Chapter 4 - When Roman Stopped Pretending He Could Keep Her Out of His WorldRoman moved Clare into a secured penthouse.
She hated it.
He expected that.
She hated the marble floors.
The security guards.
The cameras.
The locked elevators.
She especially hated the fact that Roman had placed a guard outside her bedroom.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“I don't belong here.”
“You do now.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Roman stood across the room.
“You were targeted twice.”
“And locking me up fixes that?”
“No.”
“What does?”
“Finding the person responsible.”
Clare stared at him.
“You're angry.”
“Yes.”
“At me?”
“No.”
“At yourself?”
He didn't answer.
She understood.
“You think loving me put me in danger.”
“I think caring about you made someone realize you matter.”
Clare's heart tightened.
“You said love.”
Roman looked at her.
“I did.”
Neither moved.
Then Clare walked toward him.
“You can't keep saying things like that and acting like they don't matter.”
“I know.”
“So stop pretending.”
“I am trying.”
She reached his hand.
“Try harder.”
He turned his palm upward.
Their fingers intertwined.
It felt strangely right.
Then Roman kissed her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if he were asking permission with every second.
Clare answered by pulling him closer.
For one night, the danger disappeared.
In the morning, everything changed.
Roman received a message.
An internal account had been compromised.
Someone inside DeLuca Holdings was working against him.
A name emerged.
Victor Kane.
Roman's chief financial officer.
And more troublingly, money from the old North Harbor accounts had been transferred into Bennett & Thread.
Clare saw the documents.
“I didn't do this.”
“I know.”
“Then why is my business account involved?”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“Someone is framing you.”
“For what?”
“Money laundering.”
She stared.
“Who would believe that?”
“People who want me arrested.”
“For what?”
“For everything my father did.”
Then the police arrived.
Roman's penthouse was surrounded.
A warrant was presented.
Roman looked at Clare.
“Stay here.”
She grabbed his arm.
“What?”
“If they take you—”
“They're not taking me.”
“Roman.”
He kissed her forehead.
“I'll come back.”
The police arrested him.
Clare watched through the window.
Roman looked back once.
And she realized something.
She trusted him.
Not because he was innocent.
Because he had never lied about being dangerous.
Three hours later, Clare received an anonymous email.
A single video.
Her father.
Alive.
Recorded weeks before his supposed death.
He was sitting inside an office.
Beside him was Victor Kane.
And someone else.
A woman.
May you like
Clare stopped breathing.
Her mother.
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