Eve wiped her mouth and pushed her plate away. Roman hadn’t touched much of his food even though he insisted it was delicious.
He was probably thinking of his family.
Though she had seen his father mentioned a few times when she had googled Roman’s name, he had never said anything about him before. She supposed he wouldn’t have, given the type of arrangement they’d had. They must be a close family. She knew she would be worried sick if anything like that was happening in her family.
She was worried about her parents now, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She had a feeling something other than the gossip from the morning papers had made those reporters excited enough to congregate outside the gates like that.
“If you want to go, I’ll be fine here,” she offered again.
Roman looked up from his food. He had a look on his face that she’d never seen before. He looked wrecked. Absolutely wrecked. She hadn’t known he could be so sensitive.
She didn’t know why she was feeling so guilty for saying what she had said to him because it was the truth, but she should have tried to read the room first. She wasn’t a monster, she wouldn’t kick someone who was already down.
Roman cleared his throat and looked back at his food.
“No, I’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” he said.
He pushed his food away and grabbed the drink instead. From the look of the bottle he had left upstairs, he probably didn’t need this one, but she wasn’t going to judge him. She knew she was the reason he was staying here instead of going back to London.
Her chest squeezed. Feeling anything at all for Roman was a slippery slope. It had taken her a long time to remember why taking him up on his offer was a bad idea after he had touched her. If she hadn’t made the calls to work and got fired from one of them, she would probably still be struggling with that now. So she didn’t need to confuse herself by feeling any tenderness or worry for him but she couldn’t help it. Family was the most important thing in the world.
“How far along is your stepmother?” she asked.
Roman looked back up at her. There was so much conflict in his eyes that she mentally kicked herself. Of course, he wouldn’t want to talk about that. Not only was it none of her business, but she could tell how raw that news had made him.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, as she stood up from the table. “I’ll go and tidy up the kitchen now.”
And maybe make him a coffee so he wouldn’t drown his pain in the whiskey like that.
Roman didn’t say anything else as she took both their plates and went to scrape the leftovers in the bin before she rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. It was as she was making their coffee that she took the controller and put the screen on again. She sighed in frustration when she saw that everything was still the same. She had been hoping that she really wouldn’t be stuck here another night as Roman had said in the morning. Her mother wouldn’t be able to go to work.
It was the reason she had put off calling her mother, but she could see she would have no choice now. They had no choice but to use some of Roman’s money in her account now.
One of the men walked into the kitchen just as she carried the coffee to the table.
“Sir?” he started.
Roman didn’t even seem to hear him. He looked so lost in his thoughts that her chest tightened again. She put the coffees down and then gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
Roman looked up and then noticed the man.
“We’ve installed everything as requested,” the man said. “All the equipment is being checked and certified now, and a team is cleaning. Would you like to check everything before we sign off?”
That was odd? What equipment would he need certifying? Unless he’d bought things that were so expensive that they needed those checks for insurance purposes? She would never understand how the other half lived.
“No, that’s fine. Thank you,” Roman said.
The man nodded and left the kitchen. She was still impressed by the transformation in the house. Only someone with money to burn could have a house fully furnished and decorated in a day, and not even want to check that the job had been done the right way. It probably had, though. She was sure those men knew exactly who Roman was and wouldn’t dare do anything against his specifications.
Roman sighed and pushed his unfinished whiskey away to pull one of the coffee mugs towards him.
“Thank you for lunch,” Roman said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t eat much of it.”
“Don’t apologise. I understand.”
He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more, but shut it again. She had always looked at him as this cold, heartless person so seeing this side of him touched things in her heart that should have been left alone. For once, he wasn’t the ruthless billionaire, he was just a man worrying about his family. Just an ordinary man.
He drank his coffee in silence. She had no idea how long they sat there, but she didn’t feel awkward. It felt like his situation had humanised him somehow.
The man came back into the kitchen to tell them everything was done. He handed Roman a folder full of paperwork and a receipt. Her eyes bulged at the figure when she saw Roman sign it without even looking.
When the house was finally empty, Roman sighed and looked up at her.
“Shall we take a look around?”
At her parents’ dream house that he had stolen from under her nose? She didn’t particularly want to, but what else was there to do now? And maybe it would keep her mind from going back to trying to figure out what Pam had said to their boss to make him fire her, and also the fact that she hadn’t yet called her mother.
“Sure.”
The completed work was a masterpiece. A mixture of elegance and comfort. The colours were bold and vibrant; from the throws and cushions on the sofas to the artwork on the walls. The fire was going again, casting its glow on everything.
Upstairs, she went to open the first door but Roman put his hand over hers.
“Not this one,” he said.
Why? Had he made a playroom in this house? Was he going to continue to keep his women like before? So close to where she lived?
It felt like a knife through her heart.
She nodded and shook his hand off hers as she removed her hand from the handle and moved on to the next door. A double bed stood in the middle, already made as if he was expecting people. Maybe he was. Maybe this time he would keep a whole harem.
She shook her head at her stupid thoughts and turned to walk back downstairs.
“I’ll finish the tour later. I’m feeling a bit cold, I’m going to sit by the fire.”
Really stupid thoughts. She had no right to get jealous when she was the one who wanted to get out of this. Roman could see whoever he wanted.
It was only as she sat down that she realised Roman was sitting next to her even though he now had more seating options. He was looking at her as if he had something to say again. And this time he did say it.
“I don’t mean to be a dick, Evelyn, not to you. I don’t know what the future holds but if a tonne of shit is about to fall on my head then I deserve it.”
Was this still about his family? Was he blaming himself for that? Had he said or done something to his stepmother to make him feel some guilt now?
“Don’t blame yourself, Roman. What is meant to be will be. We can’t change that,” she said as she put her hand on his cheek and gently caressed it.
She had no idea why she did that but she realised her mistake straight away. Touching Roman was always a dangerous thing. His piercing gaze found her and she realised just how little space there was between them.
And when Roman lowered his head slowly towards her, she didn’t even try to stop him. Maybe fighting her feelings for him while under his roof had been pointless after all.