by Eve, Melody
“I love you.”
“I love you too, my boy.”
I pass Ella in the kitchen and wave on my way not to Leeza’s room but to my office first. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving Aria at her apartment without extra security tonight. The phone calls were probably nothing, but I’m not taking any chances. A couple of phone calls later, there are two guys on their way to watch Aria’s building overnight, and I’m on my way to pack a bag while Aria’s in the shower. I’ll stay at my apartment in the city in case something happens, and I need to get to her fast. I don’t want her to know that, though. It’ll only make her nervous.
Working fast, I change into dry clothes, pack, and put my bag in my car before heading to Leeza’s room for a talk. When she doesn’t answer, I push open the already cracked door. “Leeza?” I call out, but no one answers.
Club outfits are strewn around the room, draped over chairs, and in piles on the bed. She must have tried on half a dozen outfits before she decided on what to wear to the bar. I sigh and close the door. I’ll have to catch her later when she’s calm and sober.
Back upstairs in my room, Aria is still in the bathroom. The shower is off. She must be brushing her hair. I sit on the bed next to the bag I bought for her when I stocked my closet with clothes for her to wear while she was with me. She’s only packed her toiletries and one outfit, the one she was wearing the night we went to the hospital.
I hear the buzz of her phone on the mattress next to her bag. I pick it up and read the partial text message that shows on the screen without unlocking the phone.
Brandon: Can’t wait to see you Thursday.
There’s probably more to the message that I can’t see, but the rest is irrelevant. She’s meeting with a man named Brandon on Thursday, and that is unacceptable.
9
Aria
The ride into the city is a quiet one. The car is filled with tension as Roman white knuckles the steering wheel. I can’t figure out what’s going on with him tonight. At first, on the way home from the hospital, he seemed desperate to have me stay at his house another week. Then suddenly at the pool party, he was all about taking me home as soon as possible. And now that we’re on our way, he’s closed up like a jewelry store after hours.
“Do you want to listen to the radio?”
“You can turn it on if you like.” He sounds robotic when he speaks, no inflection, no emotion. “Roman, is everything okay? You seem a little quiet. I hope you’re not still upset about me going home tonight.”
“I’m fine.”
I roll my eyes and turn to watch the world go by out my window. We drive in silence for a few miles before he blurts out, “Who is Brandon?”
I turn and frown at him. “What?”
“I’m not going to repeat myself, Aria.”
“I have a friend named Brandon. He used to work for me at the bookstore. I think a better question is how do you know about Brandon?”
“Why are you meeting him on Thursday?”
“You read my text messages. How did you get into my phone?”
“That’s not important, what’s important is why the hell you’re meeting with Brandon on Thursday.”
“It is important because it’s an invasion of my privacy.”
“I didn’t invade your fucking privacy. He text you while you were in the shower, and I happened to see the first half of the message on your screen. Now tell me, why are you meeting with him, and why is he excited to do so?”
“I can’t believe you’re acting like such an ass.”
“I can’t believe you’re being so evasive.”
“I’m not being evasive. It’s none of your business who I have lunch with or why. If you needed to know, I would have told you.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“What? You are insane, aren’t you? Of course, I didn’t sleep with him. He was a college kid, and I was his boss. We’re friends. We ran into each other in Mexico and…”
“He was in Mexico?” he roars, and I shrink away pressing my body against the door of the car.
“Roman, maybe you should pull over, and I’ll call a cab or an Uber. You’re scaring me, and I don’t want to be with you right now.” I’m shaking, and my heart is pounding in my chest so hard I can count the beats in my head.
Roman glances over at me. His eyes are blazing until he sees me, and they soften. “Aria, I’m sorry I raised my voice. Forgive me.”
I nod my head in two quick jerks, and he pulls the car over to the shoulder. “I’m not stopping so you can get out. I want to know what’s going on with this Brandon person. Why was he in Mexico with us, and why are you meeting with him?”
“We weren’t in Mexico together, Roman. I came separately, remember?”
“All right, why was he in Mexico the same time you were there then?”
“He’s an editor for G&F Publishing in New York. He was there helping one of their authors, Pricilla Ward, with a book signing. We ran into each other on the beach, and he wanted to set up a signing at my bookstore to help bring in business. We’re meeting for lunch to discuss the details. Do you feel like an ass yet? Because you should.”
I watch as every muscle in his body relaxes simultaneously. He was genuinely jealous and enraged at the thought of me spending time with another man. That’s a problem. It’s more than a problem, it’s insane. It’s not like I have a bunch of guy friends or anything. I’ve never been that girl, but I don’t want to break out in a sweat every time I speak to the opposite sex.
“Aria, I’m a very protective man. I’ve explained why, and if you don’t understand, I’m not sure how to go forward. Yes, it seems I’ve overacted to this Brandon person, but you need to know that for this to work between us, I need to know what’s going on in your life. All of it, don’t leave anything out. The thought of you with another man makes my brain boil. I can’t stand it. It would kill me if you…” He looks away, and my heart melts all over my rib cage and down into my soul.
