21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

ROMAN

I was home by four o’clock when my phone started ringing. Alex’s name was scrolling across the screen. My heart almost stopped, and I wondered if something was wrong.

I answered in a panic, “Alex?” Oh crap, why did I answer the phone that way? She calls me all the time, why would I freak her out like that? Get a grip, man.

“Hi, yeah, everything’s fine. Should it not be?”

“No, just used to strange things happening lately.”

She laughed, thank goodness.

“So, I just dropped off Darius and Shay and I’m headed home. I have the most amazing idea, and I need to know if what I want to do is going to be feasible.”

Hmmm, the last time she came to me with an idea I burned it to the ground. I hoped I had better information for her this time.

“I’m all ears.”

“I’m kind of excited about it so I’ll tell you when I get there so I can focus on driving.”

“That’s a great idea, I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Thank you, babe. Love you and I’ll see you in a few.” She hasn’t said she loves me since the day Tanner made our lives hell. I don’t care what else she needs to ask me, the answer’s yes.

I reciprocated, “Love you too.” That has to be the best feeling in the world, having the love of your life love you back, genuinely.

Amelia called to check in before her trip. “Are you sure you’ll be okay without me here for a few days?”

“Yep, Alex is going to be using the conference room as her office. She’s bringing her team with her too, and you’ll still be answering the phones from Texas. I don’t see any problems, do you?” I raised my eyebrows.

“I don’t. I’m not sure I really believe you, though.”

“I’m sure it’ll all be fine eventually.”

“I’ll call you when we get to the plane and when we land. I’ll send you anything important you need to know, otherwise you’ll get the usual emails.”

“Thanks Amelia, keep Harrison out of trouble and on time please.”

“Will do. ”

We both hung up at the same time.

I was leaning against the wall next to the elevator when the doors opened and there she was– the reason I breathe lately. I stepped in, wrapping her in my arms, practically crushing her to my chest.

She laughed and choked out, “Hey there, it’s really nice to see you too.” I put both hands on her cheeks and kissed her like I hadn’t seen her in months. Her arms wrapped around my waist and my hands found their way into her hair. This is where I wanted to be everyday just like this. The doors opened and we almost fell into the room.

“Sorry, I just missed you today.” I said, out of breath.

She laughed. “You saw me at least twice today already.”

“I know. I’m just excited about you moving in.” That wasn’t a lie.

“Me too.”

I took my suit jacket off and threw it over the back of one of the island chairs and went straight to the fridge and got a beer. It was quicker than pouring a bourbon. I turned around and she was staring at me.

“Would you like a glass of wine?” I held up the bottle of cabernet on the counter.

She smiled and nodded. I poured her a glass.

She sat on one of the stools at the kitchen island and abruptly slammed her hands down on the marble top, “Now, Roman. Don’t bullshit me. What’s wrong?” she demanded.

***

ALEX

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m just going to take a shower.” Oh, so he gets to change the subject, now? Don’t think so .

“Not so fast, no subject changes.” He downed the rest of his beer and smirked at me while trying not to laugh.

“You got me on that one, didn’t you?” I raised an eyebrow trying to figure out why he’s been so upset and anxious.

“I can tell you need to talk about this. Whether it’s with me or a professional. You almost look sick.” He had a weird pale look to him. Maybe it would be a good idea if he took a shower first and see if that helped any.

I gave in. “Fine, go take a shower and we won’t talk about whatever this is right now. I don’t know what’s going on, but you look ill.” I figured he’d talk about it at some point. I watched him practically drag his feet all the way down the hall.

I sent Grant a text expressing my excitement about the neighborhood, and he called me instead of texting back.

“Grant, that neighborhood is perfect.” I didn’t bother to say hello. I knew he knew exactly what I was talking about.

“That’s my girl, I knew you’d figure it out. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“My goodness, where do I start? It’s like a clean slate with an outline.”

He chuckled.

“That’s what I was thinking. Matt and I saw your ideas for Burrow Township come to life in this neighborhood. I know that it’s going to take a little bit of work, but I know you can do it, with Roman’s help…have you told him yet?”

“No, he’s been acting really weird today, so I haven’t had a chance to tell him anything yet.”

“What kind of weird are we talking about?”

“I don’t know, he looks sick or like he’s seen a ghost or something. ”

“Is there anything I can do to help? Want me to talk to him? Maybe it’s a guy thing. Maybe it’s the moving in together thing.”

Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe he’s nervous about moving in together. I know he’s the one that was pushing for this, but maybe it’s starting to hit him how permanent a situation this is, and he’s not handling it well.

