelchair out.
If only she’d been able to get that house…
Thinking of that brought her thoughts back to Roman, knocking the air out of her lungs again. For someone to be so cruel, to make her so scared and then come back so casually into her life as if nothing was wrong…
“Evie, what happened?” her mother asked again.
“Nothing,” she lied again. “Go and sit with dad. I’ll bring you both some lunch before I go.”
She didn’t wait for her mother to protest. Once she was alone in the kitchen she put her hand over her mouth so her mother wouldn’t hear her sobs. She’d already cried enough over Roman. She’d thought she’d made some progress but seeing him had brought everything back as if she’d left him just yesterday.
But she had to be stronger now. She had to close this chapter for good so she could finally move on.
She washed her face in the sink and then made lunch on autopilot. By the time she took it to her parents, the mask was back on her face.
“I’m going to rush now. I’ll see you guys tonight,” she told them.
By the time she’d changed and driven to work, she had managed to calm herself down a little. There was no point in working herself up again. If Roman was here to retaliate then she would deal with it when it happened. What was more important now was keeping a roof over her parents’ heads.
And that meant showing up to work even when she didn’t want to, putting a smile on her face and pretending she was okay.
Her co-workers greeted her as usual when she went in and changed into her uniform. And by the time the teatime rush started, she was too busy to think about Roman at all. She was busy filling up some ketchup bottles when one of the waitresses, Pam, stopped wiping the counter and looked at the door.
“Well, hello Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome,” Pam said under her breath.
She chuckled and shook her head but didn’t stop what she was doing. Pam was the same age as her, and always had a thing for any handsome man that walked through the door. Maybe if she hadn’t met Roman, she would have been the same.
“He can take me home any day,” Pam continued. “I’d bet my week’s wages that he’d know exactly what to do to make me scream.”
“He probably has a wife and kid at home,” she said.
“Stop ruining my fantasy,” Pam said with a playful slap on her arm. “He’s sitting at your table. Why do you have all the luck?”
“Go and serve him if you want,” she offered.
Pam was about to go when the order she had been waiting for was placed on the counter. Pam sighed dramatically as she turned to put the plates on her tray.
“Don’t worry,” Eve laughed. “You’ll get him next time.”
She wiped her hands and pulled her pen and pad from her apron as she turned to look for the newcomer.
The air rushed out of her lungs the moment she met that striking blue gaze across the room.
The smile dropped from her lips and everything she had fought so hard to push down since that afternoon came crashing back into her.
“Aren’t you going?” Pam asked as she walked past her with her loaded tray.
Of all the places that a man like him could have gone to eat, why had he come here? What did he want from her?
Her feet felt heavy as she closed the distance between them. Roman didn’t look away, but like in the morning, she didn’t see anything in his eyes to suggest he was as affected by this as she was. Maybe what he had said had turned out to be false. Their sexual chemistry had been nothing special to him after all.
“Hello, Evelyn.”
That was what he’d always said when she’d answered the door on Friday nights.
When she’d been his whore.
Her hands shook as she brought the writing pad up.
“What can I get you?” she asked.
“Anything. Surprise me,” Roman said.
And he smiled. He smiled as if all of this was normal to him.
“I’ll bring the chef’s special,” she mumbled, looking away from his eyes.
It was hard to concentrate on anything else with Roman in the room. He’d not said a word out of place but it felt like he was playing mind games. What was Roman up to? What was he going to do to her?
When he finally called for his bill, she felt relief that he would leave and she would be able to breathe again.
“My compliments to the chef, that was a nice meal,” Roman said as he paid up.
She nodded and was about to turn away when he spoke again.
“You were right earlier. I think we need to sort things out properly so we can move past this. I’ll come tomorrow night.”