Chapter 16

Sixteen

Roman

Even the buzz of his phone didn't paralyze him with dread. The time spent with Sam had soothed that wounded, angry beast inside him. Roman liked to think any time spent with her would do the same. It scared him to admit it, but it wasn't just the sex. He suspected she would have wound him down, relaxed him over time, if he would have simply come to Book they'd done the best they could.

And it hadn't been good enough for her.

He opened his eyes when Sam covered his free hand with hers. She offered him a small smile. The roiling frustration and guilt in his gut calmed just slightly. Sam squeezed his hand and let go when he nodded.

He wasn't alone. Not anymore.

He didn't talk about his family a lot with Sam, but anytime his ex-wife or kids came up, she listened. And reminded him he was a good man, that even though he had gone to medical school and worked crazy hours and hadn't always been there for the kids when they were smaller, he had been a good doctor and he had provided for his family.

He'd gone to Luca's cheer competitions when he could, and he'd attended Damien's home ball games when he could. He had always checked in on their grades, how school was going for both of them.

"When do you leave?" he asked Luca.

"I dunno. A week or something."

Any relief he might have felt about Luca moving somewhere, claiming she was clean, announcing she was looking for work, vanished at her lackluster answer. More bullshit from his daughter. He wished so much that she could settle and find happiness, whatever that looked like for her.

"Okay. Well. Give me a call when you want to come for a visit."

"Yeah. I will." She disconnected, leaving Roman listening to dead silence. He lowered the phone and glanced at Sam.

"You okay?" she asked quietly.

"What did I do to deserve you?"

"I told you, Roman. You're a good man. You deserve to be happy."