“No. I’ll just talk to him and see if that’s it. And my ideas for this place are amazing and guess what?” I bounced up to my knees on the sofa.

“Alex, I know this is going to be your thing. I can hear the excitement in every word and know your ideas are going to be amazing. What is it that you want me to guess?”

“They got all the kickback money back from the zoning fraud in Texas and Roman put it in an account for me to use on this relocation project. $520,000. I don't even know what to say, it’s like a miracle.”

“Well, now that is good news. Baby girl you’re going to do great things, I just know it.” I don’t think he’s ever called me ‘baby girl’ before, but it sounded so fatherly and warm.

Grant has always been a great parental figure and mentor. I don’t know what I would’ve done without him when things were so bad all those years ago. Even though I really love my own dad, he’s a very mellow laid-back type of dad, and he didn’t like hearing about all the stuff I was going through. He said he didn’t know how to help me. Grant just seemed to know, and he was always there no matter what the situation was. I told him my ideas were to renovate the whole neighborhood. I would see if the residents would be willing to use the money they got for their homes on the purchase of the new homes and use the money from Texas to help renovate. I still had plenty of money saved that could also help, but I think this is where I would want to start a non-profit to raise money to really do some good. I mean not only this place, but other surrounding areas that may need some work. Grant was on board with my ideas. Now time to see if Roman was.

***

ROMAN

I’m so glad she stopped wanting to talk about it. I needed to be alone for a minute and wash today off in the shower. Talk about paranoia. I’m not going to be able to leave this building without looking around at all times, wondering who was there to protect and who was there to hurt. Fuck, this is not what I needed right now. It was enough to know that Tanner was out and about trying to get his revenge or whatever he was trying to do, but now the mafia and militia are involved. I ran my hands through my hair and down my face.

After the shower I got out, wrapped a towel around myself, put my hands on the sink and hung my head .

Ugh, not the fucking phone. Who the hell is it? Alright, great no more trying to relax, it's all getting amped up again. Grant or Andrea, whoever the fuck he is.

I picked it up with a sick to my stomach feeling and said, “Yup.” Grant just chuckled. I’m glad he thinks it’s funny.

“I just got off the phone with Alex. She said she thinks you're sick. I told her you might be having the moving in together jitters.”

That was a good excuse, except for the part where I practically begged her to move in with me and it was partly against her will.

I groaned, “Did she call you or did you call her?”

“She reached out to me. She’s really excited about the new neighborhood renovation.”

“What new neighborhood renovation? ”

“I guess you haven’t talked about it yet then?”

No Grant, we haven’t , I thought as I was visually trying to erase what I knew from my mind so I could get excited about her project .

“Nope. Definitely haven’t been able to concentrate yet. It’s weird, ever since lunch, I’ve been preoccupied with some new information.” I hope that he could hear the sarcasm except I didn’t want him to get pissed. He was laughing at least.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I never wanted to have to tell anyone, but I trust you with that information and I trust you with Alex. That’s saying something. One day I’ll have to tell her, I know that, but for now it’s just not in her best interest. I heard the two of you are having dinner with the Santoros tomorrow night.”

I took a deep breath and closed the lid to the toilet and sat down with one hand holding up my head. “We sure are.” I mumbled. “They asked me if I would do the renovations for their winery.”

Another introduction I could’ve gone a lifetime without .

“That’s great. I know you’ll do an amazing job. I’ve seen your work. It’s impressive. The first time Alex was at your penthouse she sent me pictures of the place. I didn’t know it was your place at first. I thought she was listing it.” He laughed, but right now I was thinking maybe I should put it on the market and disappear.

“She really seemed to like the place, that’s for sure. I’ll talk to her about the new idea she’s got and maybe I can help her out this time.” Grant was very appreciative and seemed like a good guy. It was just a little unnerving knowing what I know about him now. In all honesty, he didn’t tell me he’d done anything illegal or immoral, so I should focus on that instead. We got off the phone and I threw some clothes on and headed back out to the living room to let Alex tell me all about her new idea.

** *

ALEX

After hanging up with Grant, I sat back on the chaise with my glass of wine and turned on some music. I was relaxing in my new digs keeping myself on a high with thoughts of the new project I was hoping to implement soon. Finally, Roman came out of the bedroom wearing sweats and a tee-shirt. He laid down on the couch and put his head in my lap.

“Do you feel better now?” I ran my hand through his damp hair, and he sighed and snuggled close. “Tell me what happened today that’s got you so, I don’t know… not you."

