Chapter 55
Roman took another shower, a quick one this time because he was ready to explode. After he had come so hard the first time, he’d thought he had enough control over his body to talk to her. But here he was, shooting an endless load because he had finally got to touch her again. She had been so fucking hot. He could still hear her voice as she’d let go, and he could still feel the grip she’d had on his fingers. He should have known it would end like this. Resisting Evelyn had always been beyond his capabilities.
When he dressed again he headed out of the bedroom to go downstairs. His steps slowed outside the closed door of the other bedroom. Would she come out of there after what had just happened? Would she take him up on his offer? Giving her no place to hide pretty much guaranteed that she would be forced to confront their situation but he knew he still had a lot of work to do before she came to him willingly.
With a sigh, he looked at his watch to check the time and then headed down the stairs. He hadn’t lied when he’d told her he had a lot of work to do. This was the day this house became a home.
The security team called as he finished making a cup of coffee. Phillip had already briefed them but he confirmed they were to just clear the reporters from his gates only when the deliveries came through, but they were free to wait exactly where they were.
An hour later, when the furniture started arriving, Evelyn still hadn’t come down. He had some paperwork in front of him to confirm and sign but he couldn’t concentrate.
Had that been too much? Had she seen how desperate he was? Had he fucked things up already?
Phillip walked into the kitchen carrying several shopping bags and placed them on the table.
“I’m not shopping for her underwear again,” Phillip stated.
“Then why did you offer to do it in the first place?”
“I was being nice. You could have said no,” Phillip said as he walked to the fridge. He opened it and grabbed a bottle of water before he came back to join him at the breakfast island.
“What’s the situation at her parent’s house?” he asked, pushing the paperwork away.
“I think her mother knows the house is being watched. The curtains were twitching all night. You might want to get all of this done as quickly as you can because she looks like a tough one,” Phillip answered. “How long is this going to take?”
“I promised them a large bonus if they can finish today. I can’t sleep on that sofa another night, it’s fucking uncomfortable,” he said as he picked up the shopping bags. “Thanks. I’ll call you later.”
He’d needed an excuse to go and see her so he headed up the stairs. The master bedroom was empty. It looked like Evelyn hadn’t come out of the empty bedroom. He placed the bags on the bed and walked back out to knock on the other bedroom door.
“Evelyn,” he called. “Phillip’s just brought your things. Can I come in?”
The reply took a little too long to come for his liking.
“Evelyn?”
“Yes, come in,” she finally called out.
She was sitting on the floor under the window, gripping her phone.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
She was lying. He walked further into the room and looked out over the small back garden.
“You might as well tell me,” he said. “I’m the only one you can talk to truthfully about this situation.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t want to talk to you. There’s no point pretending to be friends because we’re going our separate ways after this. I’ll figure it out myself.”
Ouch. Evelyn had grown some claws.
“If you’re worried about your parents, trust me_”
Evelyn snorted and looked down at her phone. Okay, so that was the wrong choice of words. And she was now ignoring him as if she hadn’t come all over his hand earlier. He’d touched her too soon. He should have waited until he could prove she had nothing to worry about.
“Your parents are fine,” he continued.
“For now. But I’ve just lost one job and the other is hanging in the balance, and my mother doesn’t feel safe enough to leave my father alone. So once again I’m fucking everything up for them while I'm here getting... It doesn’t matter. I’ll fix it.”
Evelyn stood up and then started to walk out of the room. He wanted to ask why she wasn’t using the money she had agreed to keep but he held himself back because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t like the answer. Evelyn had been adamant she didn’t want the money and he already had an idea why.
They would have to talk properly about their past agreement so they could put that behind them once and for all, but now wasn’t the time. He needed everyone to finish what they were doing so he and Evelyn could be truly alone.
“I’ve put the shopping bags on the bed if you want to go and change. There are people in the house putting the furniture together so we have to go to the kitchen to keep out of their way. The lawyers will be here soon.”
Evelyn turned back to him at the door.
“I’ll need to read every word of the agreement,” she said.
“I understand. I won’t be in the same room, so you can ask them to clarify anything,” he assured her.
Evelyn then walked out, leaving him alone in the room. Something had gone wrong. After the way she’d let him touch her, he’d expected a little more warmth than this. Just a little to prove that things were heading in the right direction. Some indication that all of this wasn't going to blow up in his face.
His phone rang as he was heading back down the stairs, and he saw Phillip’s name on the screen.
“Yes?”
“The girl Miss Bright works with at the restaurant figured it out and is trying to sell her story.”
He paused mid-step and looked back down the hallway. Was that the reason Evelyn had been fired from one of her jobs? They’d figured it out? But so what if Evelyn had been kissing her lover? That had nothing to do with her employment.
There had always been the risk that someone who personally knew Evelyn would recognise her in the pictures even though he’d taken the necessary steps not to show her face. There was a plan in place for that. But was he too late? Was he about to see a story in the paper that he had no control of?
“Fix it,” he growled.
“I’m already on my way to her but you need to wrap things up as soon as you can.”
If Evelyn’s name got splashed in the papers there was no telling what they would say about her. These reporters were always so economical with the truth so the last thing he needed right now was to let them control the narrative. He didn’t want Evelyn to feel like she couldn’t walk away from this.
Phillip was right. It was time to move things along before he lost Evelyn for good.