Page 105 of Dark Romeo

I bit my lip, hoping he was joking. For Roman to kill a man because he hurt me was wrong. Some part of me, some sick deep-down part of me, was giddy at the idea.

“I’m fine, Roman. Really.” I reached up to grab his thick damp fingers so I could pull his hand off my chin. To my surprise he didn’t let go of my hand. His fingers laced into mine. We stood facing each other, fingers entwined as if we were standing at my doorstep after a date. Holy shit. I was standing in the middle of an alleyway holding Roman Tyrell’s hand. What alternative universe had I just stepped into?

“They were going to rape you, kidnap you, do God knows what else to you,” he said, as if that justified everything.

I squeezed his fingers, so warm and strong. “But they didn’t. Because you were here.”

Roman’s shoulders relaxed and his scowl turned into a smirk. “You can reward me for saving you later.” He kneeled beside the bloody, unconscious man on the ground and began to search his pockets.

The adrenaline of earlier began to wear off and the logical side of my brain began returning to me. Something very obvious finally struck me. “Wait a minute.” I frowned. “How did you happen to be here?”

He paused, just for a second. “I was just walking past.”

“You just happened to be walking past an area two blocks from my apartment?”

He flashed me a grin. There was not a shred of embarrassment on his face. “What can I say, I like the area.”

“Bullshit.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Were you following me?”

He snorted. “I just saved you from being raped, kidnapped, and probably murdered. A ‘thank you’ would be nice.”

I flinched. He was right. The horrifying possibilities flashed before my eyes. I shuddered. “Thank you.”

Roman straightened and stepped right up to me, toe to toe. I could smell his intoxicating cologne again wafting around him like incense. It took all my willpower not to lean in closer. He tapped my nose with his finger. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Before I could answer he waved something in my face. “Found it.”

I stared at the battered black wallet in his hand. “A wallet?”

And P.S. how the hell did he manage to change the subject so quickly?

“Not just a wallet.” He opened it, pulled out a set of cards, then handed me a driver’s license. It had a picture of the man who was currently at our feet. “Eduardo Sanchez,” Roman said, tapping a finger at his photograph. “I don’t recognize him. Do you?”

My attacker stared out of the photo at me with a scowl on his face. He had thick dark stubble across a beefy chin and a set of dark eyes glaring out from under caterpillar brows. He radiated the kind of bitter anger of a man who’d not been dealt a fair hand by life. I had barely seen his features while he’d been attacking me; it all happened too fast and it was too dark, now his features were covered in blood. If Roman hadn’t thought to search for a wallet, I’d have no idea what he looked like. Some witness I would have made.

I wracked my brain for any flickers of recognition; perhaps a perp I’d arrested before or someone I’d seen walking the streets lately? He must have been following me for a while looking for an opportunity to jump me. I came up empty. I shook my head as I handed Roman back the card. “What do we do now?”

Roman shoved the wallet in his back pocket and turned to the unmoving body on the ground. “We go find out who this fucker is working for.”

With incredible strength, Roman lifted the deadweight of Eduardo Sanchez and tossed him over his shoulder, his arm muscles flexing with effort. Damn, he was strong. Incredibly strong.

“Come with me,” Roman commanded me from over his shoulder, his voice hard, allowing for no argument.

“What about the other guy?” I glanced over to the first attacker. I could see his neck was bent at an unnatural angle, his eyes open and staring at nothing. He’s dead. I paused, waiting for the shock to hit me.

I felt nothing. I should be feeling upset or something. Roman had murdered him. In front of me.

No, not murdered. Defended you. He defended you from being raped.

Roman sidled up beside me. He was quiet for a second. “You okay?”

Yes. No. I don’t know.

“Fine,” I said, my voice wooden.

“I’ll take care of him later,” Roman said.

“But—”

“Jules, we gotta get out of here. There may be more of them.”

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