Chapter 55 Find out what she's hiding.
CHAPTER 55
Find out what she’s hiding.
ROMAN – POINT OF VIEW
I stand there, heart pounding heavily.
I knew this was going to happen. She lied to me. She stole for me, for Dante. Dante has always been at the scene of the crime, every time. I am going to burn him to the ground. I will burn everything to the ground.
Men like me are not made for love. I was a fool to think a part of me could find a semblance of love. All I found was betrayal and a gaping hole.
I clench my jaw hard as the gate opens and they drive in. I’m not interested in a conversation right now. I should not have exploded over her. I am not going to say a single word to her or them about what she did.
“Where’s Scarlett?” Eve walks to me, frowning and cautious.
Elena, Damian, Caleb, Rick and the bodyguards are watching me.
“Her bedroom,” I answer curtly, jaws clenched.
I know she didn’t know about what Scarlett did. Scarlett knew it would blow over and wanted to be the only one paying.
“Are you … okay?” Elena frowns at me.
I’m not okay. Everything has changed. I have been fooled by a woman again. History has repeated itself.
“I’m okay,” I say dismissively.
Thankfully, they walk in, leaving me with the men.
I answer their unspoken question calmly, “Scarlett is the leak. Dante approached her at the first event, asked her to steal the file, and she did.”
“What?” Caleb snaps in shock.
“No, no, she wouldn’t have, why would she have done that?” Rick frowns, stunned, so he didn’t know, either.
How did Scarlett keep such a big secret for over a month?
“What are you doing now? Pressing charges? We lost a lot of money, Roman. The investors are grumbling.” Damian frowns at me, “I got a lot of calls from Luca. He’s swearing vengeance.”
I exhale slowly. The thought of pressing charges against Scarlett hadn’t even entered my mind. The media will have a field day on that. I am not going to punish her that way. We are in a two-year contract, and I don’t need the wrong attention on us.
“You’re not thinking of hurting her that way, are you? You can’t. How much did you lose?” Rick glares at me, quickly defending her.
I smile bitterly at him, “One fifty million dollars.”
He pales instantly, and I nod, “Exactly. Leave us.”
He is reluctant, but does as I ask.
“This is a big deal, Roman. What was she thinking? What did he have on her? This is a big mess.” Damian massages his forehead, exhausted.
“I don’t know what he had on her, but I am going to find out. She’s hiding a lot of me, and the luxury of that has been revoked. Whatever it is will be done in private. I’ll pay back the investors. We keep this out of the press as much as we can. I’ll speak to Luca. You speak to the team on it and call off the search, Caleb. I’ll need a tech team for something different.” I decide, my words clipped.
“For what?”
“Finding whatever she’s hiding. I would do it myself, but I don’t have the time for that. We’ve lost so much money, and we need to get it back as soon as possible. Dante will reach out soon, threatening her with the same secrets. I need to know before she does. I’ll have her phone intercepted and linked to mine. Her privacy is gone. All her fucking privileges have been revoked.” I clench my jaw hard, trying not to get angry.
“Okay, okay, we’ll do something about it. I’ll speak to the team now and get in touch with a select few from our tech department.” He nods, already pulling out his phone.
“I’ll have an iron-clad contract ready in a few hours,” Damian says, and I nod.
Caleb walks away to make calls, leaving me with Damian, who’s just staring at me.
“Are you okay? You don’t have to lie to me.” He finally speaks, brows furrowed, concern in his eyes.
I’m not okay. I let myself hope for the first time in a decade, and got hurt the same way. To make it worse, her words and tears are embedded in my skull.
Was I counting empires?
Rage builds in me again.
“I’m okay, Damian. I’m perfectly fine. Give me a second, I need to get her phone.” I grit my teeth and turn on my heel.
“Maybe do that tomorrow?” He says, catching up to me, but I don’t stop.
I climb the stairs, then walk down the hall to the bedroom. I find it ajar, but I knock. Elena and Eve are there, confused, which means she hasn’t told them anything. They look even more confused to see us.
“Where’s she?” I demand, ignoring my manners.
It’s hard to think about courtesy when there’s a building pressure behind my eyes, throbbing and aching.
“What do you want? She has been crying and won’t talk. She’s also bleeding. Did you hurt her?” Eve glares at me with her hand on her hips.
“Bleeding?” Damian steps in.
“She fell. I don’t hurt women. Now, where the fuck is she?” I bark, irritated that she would even ask me that.
“Bathroom,” Elena answers with a sigh.
I walk across the roomand come to a halt when I find her dress on the floor.
She’s naked in there.
The pressure behind my eyes grgrowsorse.
I inhale sharply and knock hard.
“Come in,” she answers from within, sounding ephemeral.
I push the door open, hoping she isn’t naked in there.
My heart stops beating when I see her. She’s in the tub, surrounded by foam, but she’s definitely naked. Her eyes are swollen, her cheeks are flushed, and her nose is red. She has been crying.
I don’t care.
She looks at me, eyes shining with hope.
“Give me your phone,” I order coldly, looking everywhere but her.
“On the counter.” She answers coldly.
I see the phone and reach for it. Then, I walk out of there. My heart is pounding as I walk out of her bedroom. It pounds harder, and my knees grow weaker.
I lean against the wall, steadying myself.
Everything has changed.