“Roman,” I say reaching out to touch his hand that is still death-gripping the steering wheel. He flinches when our skin touches. “Am I going to have to hurt someone for causing that reaction when I touched you?” I use the same words he used the night we met at the resort in Mexico when he touched my face, and I flinched.
He recognizes my gentle tease and turns unhooking my seatbelt and gathering me in his lap. “I love you, and I’ve waited so long. Forgive me.”
I nuzzle into his neck. “I’m not going to forgive you for being you. But next time you happen upon a text message on my phone from a man, just ask about it. For the record, I’m not interested in pursuing anything with anyone but you. I wasn’t interested in pursuing anyone at all, but you don’t seem to know how to take no for an answer, so here we are.”
“I’m nothing if not persistent.”
“That you are. Take me home and stop worrying about silly things like other men.”
“Other men are not silly things, and I will worry about them until the day you lower my cold dead body into my grave.”
“Why are you dying before me?”
“Men usually go first. It’s not a competition, Aria.”
“Everything’s a competition, not that I want to go first or anything. How about we go together in a blaze of glory?”
“Fine, I’ll worry about other men until we go out in a blaze of glory. Happy?”
“This is a morbid, unnecessary conversation. I’m not a cheater, you know that. You’ve been watching me for six years. I may not have been looking for you, but now that I’ve found you, I don’t plan on letting you go.”
“That’s good news.” He hooks his finger under my chin to raise my mouth to his. His kiss is slow and full of purpose. He is claiming me as his own. No kiss has ever spoken so loud and clear as this one. It says you are mine, and no one is to touch you, or I will not be responsible for my actions.
It’s kind of barbaric, but I think I like it. Being the center of someone’s univers
e is flattering. It also holds a lot of responsibility.
He breaks the kiss, and I open my eyes to see whirling red and blue lights filling the car. “You’d better scoot over before that cop gets out of his car.”
“Shit,” I say moving back into my seat and pulling on my seatbelt. “What’s he doing?”
“I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out.” He rolls down his window as the officer approaches.
“May I see your license and registration, sir?”
“Of course, officer. Is there a problem?” He removes his license from his wallet and points at the glove box for his registration. I open it and hand it to him.
“It’s illegal to park on the shoulder like this unless you’re having car trouble.” The officer says bending over to look over Roman at me. “Are you having car trouble?” The question is directed at me, and I get what he’s insinuating. Just because you have a fancy car doesn’t mean you can stop and make out wherever you want.
“No, officer. My girlfriend and I were arguing about a text message she received from another man. I got jealous and had to pull over so we could discuss it without having an accident. We were just making up.”
I cannot believe he told him the truth. I was expecting some crazy story about me being ill or seeing a deer crossing the road or something, not the truth. I don’t know why my first instinct is to lie. We aren’t doing anything wrong. Well, not really.
The officer’s gaze swings to me, and I swear I see judgment in his eyes. It compels me to defend myself. “It was an old friend, it was business and nothing else.” God, that sounded ridiculous.
“All right, you two move along now. Have a good evening.” He hands Roman’s license and paperwork back to him and walks back to his car.
“I can’t believe you said that.”
“What? It was the truth.”
“I know, but it made me look like a hussy.”
“A hussy? How old are you again? Sometimes you speak like your older than my mother.”
“Stop changing the subject.”
“Aria, it’s always best to tell the truth, or as much of it as you can when dealing with the authorities. Did you see how easily he accepted it? You don’t have to keep your story straight if you don’t lie. Besides, who cares what he thinks of you?”
“I do. I don’t want to look like a sleazy, cheating girlfriend.”
“I think you cleared that up just fine,” he says laughing as he pulls back onto the road.
I’m suddenly exhausted. It’s been a long day, the first I’ve spent out of bed in a week. I didn’t think I’d ever want to sleep again, but right now I can’t wait.
We pass my store on the way home, and I notice the lights are still on, and we should have closed an hour ago.
“The new security system keeps part of the lights on all night,” Roman says reading my mind.
“That’s going to make the electric bill unmanageable.”
“No, it uses high-efficiency light bulbs. The company who installed it said it shouldn’t be more than five- or ten-dollars difference.”
“When am I meeting the employees who have been running the place?”
“Tomorrow if you insist on going back to work so soon.”
“I do insist. They know their jobs were only temporary, right?”
He doesn’t answer. “Roman, you did tell them, didn’t you?”
“Not exactly. You need help, Aria. The place is too much for one person to handle if you want to make money. I’ll pay their salary, so you won’t have to worry about an added expense.”
“You told them they had permanent jobs? How could you do that? I can’t allow you to pay my employees, that’s ridiculous.” My God, doesn’t this man understand boundaries? This is my life dream he’s messing around with. He doesn’t get to make these decisions.
