Chapter 72
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 turned my life upside down for your selfish reasons,” she hissed. “I had to move my family so they would be safe.”
“I didn’t know it would be like this,” Pam sniffed. “I’ve been following the comments online, I didn’t know your boyfriend was such a hotshot billionaire.”
She wanted to correct her and tell her Roman wasn’t her boyfriend. A part of her was starting to like hearing that word.
“You still haven’t answered my question, Pam. Why did you do it?”
She started pacing the space in front of the unlit fireplace. If she’d still been in Birmingham she would likely have gone to confront Pam by now because she had lost both her jobs because of this. When things died down and she left Roman, she would have nothing to go back to.
“I’m in debt, and I thought... It was a good offer_”
“So how much did you get for selling me out? One hundred pounds? Two?” she sneered. “That’s not even enough to cover your rent!”
“I got twenty thousand pounds.”
That made her stop pacing.
That was a lot of money for a bit of gossip. How many papers had she sold his story to? When had they ever paid so much for rubbish?
Unless it hadn’t been rubbish. She should have read that article. It had looked like a long one and Pam didn’t know her that well to have so much to say. Had she made things up? She hadn’t thought of that. Whatever lies she’d told would be taken as truth because they were from someone she was supposedly best friends with.
“I’m so sorry,” Pam sobbed again. “You know how much we get at the restaurant. I was about to be evicted, I couldn’t resist so much money.”
She sighed and sat down. If she had been in a desperate situation and someone offered her so much money for a story, would she have sold her friend out? She couldn’t say for sure. There had been times when they were growing up that she’d been desperate enough to try anything so her mother wouldn’t have to work herself to the bone.
She was still upset with Pam for doing it, but for that amount of money, she could understand where she was coming from. And it hadn’t worked out too bad, because Roman had protected her and her family. Maybe she could put this behind her but she could never trust Pam again.
“Say something,” Pam said. “I’m so sorry, Eve. I’d changed my mind, I wasn’t going to say anything but when that man came to see me he made it seem as if I had no choice, especially when I had all that legal stuff, too. I know I’m not supposed to call you but I’ve not had a wink of sleep since then.”
“What man?” she asked. “What legal stuff?”
Had someone tracked Pam down to make her do this?
There was silence on the other end again.
“Pam, who paid you?”
If she got a name, maybe Roman would be able to get ahead of this. If this person was going around to everyone she knew offering them money then there would be shitloads of stories about her everywhere.
“It was a man called Phillip,” Pam said.
Her mind immediately went to Roman’s driver but that was ridiculous. There were plenty of Phillips in the country.
“Eve, please don’t tell your boyfriend,” Pam whispered. “He made me sign all this legal shit, a non-disclosure agreement with rules and everything.”
She sucked in a breath.
No.
It couldn’t be.
“I’m not supposed to contact you ever again but I couldn’t leave things like this. I’m sorry,” Pam said.
She looked up and saw Roman standing in the doorway and he looked guilty as fuck. She hung up without hearing another word of what Pam was saying and her heart cracked.
“I can explain,” Roman said quietly.
She stood to face him. All this time she’d thought he was helping her when he had been the one to splash her name in the papers. Her hand came to her lips as she regarded the man standing in front of her. He had swooped in and played her hero. And she’d been so grateful that she’d smashed all the walls she had built around her heart and welcomed him back in. She’d deliberately ignored the things he had done to her already.
“Evelyn...” Roman started.
His voice trailed off as if he knew there was nothing he could say that would make any of this okay.
Roman had protected her so efficiently from the press as if he had been prepared for this. Her mother’s words rang loudly in her mind. After she had told her that everything her dad needed was at the house, her mother had asked if he had planned this.
She gasped as she looked into his eyes.
How could she have been so stupid?
“All this time,” she started shakily. “It was you all along.”
The first picture in the paper had conveniently left her face out because Roman had wanted it that way. It was so obvious now. She hadn’t told anyone that Roman was coming to meet her and still someone had managed to take all those pictures.
This had all been an act, just like the day he had made her sign the contract. Another game. He’d played the perfect boyfriend, being everything she needed and making her feel secure. Giving her stupid hope by insisting this wasn’t about sex and he wanted everything. He’d preyed on her, he’d played with her feelings for him just so he could fuck her again.
“I’m a fool. An asshole,” Roman said thickly.
Her heart split wide open.
No, she was the fool. How had she ever thought that she could keep up with a man like Roman?
“Was this a game to you all this time?” she asked, blinking back her tears.
“I’m not playing games.”
“You manipulated the situation so I could come back here!”
Pain worse than anything she had felt before flooded her body. All she had ever done was love him, and this was the price she paid.
“I did, but that was only because I knew you wouldn’t come back to talk to_”
“And you think that’s okay?”
She shook her head and walked past him to leave the room. She couldn’t be here anymore.
“No, it’s not okay,” Roman said, following her to the stairs. “Evelyn, wait.”
“Was this just to stroke your ego? Because I left you in the middle of the night? Because you thought I was sleeping with Brendan?”
“Please don’t say his name, not now,” Roman said.
She turned around to face him and ignored the tears that had started to fall down her cheeks.
“I will say his name as much as I fucking want. He is a better man than you will ever be,” she hissed. “You’re a horrible human being, Roman, and I regret the day I ever met you.”
When she turned around to walk up the stairs again, he didn’t follow her.