He mumbled into my stomach, “It's nothing really. I think it’s just everything that’s going on and then trying to get you to move in with me. You said yes, and now I’m going to have to share my closet and dresser and bathroom—”

I started laughing and said, “You’re such a bad liar.” He buried his face in my lap and moaned.

“I know, but I’m serious, there's just been a lot going on this week, that’s all.”

I didn't really buy any of this.

“Okay, if that’s all it is.”

He nodded with his face still buried in my lap.

“Now for the exciting news I’ve been wanting to tell you since I got home. I found my project. I found the neighborhood where we can relocate the residents.”

He rolled over and looked up at me with a smile on his face.

“Are you sure I don’t already have a bid on it?”

I picked up a pillow and held it over his face .

“If you do, you won’t.” He started laughing and I thought I heard him say ‘the apple doesn’t fall far’ . I wonder what that was about.

He hurried up and covered it up by saying, “I don’t think I do, though.”

“Well, it’s a neighborhood in Matt’s district that he and Grant were researching. Since neither of them said anything to me about anyone having any dibs on it, I doubt you do either.”

He sat up and got comfortable as he started to really pay attention now.

“Tell me what your plans are, and we’ll see if there’s anything I can do to help you with it.”

I got excited again when I started thinking about what I wanted to do. “I want to start by talking to all of the residents and see who’s willing to take the money they get from the sale of their current homes and use it or part of it to purchase a home in this community. They’re rundown, but not unlivable. Then I want to take the money you allocated for the project and do renovations on those homes first, so they can have a nice place to live. After that I want to start a nonprofit and renovate the rest of the neighborhood and the houses in it. I’d like to make a community garden and a park. I want it to feel like a safe place to live. More friendly, you know?”

He looked surprised. “Well, damn, that really does sound like a great idea. I know that I told you I only do big projects and not home renovations, but this is an entire community. It’s something I’ve never done before but I’d love to help you with this. I have a great architectural team, and they have some new architects who would be more than excited to help out with a project like this. I could donate some money to help get your nonprofit started, too. I’ll even introduce you to some investors who may be willing to donate as well. ”

Now this is what I was hoping for the first time I went to him with an idea.

I jumped in his lap and said, “Oh my God, this is everything, Roman.” I couldn’t contain my excitement, and I kissed him then he had me pinned to the couch.

Spontaneous couch sex is now my new favorite extracurricular activity. We laid, staring at each other in silence until I said, “I can’t wait for the next project we do together.” We both broke out in laughter.

“I need to take a shower, then we can either eat dinner in, or we can go out and celebrate.”

He had that worried look again. “How about we stay in and celebrate. I’ll cook dinner.”

I guess he’s just worried about Tanner being out there, but it still didn’t seem like him. I loved his cooking so staying in was fine with me.

“I’ll be out in a jiffy.” I kissed him, grabbed my clothes and ran down the hall.

***

ROMAN

I made dinner and opened a nice bottle of wine to celebrate our new venture together. I sent a quick email to Amelia and Harrison to let them know we’d need to set up a meeting to talk about this new project. I opened another email from the DA, and I made a morning appointment for Alex and I for Wednesday to do our depositions and get that over with .

“I just got a text from the DA’s office confirming my meeting for Wednesday morning. Did you get one too? I never made an appointment.” Alex showed me the text on her phone.

“Sorry, I had an email from them to get that done and I figured tomorrow wouldn’t work, so I made one for both of us on Wednesday. We can just go together, kill two birds with one stone.”

She raised an eyebrow at me and cocked her head.

“So, you’re controlling my schedule now?” I wasn’t sure which direction this was going.

“Nope, I just know we don’t have much time left to do this and we’ll be together so why not? I should’ve asked you first, I know, but I want to get it over with, so I hope you don’t mind.”

“Yes, you should’ve asked me first, but I understand the urgency and that’ll be fine.” I was glad it didn’t get heated because everything about this case and what’s happened has been a real pain in my ass. She came over and wrapped her arms around me and spoke to my back.

“So, what’s for dinner?” It did not feel like she was talking about food, but we needed to eat, and we could get back to that after dinner. It seems that she really likes sex when she’s in a good mood about doing a project. Noted.

“We’re going to have dinner in the dining room tonight. Would you care to set the table for us? I’m making a filet mignon stir fry with jasmine rice.” We were definitely dressed for eating at the kitchen island and that would’ve been fine with me, but I needed her to redirect her energy to something else before I burn dinner, and we starve to death.