Page 90 of Dark Romeo

“You trusted me once. Trust me again.”

“Why do you care?” he muttered.

“The same reason you do,” I whispered, taking a gamble.

He faltered and missed a step. I stumbled into him. Our eyes locked. For a second, I saw the flash of hope underneath. For a second, I thought I’d gotten through to him. Then the emotionless mask slammed down over his features. A second later he caught up to the music and we were moving again like nothing had happened.

“This is a setup,” he said, his voice frosty like ice.

“I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“You know me, Roman.”

He snorted. The music changed, growing faster, more aggressive. His movements followed and my dress whipped out around my ankles. “Yes, I know all about you. Newly assigned detective. First major case. You want to get out of your father’s shadow. You need so desperately to prove yourself.”

I flinched as his words found their mark, the sore spots deep inside me. “How do you know…?” Someone had been talking about me to him.

He dipped me. I felt weightless for a mere second, complete trust in the strong arms holding me up. I gasped as his other hand rested flat against my stomach then ran up between my breasts. My body broke out in a prickly heat. I fought a groan as his hand brushed the bare sensitive skin above my plunging neckline. My nipples tightened and pushed painfully against the material.

His hand gripped around my neck firmly and pulled me up against him, keeping his grip around my neck. The heat in my body turned liquid and trickled between my legs. His eyes burned into me. My gaze dropped to his mouth. Closer. Closer, and…

He sneered. “I always make sure I know exactly who I’m up against.”

His words stabbed me in the heart. I shoved him but he wouldn’t let me go. All the while he kept twirling us around the dance floor like nothing was wrong. “Is that what you really think? That we’re enemies? That we’re against each other?”

His grip on my neck tightened. It didn’t hurt but it was starting to restrict my breathing. “Tell me I’m wrong, detective. Tell me how it could be any other way.”

“Fuck you, Roman.” I shoved him again. This time he let my neck go. His other arm stayed around me so I didn’t get far enough away from him.

“You did.” His eyes glittered with a cruel light. “I heard you liked it.”

I inhaled sharply. I only realized my hand had lashed out when the crack of my palm on his skin rang out and his head jerked to one side. He let go of me completely and cold air rushed up between us. The hum of voices dropped over the music that kept playing. Suddenly I could feel the room’s eyes on me like hyenas closing in.

Shit. What had I done? I had attacked the Prince of Darkness in his own territory while he was surrounded by his men. I was alone and weaponless. I was an idiot. But he’d made me blind with fury.

“Grab the bitch,” someone cried. Roman’s men began to push their way through the room toward me from all sides. I was so royally screwed.

“No!” Roman said, his voice cracking out through the room. Everybody stopped in their tracks. He turned his eyes to me. “It barely tickled.”

“You can’t let her get away with?—”

“That was her free pass. A gift from me to her. Her last one. Because,” he sneered, “we all know the weaker sex need all the help they can get.”

There was sniggering and nods from around the room. My skin burned from outrage. Was that what he thought of me? Of all women? That we were weaker? I fought against this bullshit as a female cop. I couldn’t believe I was hearing it from him.

It’s an act, Julianna. He’s trying to protect you.

Roman grabbed my arm. “Let me escort you out, Natassia. Make sure you don’t get lost on the way out.” I heard the hidden meaning in his words. If he didn’t walk me out, chances were that one or more of his men would attack me in an attempt to gain favor with him.

I let him pull me through the crowd, my body gone numb except for the burning around the skin where he touched me. Even though I had slapped him, he still wanted to make sure I got out of here safely. Or maybe he just wanted to protect his dirty little secret. I didn’t know anymore.

I thought he would leave me at the door, but he paused by the bouncers and instructed, “Nobody leaves until I get back.” They nodded and shielded the doorway with their bodies.

Until he got back? Roman shoved me into the elevator. On the ground floor, he walked me right out of the building. The night air was crisp and clear. Very few people were strolling around the building, but a short line of cabs waited alongside the grand circular lobby that gave this building an appearance of a luxury hotel.

I tried to snatch my arm back from him but he wouldn’t let go. It was like a mouse tugging against a tiger. “I don’t need to be escorted to a cab.”

---