Roman walked around the workmen to grab a bottle of whiskey and shot glass from the cabinet before he went upstairs to the main bedroom. They had already started in this room so he knew they would meet their deadline and get the bonus.
But it would probably be all for nothing.
“I need the room,” he said.
He waited until the last person shut the door before he poured himself a straight shot and downed it quickly. It was early but fuck it. He needed it.
How the hell was he supposed to recover from having his heart stomped on all the time? Evelyn was justified in wanting nothing to do with him, but hearing her say those words again felt like she’d wrenched his insides out.
He had been so sure after this morning, after she had melted against him and drenched his fingers. After he had offered himself on a plate and told her she could do whatever she wanted to him. So sure that she would at least start to consider being with him again. But that wasn’t enough.
He wasn’t enough.
He poured another shot and pulled his phone out before he sat down on the bed. Phillip answered on the first ring.
“I’m on my way back,” Phillip said.
“Turn back around. Go back to her.”
It was the only way.
“And what do you want me to do when I get there?”
“Tell her to sell her story.”
There was silence on the line for a little while.
“Do it, Phillip.”
“I’ve just had to scare a young woman with all the things that will happen to her if Evelyn’s name crosses her mouth again and you want me to return and tell her to do it anyway?”
He took the phone from his ear and ran his hand through his hair. Everything else wasn’t working, and from that last conversation, it likely wouldn’t. This had to be done.
“I’ll tell you what she has to say. I’ll speak to the lawyers so they can make her sign an NDA.”
“That was not part of your plan, sir. I’m sure you can find another way to get her to London. You just have to be patient and_”
“The plan has changed. I’ll send you a message.”
He hung up and then stood to pour himself another drink. Phillip had sounded very disappointed by this turn of events but he could do this. If this girl said everything the way he told her to, then he was still in control. All the security details would just have to be arranged accordingly.
He sat down and started typing the details. The dos and don’ts, and then the statement she had to include. He sent the same message to his lawyers so they could draw up something quickly and make her sign it before they drove back to London.
He was on his fourth shot of whiskey when Evelyn walked into the bedroom. Maybe the fifth. He’d stopped counting and he had no idea how long he’d been in the bedroom. She froze in her tracks, looking from the hair he had probably almost pulled out to the drink in his hand. He cleared his throat and put his drink down on the nightstand, feeling like a kid who’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said as he stood up and put his phone in his pocket.
But Evelyn looked at him as if she knew he was lying, and him not opening up about it was a mark off in her books. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want her to close herself off even more from him.
“Just… I had to call my father back. He’s going through some stuff but he’ll be okay.”
Fuck. When did he become this man? He hadn’t thought of his father since he’d hung up the phone.
He never spoke about his dad with anyone so he had no idea why he’d even mentioned him. Growing up and seeing him splashed constantly in the papers after one scandal or another, he had learned that silence was the best way to protect him. Until he’d started making his own money, and then money became the only way to protect him.
Evelyn came closer to him. Willingly.
“What happened? Do you need to go to him?”
“Um… My stepmother had a health scare but she’s back home now. They don’t need me there.”
She came closer again, and this time he could see the worry on her face. He shouldn’t have mentioned this. He didn’t want to keep talking about his dad and Esther, but Evelyn was actually starting a real conversation with him, exactly what he had been hoping for when he’d trapped her here.
“What type of scare? If your father called you about it then I’m sure it means he needs you there.”
After the way they parted the last time? He doubted it.
“They thought she was having a miscarriage.”
Esther had sounded hysterical in the background when he’d spoken to them before. Maybe this child wasn’t just another way to grab more of his father’s money as he had first thought, but he still didn’t like her.
But Evelyn’s hand went to her mouth because, of course she had to be the type to care about strangers. He felt like a dick. A huge dick, especially after what he had just done.
“She’s fine,” he said quickly. “She’s on bed rest so I’m sure my father won’t let her out of bed for anything. I’ll see them when I get back.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Okay. I was just coming to tell you that I made lunch,” she said. “And I also want to apologise because I was so short with you. I know none of this is your fault, and you’re being so helpful when you could have just left me to face that stuff out there alone.”
Giant dick. Fuck.
“You don’t need to apologise to me.”
“I do. I feel even worse now knowing that I was like that when you’d just heard that news.”
He did not deserve her.
“It’s okay, Evelyn. Let’s just go and have something to eat. I think I’ve held them up too long.”
Evelyn nodded and then turned to walk out of the bedroom. He closed his eyes and swore under his breath. What the fuck had he just done?
He pulled his phone out and quickly typed a message to Phillip
‘Stop. Don’t do it.’
His reply came quickly.
‘It’s too late. She already called the first paper while I was there and I okayed it with our guy. I’m on my way back.’
Fuck.