Chapter 174 CHAPTER 174
Roman’s POV
It was still afternoon when I woke up in the silk sheets of another woman’s bed. A woman I didn’t intend to keep either. Elena was curled against my side like she belonged there. She was not asleep. She had been watching me sleep and when she smiled at me, I felt panic instead of excitement. But she was good, so I would still keep her for now.
Her fingers traced idle patterns over my chest, hesitant at first, then bolder when she realized I was awake.
“Welcome back, Alpha Roman,” she murmured, smiling like she’d won something.
I gave her a lazy look. “That was a good nap.”
She blushed. They always did. Power unsettled people. Even in bed.
I stretched, deliberately slow, giving her time to admire what she thought she’d earned. Elena wasn’t foolish. Just young. Observant. Staff in houses like Lara’s saw everything and they knew a lot. They knew who came, who left, who stayed too long, who didn’t.
And I needed to know exactly what kind of ground I was standing on.
“You’ve worked here long?” I asked casually, brushing my thumb along her waist.
“Since before Madam Lara moved back permanently,” she said. “Almost a year.”
Before. That interested me.
“And her husband and son?” I kept my tone soft, teasing. “I’d hate to make a poor impression.”
She hesitated, eyes flicking to the door. “What do you want to know?”
I leaned in, lips teasing along her shoulder. Not a kiss. She didn’t deserve one yet. Just one enough to make her breath catch, and lose some more common sense.
“What’s her ex-husband like?” I asked.
Her body stiffened slightly. That was answer enough.
“He’s like every rich man,” she said carefully. “But he is different in some ways.”
“Different how?”
“Quiet. Very quiet. But when he’s here, everyone feels it.”
So he visited her in her home.
“And the company?” I pressed. “Her real estate empire. He’s still involved?”Elena bit her lip. “They built it together. Officially, he stepped back. But some executives still report to him privately.”
I didn’t like that. The presence of this ex husband in the company might not make things easy for me.
I smiled faintly. “You’re very helpful.”
She melted under the praise.
I kissed her forehead and sent her off before she could mistake manipulation for affection. Once she was gone, I lay back and stared at the ceiling. I thought of all the information I had managed to gather. I was wrong to assume she was vulnerable, but I could always count on my charm. She would be offering me her company with her own hands.
That evening, she invited me to dinner.
“Family dinner,” she said over wine, her voice light. “Nikolai and I endure dinner once monthly for the sake of Andrei. You should come.”
“Family?” I repeated. “Is that an appropriate word?”
She held my gaze over the rim of her glass. “Of course.”
I should have declined. Instead, I agreed. I was curious to meet this ex husband of hers.
The house was warm with crystal chandeliers and it screamed wealth in a similar way Lara’s house did. I tried not to look too astonished but it was a breathtaking view. I concluded that this man must be rich and powerful.
When he walked in, I confirmed my suspicion, as well as Elena’s description.
He wasn’t loud. He was imposingly tall. His strides were even and long. He seemed to sap the air out of the room. He saw me and his eyes assessed me the way a man evaluates a piece of property.
“Roman,” Lara said smoothly. “This is Nikolai.”
He stretched his hand first and we shook hands. His grip was firm and the handshake was almost as though he didn’t want to touch me.
“Alpha Nikolai,” he said, his face muscles stiff and his eyes still measuring me.
He looked like someone I should have heard of but I'd never heard of him.
“Lara invited you to dinner,” he said, suddenly. “You must be a bit special."
I took the compliment with a slight nod.
Dinner began soon. Conversation flowed between Lara and her ex husband while I majorly listened. Lara was laughing more than usual. She touched my arm when she spoke. Leaned close enough that her perfume wrapped around me deliberately.
It took me ten minutes to realize what she was doing. Every touch happened when Nikolai was looking. Every laugh was just a fraction too loud because she wanted him to hear it. She wasn’t trying to charm me. She was performing for him.
I felt a slow, cold and sharp irritation settle in my chest.
And then the boy entered. Andrei. Seven years old, Lara had said.
He stood in the doorway first, observing. No smile. No childish awkwardness. Just scrutiny. He had headphones over his ears and a scowl that settled on his face when he saw me.
“You’re the new one,” he said flatly and bored as he approached the table.
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
He ignored me.
Lara faced him. “That’s not how to speak to a guest. And you are late to dinner.”
I wondered if he was able to hear her with the headphones on. Nikolai didn’t say a word. He just polished his plate silently.
