Chapter 10: Monday morning: Ensuring a first date

First thing on Monday morning, I knocked on Romi’s bedroom door, hoping he was there. When there was no answer, I opened the door and peeked inside. It was empty. The bed was made up and had obviously not been slept in. I knew he was busy with Bratva business, but my brothers had come home. Only Romi had stayed away again.

His absence was making me feel physically ill. I missed him so much. He might genuinely have been busy with his flat or something. However, I couldn’t help but think he was avoiding me after all.

Damn it!I really needed to see him. I had planned on giving him today to think about us and hopefully make a move, but I wasn’t sure I could wait that long. I let out a frustrated breath. My plans to seduce him weren’t going to happen if the guy remained so bloody elusive.

It was obvious he wasn’t going to come to me as I’d hoped. I knew he was as attracted to me as I was to him, but he was likely fighting it. He was probably doing everything he could to convince himself that he should stay away from me, that the things standing between us were insurmountable and pursuing me wasn’t worth it. I needed to convince him otherwise, but I couldn’t do that if he wasn’t around. The longer he stayed away, the longer he had to talk himself out of pursuing his interest in me. I couldn’t let that happen.

Our evening together at Glitz had been wonderful, and the way he reacted to my tiramisu flirtations was exactly as I’d hoped. Operation Seduce Romi was working, and I needed to keep the momentum up to complete my mission, and the only way to do that was to spend time with him.

I needed to find a way to ensure that he had to spend time with me without running off. Today, I was going to find a way to do that, whether he liked it or not. I headed for breakfast filled with determination.

Everyone was busy, and Nonna had gone to visit a friend, so it was just Marko and me at breakfast, which suited me perfectly.

Marko and I were closest in age and spoke the most when I was away at University. Marko always kept me informed with family gossip, keeping me up to date with what was happening with the family business when my other brothers and Romi left me in the dark.

So, I planned on grilling him for information on Romi—subtly, of course—because even though Marko was likely to be the most accepting of my brothers when it came to Romi and me, he would still have difficulty with it, and right now was not the time to let him know anything. I needed to get my man before I could open up to anyone about us.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Ash has business in the city, and Romi is with him. They should be back later this morning. Miki is in the office doing whatever great Pakhans do, I guess,” he mumbled around a mouthful of cereal.

He must have been up all night in his office working as he was obviously famished. He always stuffed himself whenever he had pulled an all-nighter. It was as if he needed the food to sustain him through the day and keep him awake. Where other people would resort to copious cups of coffee, Marko ate copious amounts of food instead, so it was a good job he spent a lot of time at the gym too. Otherwise, the guy wouldn’t fit into the chair he sat at behind his computer the rest of the time.

“Are you busy today?” I asked, trying to make the question sound innocent while doing my best to send out subliminal telepathic messages—say yes, say yes, say yes—in the hope they worked. I needed everyone but Romi to be busy so he would not be able to wriggle out of spending time with me. Somehow, I was going to back him into a corner and make sure he did.

“Yeah, I need to try to get information on these attacks,” he replied.

Biting into my toast to avoid grinning at his reply, I waited for him to continue.

“We assume the Malia Boys have something to do with them, so I am trying to hack Siri’s phone.”

Siraaj Farah, otherwise known as Siri, headed the Somalian Malia boys. They were one of the gangs always trying to muscle in on our territory, and he was an utter creep. The Malia Boys ran brothels and were involved in human trafficking for the sex trade. Ash told me Siri even gave his own cousin away as a sex slave to some sleazy Somalian politician. Pig! The poor girl had been missing ever since, and her sister was understandably frantic. My family had been helping look for her, but so far, she hadn’t been found. It was so sad.

If Siri was behind the recent attacks, then I hoped my brothers killed the bastard. He deserved it. Of course, I hoped they found out what happened to the girl first, though, and if she was still alive, I hoped they were able to bring her home.

“When exactly will Ash and Romi be back?” I asked.

“Why?” he replied, looking up at me as he munched on another big mouthful.

“I was thinking of going out this afternoon and was hoping Romi might take me,” I said, trying hard to keep my tone light so he wouldn’t see how desperate I was to see Romi.

Once he had finished his mouthful, he replied, “Around 11 a.m., I expect.”

Yes!I practically jumped with excitement. Romi would be back in a couple of hours. I forced myself to finish my breakfast slowly and not bolt straight to my room.

As soon as Marko finished his own breakfast and headed back to his office to work, I downed the last of my coffee and hurried upstairs to get ready for what I considered to be my next date with Romi. I counted the Glitz event as our first date, and so this would be the second, I decided.

Pursing my lips, I looked through my wardrobe, wondering what to wear. I was going to let Romi think he was taking me shopping in the city, but in actual fact, I intended to make him take me to see his flat. Not only was I interested in seeing it, but it was also the perfect place for us to spend some alone time.

Pulling several items out, I quickly discarded them. The flat was under renovation, so I didn’t want to be too overdressed. Nevertheless, I still needed to look good. I needed a smart but casual outfit with natural-looking makeup and sexy underwear—just in case! I grinned mischievously.

That might be overly optimistic, but hey, better that than being caught out with granny-style knickers on when the man of my dreams finally decided to undress me. I chuckled as I remembered watching Bridget Jones with my friends. This was definitely not the time to be wearing Bridget Jones knickers.

It took me a while to find the perfect outfit. I was nervous and excited and kept second-guessing each of the numerous outfits I tried on. However, I finally settled on a gorgeous white silky V-necked t-shirt with black skinny jeans and a short olive-green brushed cotton jacket, which suited my complexion, and flat brown leather ankle boots and matching bag. I tied my long hair back in a loose braid that hung to my waist.

I was pleased with the look, thinking it was just the right amount of casual yet sexy. Underneath, I had on a white lacy bra and matching thong. Again, I thought the lingerie was sexy but not blatantly obvious. Now, all I needed was to get my man.

As it got closer to eleven a.m., I stood at the upstairs hall window, checking for their car to arrive. As soon as I saw it pull up outside the house and park, I sauntered down the stairs, ensuring that as Ash and Romi entered the house, they couldn’t miss me.

Both stopped and said, “Hi,” although I noticed that Romi quickly turned away, avoiding my eyes.

Shit!He wasn’t going to make this easy. I pouted but then quickly smiled to cover my annoyance. I knew trying to seduce Romi was going to pose a challenge, and I had told myself I was up to it. It was time to prove it.

Thrusting my shoulders back and figuring I had nothing to lose, I decided to dive right in.

“Romi, I was wondering if you would mind taking me somewhere this afternoon?” I said, keeping my voice as light as possible.

Romi looked like he was about to make an excuse when Ash piped up, “Sure he will. We are just going to have a quick word with Miki. Then I have some work to do, but Romi’s free.”

He turned to Romi, “Aren’t you?”

“Yeah, sure,” Romi replied, albeit reluctantly.

Thank you, Ash! He might have cut short my night with Romi the other evening, for which I still hadn’t quite forgiven him, but right then, I could have kissed him.

“Great, I’ll wait for you outside!” I gave him a big smile as I headed past him and strutted out of the door, making sure I put on a tiny extra wiggle, just in case he was watching. I was about to get the alone time with Romi that I was craving, and I planned on making every second of it count. I was going to knock his socks off!