Chapter 26 Uninvited Feelings
••Luciana••
“Send a message to him.”
Roman's husk voice was the first thing I heard as I drifted awake slowly. My lashes fluttered, and a soft glow pushed into my sight. I turned a little, stretching under the warm sheets, before my gaze collided with something that yanked every last trace of sleep from my veins.
My eyes moved to Roman, he just hung up on a call.
He stood at his side of the bed, his back turned, and shoulders broad enough to block the morning light. A towel clung to his hips, nothing else. Water trailed down his back in slow drops, sliding over his muscles carved like someone took their time sculpting him. His shoulders rolled once, tightening and loosening, and the movement tugged my breath away.
My eyes drifted lower. A tattoo sat on his arm, dark ink coiled over warm skin. Something about tattoos had always been my weakness, i always admired them on my Celebrity crush. On him, the effect was worse, it was like danger wrapped in art. My stomach fluttered, a tiny, annoying flip.
More water slipped from his hair, damp strands falling over his forehead before he pushed them back with his fingers. The room suddenly felt warm. My throat tightened and my heart thudded like it was trying to escape my chest.
Then he shifted to reach for something on the dresser and I snapped my eyes shut like a child pretending to sleep. My face heated so fast I nearly groaned.
Roman dressed in silence, he simply wore his cloth. A click of his watch, and soft footsteps. Then the door opened and closed.
The room exhaled.
I opened my eyes back, still stretching lazily in the bed, I laid down for a bit staring at the ceiling. Then the door clicked open again, his footsteps thuds across the room to my side of the bed and he dropped something and left.
I waited two seconds—maybe three—before shooting upright like a guilty criminal. My feet slapped the floor, and i was halfway toward the tray on my bedside table before I even breathed.
Tea. The steam curled upward, carrying the familiar scent i loved.
I lifted the cup, inhaling deeply, my lips brushed the rim as I tasted it, and my eyes widened. He got it right. Exactly right.
The honey, and there was no lemon in it.
“How…?” I whispered to no one.
Then I noticed the folded note tucked under the saucer.
My fingers shook just a little as I opened it.
I know you are awake.
Drink it before it gets cold.
My heart fluttered—once, twice, then too many times to count. Heat crawled up my neck into my cheeks before i even caught myself.
“He wasn’t supposed to make me feel like this,” i muttered. “What is wrong with me?” I swooned.
But the blush stayed, stubborn and warm and absolutely impossible to ignore.
After enjoying the tea, I left the empty teacup on the table, pretending my heart wasn’t still doing small somersaults because Roman somehow knew exactly how I liked my tea. Honey, no lemon.
I went out of the room, the mansion hallway hummed with its usual morning sounds. I didn’t expect anything interesting until I reached the kitchen and heard hushed voices.
Ami the chef and her assistant were leaning close to each other, whispering as they chopped vegetables.
I stepped in quietly to get water, but they didn’t notice.
“Katya Morozova is coming today,” Ami whispered.
My hand paused on the glass.
The assistant gasped. “After so long? Madam Nadia will be so happy. Everyone knows she always wanted Katya for Master Roman.”
My throat tightened before I could stop it.
“She grew up here,” Ami continued. “Whenever the Morozovs visited, Roman used to follow her like a little shadow. You know how boys are when they like—”
I cleared my throat a little too loudly.
Both women jumped. Ami quickly bent in a bow.
“Good morning, madam.”
I smiled like their words didn’t poke something sharp inside my chest.
“Morning.”
I walked out with the water, pretending my heart wasn’t suddenly beating off rhythm.
\---
I was halfway up the stairs when the front doors opened.
Voices floated in, cheerful and familiar.
Then I heard Roman’s, and a woman’s.
I stopped.
Katya Morozova walked in like she had never left this house. Long silvery- blonde hair, bright eyes, winter-cold beauty with warmth wrapped around it like a fur coat. She wore confidence like second skin.
“Roman,” she said, and her face lit up.
Before I could blink, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
She gave him a full hug, not a greeting pat, or a polite dip. A slow, warm, 'I-missed-you' kind of hug.
Roman didn’t pull back either, he didn’t stiffen. He simply placed a hand on her back, steady, familiar.
Something in me twisted.
Theo cleared his throat quietly nearby—possibly to remind Roman that I'm watching. Roman didn’t seem to notice; Katya had already started talking.
“It’s been forever,” Katya said, stepping back only enough to see his face. “You’re taller. Stronger.” Her fingers tapped his arm like she had the right.
Katya glanced my way and flashed a smirk. Then she pretended like I wasn't there.
She looped her arm with Roman’s like muscle memory. “Come. You must tell me everything. I heard about the things you've been up to, I'm sure you want to fill me in."
Roman glanced up toward the staircase where I stood, though i ducked back before our eyes met—and his expression tightened just slightly.
He followed her, and they went into his study.
My chest felt… tight. Irritatingly so.
Then, I walked upstairs into my room.
Hours slipped by like they were mocking me.
From the corridor, I passed the study once and heard Katya’s laugh—soft, low, and too comfortable.
Roman answered with a quiet chuckle I had never heard him give anyone freely.
My chest pinched again.
I went back upstairs and tried reading, but I kept glancing at the clock.
I tried watching a show, but every time a woman laughed on screen I felt annoyed for no reason.
By late afternoon, I heard footsteps approaching.
The study door opened.
Katya walked out first, smiling like she had spent the day in a warm memory.
Roman followed, speaking to her in Russian, his voice low and casual. He rarely sounded that relaxed.
They reached the foyer where Nadia greeted Katya with open arms, beaming.
“Finally! You’ve grown even more beautiful,” Nadia said.
I stayed halfway up the staircase, leaning on the railing as if I only happened to be passing by.
Roman’s gaze lifted toward me, unreadable again.
As if he noticed something, and he didn’t know what it was.
Katya said goodbye and left with her family driver.
The door closed. Then he walked towards the direction of his study.
I blinked after him, confused and annoyed at myself for caring at all.
I wasn’t supposed to feel anything.
Yet my cheeks felt warm.