Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Roman

I hear the panic in her voice and I’m racing to her side, no matter how angry she is with me.

She has every right to hate my guts. She doesn’t even know the half of it, though.

I can’t believe I forgot to give her the phone. Things with Thomasina…with her…

I’m forgetting to keep my guard up, forgetting to filter everything I say and do. I’m becoming this totally other person, and the one I am with Maddie.

That man, the man I am when I’m with her, I like and respect.

I’m a better man for being with her.

But the man I was…he’s about to ruin everything.

Her wide eyes stare at nothing as she slowly goes to sit on the bed. I can already tell she’s going to miss and I reach for her, grabbing her arm so she doesn’t fall.

She screams, jerking away, and crashes into the nightstand.

“Shit,” I rumble, righting her again.

She goes completely still in my arms. Like a hunted animal. “Maddie?” I ask quietly, dread pooling deep in my gut. “I didn’t mean to frighten you, sweetheart. You were going to miss.”

“Maddie?” I hear Lucia say into the line. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

But Maddie only makes this wounded noise in the back of her throat. “Sit.” I quietly command guiding her to the edge of the bed.

She does sit but every muscle in her body is rigid. I run my hands down her arms, trying to help her relax but she flinches away.

I’m afraid she’s going to hurt herself again so I drop my hands.

I don’t know what’s happened, what Lucia said, but I know it’s bad.

And I’m worried, by the way she just pulled away, instead of falling into my embrace, that whatever was said, involves me.

Did Alex tell Lucia about Thomasina?

I hear Lucia’s voice in the phone, but I can’t make out the words.

But by the look on Maddie’s face, pain pulling her features taut, I know my world is about to explode.

I drop down on my haunches, my elbows coming to my knees. I try to touch her calf, but she bats at my hand.

“Maddie?” I ask, my voice nearly breaking. “What’s wrong?”

“I need your address.”

Those words turn my insides cold. “My address?”

“The place that I am. I need to know where that is. I kept meaning to ask. It’s so stupid. I don’t even know you, why wouldn’t I make you give me your address?”

“You know me,” I respond, my voice low.

Lucia cuts me off and this time I hear what she says. “If he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”

Is Lucia talking about me? First of all, I would never harm Maddie. But the idea of Lucia inflicting any damage on me is laughable.

Vincent is a professional killer, and he couldn’t take me down.

“Tell me what happened,” I try again. If I could just insert some calm conversation into whatever is happening here…

“Address,” she cries, her voice breaking on a sob. “Now, Roman.”

“Eight-one-one Ash Street.”

“Did you hear that, Lucia?” More words from Lucia I can’t hear. “No. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Lucia’s voice grows louder so that I hear it. “We’re not hanging up, Maddie. I’m worried.”

“If I’m not on the street when you pull up, call the police,” Maddie answers and then hangs up the call.

The police? Fuck me.

For several seconds we just sit there. Me balancing on the balls of my feet, so tense I’m ready to break, and her, ashen, her features contorted in pain.

I don’t want to ask again, and I’m trying to give her the time she needs to calm down.

Her fingers tremble as they slide across her forehead. “Why did a city inspector just serve foreclosure papers to my house?”

I close my eyes. “Fuck.”

“Tell me, Roman. Why?” Her voice shakes but I hear the steel in it too. “Why would you foreclose on my house?” She emphasizes the word you. She knows.

“Maddie—”

“Don’t,” she cuts me off. “Try to tell me it wasn’t you.”

“It was me.” I’m not lying to her. Not now. Not ever again.

I hear the sob that escapes her lips. It echoes through me, shattering any composure I have left. My face sinks into my hands.

“So what? You brought me here? Took my phone…” She breaks on another sob. “Then what?”

“Then nothing. I brought you here to keep you safe.”

“Taking my house keeps me safe? Explain to me why you would to that?” I wanted to talk, but this is brutal. Still, I owe her the truth.

“The tunnel. You know I need the property to keep the tunnel project moving forward. It’s our way to get Luke and Kate back. Fuck?—”

She slumps to the side, her face pressing into the pillow as she lets out a wounded noise that rips out my heart.

Tentatively, I reach out to touch her again. I know I ruined everything, but I have to try and fix this. My hand hovers over her body, finally brushing along her upper arm.

This time she doesn’t jerk away, but she doesn’t pause in her crying either. The tears pour out of her and onto my pillow. I lean forward, resting my face on her legs. “Please.”

“What else haven’t you told me?”

My teeth clench together. There is a part of me that doesn’t want to admit to anything else. But since she knows two of my major sins, I might as well get the third one out. “Thomasina.”

She sits up then, so fast, I nearly fall. “What about her?”

“She…Jack didn’t find her behind his car.”

She smacks my shoulder. Hard. Not that it hurts. And honestly, I deserve for her to give me a good beating.

Pushing me away, she stands. “You manufactured a cat in need?”

“I wanted you to be comfortable.”

“You wanted to manipulate me!” She huffs before she spins, charging toward the closet. “Where is my dress?”

“Which dress? You’ve got like ten?—”

“The one I came in. I’ll return the underwear I’m wearing later. I?—”

“I don’t want the underwear back.” That’s not strictly true. I want the underwear, still dirty, and I want the woman in them. “The clothes are yours.”

“I don’t want your clothes,” she stops, her hands coming to her hips. We’ve had this entire exchange in our underwear, and it’s not helping one bit. I can see every part of her, from her beautifully flat stomach, to the flare of her hips, to her full, round rack. My hands itch to touch her. Hold her close.

“The clothes are yours.”

She shakes her head. “It’s all been a lie.”

“No,” I stand too, moving toward her. “I told a few lies but everything else is true.”

“How could I have trusted you? How could you…” Tears are streaming down her face, and I hate that I hurt her like this.

I’ll do anything to make it better.