Evelyn sat on the sofa with her feet up after dinner scrolling on her phone. The stories of her and Roman leaving their ‘love nest’ together were already making the rounds. She had only been reading the headlines because she didn’t want to know what people were saying about her.
The last time Roman’s name had been mentioned so much he had been with Vivian Cartwright when they’d worn their matching outfit and everyone thought they made a perfect couple. She didn’t want to read any comparisons or be called the homewrecker.
But now her fingers were itching to click on the story Pam had sold. They weren’t close but she had assumed she could trust her. Why had she sold her out like this? Turning her whole life upside down just for a few quid?
Roman walked into the room with two glasses and a bottle of wine, and his words earlier pushed back to the top of her list of worries.
He had said it how she imagined a man in love with a woman would say it, and she had said yes because that was all she’d ever wanted from him. But she was aware they were talking about two different things. Despite saying he wanted everything, she was aware love was not on the table.
How long would this last until she could go back to her real life? A few days? A week? She was too weak to resist him for long, as she had already proven. But what state would she be in when she left him this time when he was saying all the right things? Would she recover from this?
“Your parents have settled in, the security team said everyone had already cleared off,” Roman said as he poured the wine and then handed her a glass.
“Are they sure? No one was waiting in a parked car?”
“They’re the best security team that money can buy. No one is hanging around who shouldn’t be,” he answered.
He picked up his glass and then sat right next to her. The old Roman wouldn’t have sat this close to her unless they were about to have sex. It felt like she was dealing with two different people now. Or was she dealing with the real one, the one she had seen glimpses of when she had fallen for him?
“You still look worried,” Roman said as he pulled his phone from his pocket.
He was dressed in a shirt and formal trousers even though she hadn’t seen him go to work for days. Did the man ever loosen up?
“I don’t know, I still feel like things are going to get ugly.”
Roman scrolled his phone and clicked on an app before he handed it to her. It was the security app, and she could switch to different screens to see different angles of the boundaries of the house the same as she had done at the house. The driveway was indeed empty, and there was no one trying to climb over the fence or anything.
“See? And the new gate is in place so no one will even know anyone is home,” Roman said, pointing to the gate.
She did feel a little better after seeing it for herself. She knew her mother was upset so she hadn’t wanted to call her. But seeing this brought back something that had troubled her the last time she had been in this house.
“So do you have these cameras in all your properties?” she asked casually when she handed his phone back.
“Security is very important. There are some insane people out there,” Roman said, but it wasn’t the answer she was looking for.
“Do you have cameras around this house?”
“Yes.”
So easily as if he didn’t see what was wrong with that.
She had been right. He’d been invading her privacy all those months. That was how he’d known that Brendan had come to the gate so he could put that ridiculous clause in the contract.
“What have I done wrong?” Roman asked as he settled back on the sofa.
“Nothing, if you don’t think there’s something wrong with spying on people,” she muttered.
“We’re not spying on your parents. The cameras only point to the boundaries and all the access points, we can’t see the house,” Roman said.
“I don’t mean them. You have cameras here and spied on me the whole time,” she said before she gulped her wine down in one go and put her empty glass on the table.
She stood up to leave the room before she said something she would regret because she could feel her anger rising. But instead of giving her some space, Roman followed her.
“I didn’t spy on you, Evelyn. The cameras are positioned the same way as the other house and are for your safety. You lived alone in a huge house in the middle of nowhere.”
“You did spy,” she said, rounding back on him. “One minute you said I could bring my friends around and the next you had that stupid clause that said I couldn’t have anyone at all. And that was right after Brendan picked me up a few times.”
She watched his face tighten and knew she was right.
“Please don’t mention his name,” Roman said.
“Why? Because you’ll draw up another contract?” she snarled.
“I don’t want to fight.”
“I’m not fighting.”
She turned to walk towards the stairs, but Roman still followed. This had been such a bad idea. This house was ground zero, she shouldn’t have returned.
“I was jealous,” Roman said. “I hated that boy for the simple reason that every time I saw you with him you were laughing and happy. I thought you wanted to leave me to be with him, so I made the stupid contract. You will never know how much I regret that. I’m sorry, Evelyn.”
She stopped on the first step with her hands on the bannister and turned to face him. Why would a man like Roman be jealous of anyone at all? He was a confident man who knew he was a level above others. Brendan could not even be compared to him. She didn’t believe that at all.
“You saw me with him on the cameras that you used to spy on me. That doesn’t change that fact. You trapped me in this house and found a way to control all my movements with all your rules,” she said.
“I didn’t trap you!” Roman said with a raised voice.
She saw him take a breath and calm himself down before he said again, “I don’t want to fight, Evelyn.”
“Then what do you want? Hmm? You want to pretend to be everything I want so I can open my legs for you again? You want to feed me lies again? Worship my body and then turn around and crush my heart like I mean nothing to you?”
She had not meant to say any of those things, and she could tell she had surprised Roman. But she couldn’t stop herself. The filter was gone from her lips and all those things she’d wanted to ask him just kept tumbling out of her mouth. And all her anger from the months she had left him poured out in her words.
She couldn’t even blame the wine because she was stone-cold sober. But it felt so cathartic to finally say those things when they had been in her heart for so long.
“We might have been forced to spend time together but you don’t have to lie to me. I’m here. And you know I’m easy. You’ve said it yourself plenty of times.”
Roman closed his eyes and whispered her name as if he was begging her to stop.
“Oh, don’t worry, Roman. I’m going to give you everything you want and you don’t even have to pay for it this time.”
She pulled him closer and then placed her lips on his, initiating a kiss for the first time. And though Roman hadn’t liked what she had said, he opened up to her the second their lips touched.
From the step, she was as tall as he was. She put her arms around him to press herself closer, all her anger whirling inside her even as her body reacted to his. Because sex was the only thing that made sense between them, the only explanation why she would come back after everything.
And Roman let her take what she wanted. He let her explore his mouth and trail kisses on his face. He let her rip the buttons off his shirt so she could touch him.
Like he was giving her control of him.
That thought went straight to her head, sending her on a power trip, unlike anything she had ever known.
“Take me to the playroom, Roman,” she whispered.