“It was easy. They needed jobs, and I hired them for you. Just give them a chance. Go in tomorrow and see how great the place looks, check your books, and see that you’re earnings are up. I think you’ll be pleased.”
“I would be pleased if you would stop meddling in my business.”
He lets out a long, exasperated sigh. “All right. I’ll back off and fire them if you want, but I’m a very good businessman, and I think you’re making a mistake.”
“So now you’re saying I’m a bad businesswoman?”
“No, I never said that. You were doing an amazing job with what you had in your limited arsenal. I just gave you some more ammunition to use, that’s all. I want to help you. Why not have a silent partner, someone to invest in your dream and make it successful?”
“Because then it’s not mine anymore. Savage Books was my vision, my dream, and I was making it come true myself.”
“Like I said, I’ll let them go in the morning. I can’t call and do that tonight, though, it’s too late. Monica’s baby is probably sleeping, she’s a single mother. I could probably call Frank, he’s older, and he’s been staying up late watching TV since Marjorie, his wife of forty years, died.”
Oh my God. This man is a manipulating menace. He bullies his way into my life and takes over like he’s been given a license to do it, and then he makes me feel guilty for trying to take what’s mine back.
“All right, I’ll give them a chance. That Monica better be a single mom, and Frank’s wife better be dead, or you’re in trouble, though.”
He makes a cross over his heart. “I swear it’s the truth. Hiring people who are down and out are more appreciative of the job, and they work hard to keep it. It’s good business.”
It is good business, but it’s also kind and humane. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t want me to think you did it just to be a good person?”
“I’m not a good person, but it’s good business, that’s why.”
“You are good, though. You’ve done nothing but watch out for me, care for me, and love me since we met six years ago.”
“That’s different. The rest of the world doesn’t think so highly of me.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Don’t.”
I scoff and fidget in my seat. Why does he think of himself that way? Could his wife’s death still define his vision of himself after all these years? Surely, he knows how loved he is by his family, and, of course, me. Or does he? Maybe not.
When we pull up in front of my building, and it seems darker than usual. I don’t remember it being this dark around my building before. Roman exits the car and rounds the hood to open my door for me. “Does it seem darker than usual here?”
He looks down the street one way and then the other. “It seems like the same old dingy street. Come, I want to get you inside. I think you overdid it on your first day of freedom. Why don’t you take tomorrow off and go back to work Wednesday?”
I stop and place my hands on Roman’s shoulders tipping my head back to look up at him capturing his attention. “Because I miss my job. I love my bookstore. I want to go back to work and see what’s happening with my baby. Understand?”
“I’m trying.”
“How would you like it if you couldn’t go into work, and I came into your bank and started hiring new employees, changing things around, and installing security systems?”
He looks up into the night sky as if he’s considering it. “What would you be wearing? Because if you had on a black pencil skirt and a sexy white blazer with stiletto heels, I think I’d hand over the keys to the vault.”
I huff out a disgusted breath and give him a shove. “You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
He removes my bag from the back seat and walks me inside. “Are you going to do a search of my apartment, too?”
“Actually, yes, I had planned on it. No security system is completely foolproof, especially in this old building.”
“What exactly do you think is going to happen to me anyway? I mean, I’ll be in my own home with the doors locked and an alarm set.”
“Oh,
I don’t know. Your ex-fiancé might decide to stop by again, or some nut job from the street might break in through the window near the fire escape.”
“David’s not going to be bothering me anymore. He’s probably already got a new toy hanging on his arm at some dance club. I doubt he’s given me a second thought since I saw him last.”
“Don’t be so sure. Men don’t like being humiliated. If I had that guy’s dick, and my fiancé showed all my friends and family a photo of it, I might be considering revenge.”
“I’m pretty sure he thought he got revenge when he gave me that picture of your wife and the paperwork saying you had been institutionalized. You should have seen him, he thought he had the golden ticket. He hadn’t counted on me defending you so gallantly.”
“He’s a fool.”
I unlock the door and disarm the security alarm when we step inside. It feels weird walking into the apartment I’ve been living in for years and feeling like I’m in a stranger’s home.
Roman heads into the kitchen as if there were a place to hide in there. Then he strides down the hall entering the rooms and rummaging around before returning to me where I am still standing by the front door
“All clear, officer?” I tease.
“Yes, you need to go to bed. Do you need me to draw you a bath?”
“Nope, I’m going straight to bed.”
He takes one last look around and kisses me goodbye. It’s the quickest goodbye we’ve ever had like he’s got somewhere else to be.
When he’s gone, I go to the window and watch him exit the building. I wait for him to get into his car, but he crosses the street stopping next to a gray Mercedes that is parked there. The driver rolls down the window, and they exchange words. I can’t see who’s driving, and when they finish talking, the darkly tinted window goes up before I can get another look.
Who’s he talking to? Why is such a fancy car parked in my old neighborhood?
I have the urge to call him and ask what he’s up to, but then he would know I watched him leave. He would assume I was uncomfortable being left alone and come straight back up here to spend the night.