“Take your headphones off,” she continued and reached for it, yanking it off his head.
“Why did you say that to him?” she asked.
“What?” he shrugged. “They never stay.”
I felt Nikolai’s gaze flicker between us. He was amused.
I tried to take charge of the situation. So, I smiled thinly at the boy. “Do you always evaluate guests like that?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “The same way you did when you saw me.”
He was unpleasant, but he was a smart child.
Dinner continued, but the air had shifted. I could feel it clearly now. Lara’s touches were calculated. Nikolai’s silence was deliberate. The boy watched everything. I wasn’t here as a partner. I was leveraged. She had invited me to make her ex husband jealous.
Dinner thankfully ended after two hours of enduring Nikolai’s scrutinizing eyes and his son’s scrutinizing mouth.
When we got home, I didn’t wait.
“You enjoyed that,” I said as soon as the doors shut.
She slipped off her heels calmly and stretched her toes. “Dinner?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean.”
She turned slowly, eyes cool. “Enlighten me.”
“You used me.”
Her brow arched slightly. “For what?”
“To make him react. To make him jealous”
She laughed softly. “Did he? Was he?”
“That’s not the point.”
“No?” she asked. “You’re not the jealous one, are you?”
My jaw tightened. “I don’t like being used.”
She rose up and stepped closer. “You handle people daily, Roman. Spare me this story. Nikolai and I only relate because of business.”
“This wasn’t business.”
“It was entirely business.”
I stared at her. “You still want him.”
Her face remained stiff. Her expression didn’t shift. It was hard to read her.
“What I want,” she said evenly, “is control. And every single penny he owes me back”
“And I’m what? A prop? Something to take along to make you feel powerful?”
“If the shoe fits.”
Anger flared. I stepped closer. “You think I’ll tolerate that?”
She walked past me toward the stairs. “Bring your proposal to my office tomorrow.”
I stared at her back. “That’s your answer?”
“Yes.”
“I just raised important concerns to you.”
“And I just gave you a chance.” She yawned. “Stop sulking.” She paused at the top of the stairs, glancing down at me. “If you want a partnership, come prepared. It’s been a long day and I need all the rest I can get.”
Then she disappeared into her room.
I stood there longer than I should have.
She hadn’t denied it. She hadn’t apologized. She’d redirected me. And somehow, that unsettled me more. Lara was turning out to be nothing I expected.
—
I woke up the next morning to silence. She was already gone. No morning kisses or a brief reminder about my interview at her office. I swore under my breath and got dressed.
If she wanted to shift the battlefield to business, fine. I’d meet her there.
Her office tower was glass and steel. It was so clean and shiny that it was intimidating. It was power wrapped up as elegance. That was exactly what she looked like too.
The receptionist looked confused when I gave my name as she typed my name in the visitor’s log.
“Do you have an appointment for today, sir?” she asked, the frown on her face getting deeper.
Before I could respond, a voice came from behind me.
“She’s expecting you.”
I turned slowly. A woman who wore a similar smile with all the women i had seen since I stepped foot in the company stood behind me. She pointed forward and led the way, her heel clicking and her hips rolling.
When we got to the topmost floor, she pointed down the end of a quiet corridor. “The last office on your right. It’ll be hard to miss.”
I walked down the corridor, imagining the feeling of authority I would have when I became a director. Or better still, the CEO. I tapped on the door once and pushed it in. someone else was in the office, not Lara. I thought I had entered the wrong office until i recognised his face.
Nikolai.
Of course. I almost scoffed. He stood there like he belonged. Because he did. I felt the awkwardness of the moment and I tried to act as though I was just paying a casual visit to Lara. I was afraid that if he heard of my real intention of coming to see Lara, he might ruin my plan.
“You are here to see Lara,” I asked, my eyes sweeping over the room for anything strange.
He stepped closer to me. He did that thing he did to me with his eyes again, sizing me up.
I held his gaze, refusing to blink.
“Yes,” he replied, once he had decided that it was worth a response. “Why are you here?”
I ignored his question. “I thought you stepped back.”
“From daily management,” he said, his expression didn’t change. “Not from oversight.”
So the company was never entirely hers alone.
“Lara’s in the old executive wing,” he added. “Corridor on the right.”
He turned away and continued sorting through some papers on the desk. I wondered if he was back fully. I wondered if they were both seeing each other in secret, and maybe this time I was a pawn in a game I didn't understand yet.