Roman accepted the cup of tea that had been poured for him and then looked over at Evelyn. She looked uncomfortable, and frankly, so did he. He’d given his dad plenty of warning so Esther would at least look decent. He should have known better.
But he’d had to bring her here despite his reluctance. Evelyn needed to know him, the real him. The good, the bad and the ugly. And there was nothing uglier than his family and all the damage that had caused.
Meeting his father was a good starting point. It was a serious step in all relationships so she had to know he was serious. And hopefully, this would also pave the way for them to start having real conversations.
Maybe about his abandonment issues and trust issues.
Eve washed her hands after freshening up and looked at herself in the mirror.Her face still looked flushed and it wasn’t from the cold. She couldn’t believe she had done that. Having sex outside was just so... common. She doubted Roman’s girl... Vivian would have done anything like that. Roman’s stepmom was right.She couldn’t bear to look at herself any longer so she concentrated on washing her hands and then drying them. When there was nothing else to keep her in the bathroom any longer, she walked to the door and took a deep breath to prepare herself.She didn't want to go back into that room with Esther.When Roman had worried about his stepmother almost miscarrying, th
Roman looked outside his window and when he looked back at her, she felt like the moment had passed.To show her he what? He was sorry? He loved her?That last one had her mentally laughing at herself as she went back to their conversation. She had to stop doing this to herself.So he thought they could stop having sex while in the same house? And then what would they do? Play card games?"I don't know how I feel about us sleeping together again, but I know we’ll keep doing it," she admitted. "You've been good to me and I'm very grateful for what you've done for my parents but I guess... I guess seeing your family and hearing what they think of me just hammered in the fact that we’re from different
Roman had pulled off deals in his life that had seemed impossible to others. He’d made risky calls that would have cost him everything if he’d lost. He’d sat across negotiating tables with men who ran the world and still left them in his dust. Not that he was a gambling man. Every business move he made was calculated, and he always made sure he could win, even with the risks.But none of those situations had been as terrifying as this.He adjusted the vase full of flowers on the table and then stepped back to inspect it. It still didn’t look right. Everything had to be perfect. He couldn’t control the outcome of the conversation but he could control this.He picked it up and moved it to the other end of the table, and then realised it would be t
Eve didn’t even greet Pam when she answered the phone, she went straight to her question.“Why did you do it? I thought we were friends.”There was silence on the phone for a moment and then what sounded like a sob.“I’m sorry,” Pam said.She walked into the lounge to get some privacy. After the day she’d had with Esther and her comments the last thing she’d needed was some more drama. But Esther was a stranger and Pam was someone she had thought she could be friends with. That betrayal hurt more than anything Roman’s family could say to her.“That’s not good enough, Pam. You turn
Roman felt numb as he stood at the bottom of the stairs.He was still standing there when Evelyn came back down a few minutes later with her handbag. It was like watching his life fall apart in slow motion. Tears were still falling down her cheeks and she looked... destroyed. He’d destroyed her. He had done this.She stopped a little distance away from him as if she couldn’t bear to come any closer. She didn’t even look at him.“Where are the car keys?” Evelyn asked.She was leaving him. He knew that this was it, that she would never come near him again. He’d fucked up.“Evelyn, I’m so sorry,” he said ho
Eve had locked herself away in the house for days.She didn’t have the strength to scrape herself off her bedroom floor but she knew if she walked out of the house she would be driving back to Roman. She wanted to know why. Why he’d tricked her again, why he couldn’t love her.The weight of his betrayal paralyzed her. Wrecked her. She’d never known that her heart could hurt so much and affect her ability to do anything else. Roman had been her air, and now he was gone.He had been so gentle, so perfect that she had fallen deeper in love with him. She didn’t think she could pick herself back up this time.When she was all cried out, she dragged herself to th
"I love how you set up this place."Eve smiled at her mother and then drank a sip of her coffee so she wouldn't give herself away. She had nothing to do with this house but all night she'd had to listen to her parents tell her how much they loved it.Her father had settled into a comfortable one-seater near the fire and had already dozed off in the middle of watching his TV shows. The more she had seen how independent he had become in this house the harder it was for her to admit to them that she didn’t know if this would be forever.Was Roman really giving them this house? Or was this another of his tricks? Was he going to pull the rug out from under her parents because she had left him again?
Roman slammed the phone down and ignored Phillip as he looked through the paperwork in front of him. He knew Phillip would have something to say about his behaviour but he was tired of hearing that shit.“Are you going home tonight?” Phillip asked.“Yes, when I finish all this. I’ll drive myself so you can do whatever you want.”“I can order some food_”“I’m fine, Phillip,” he said firmly.“You’ve just shouted at Penny for no reason,” Phillip pointed out.He’d been shouting at her a lot. He was surprised his PA hadn