Page 16 of Romi

Ash was enamoured by the pretty waitress from the Glitz event and had taken to calling her Little Miss Hot Mess. He hadn’t managed to get her name or number that night and was desperate to locate her. I shook my head. What a pair we were. He was plagued by dreams of a woman he knew nothing about and couldn’t find, and I was plagued by dreams of a woman I knew everything about and couldn’t have. At least he might be able to find her, and there was unlikely to be anything to stop him from pursuing her when he did. I could never have Sonia. Damn, that was so depressing!

Sighing in frustration, I started the engine.

There were so many reasons why Sonia and I weren’t possible, and I really wished there was a way I could change that. However, there wasn’t, and that made me so bloody angry. The sexual tension I’d been living with for so long now had ramped up since Sonia had returned and certainly wasn’t helping me maintain my usual even temper.

Maybe if I got laid, it would help? I could call up one of the women I occasionally hooked up with. I had a few female friends with benefits who would be only too eager to help me release some of this pent-up frustration. No sooner than I had that thought, I dismissed it. I hadn’t been with anyone since my libido had woken up to my Little Miss trouble, and now she was home, I was even more obsessed with her. I couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone else.

My cock throbbed angrily, obviously unhappy with my thoughts. Tough! I would stay away from her. I wouldn’t let anything happen between us, and when I let her go, and she eventually found someone else, maybe then I could force myself to move on. Maybe. In the meantime, I would just have to suck it up and deal with the situation as best I could.

I ground my teeth, feeling depressed, frustrated, and in a foul mood. I hoped nobody pissed me off today because I didn’t like their chances of survival if they did.

CHAPTER 10

SONIA

MONDAY MORNING – ENSURING A FIRST DATE

First thing on Monday morning, I knocked on Romi’s bedroom door, hoping he was there. When there was no answer, I opened the door and peeked inside. It was empty. The bed was made up and had obviously not been slept in. I knew he was busy with Bratva business, but my brothers had come home. Only Romi had stayed away again.

His absence was making me feel physically ill. I missed him so much. He might genuinely have been busy with his flat or something. However, I couldn’t help but think he was avoiding me after all.

Damn it! I really needed to see him. I had planned on giving him today to think about us and hopefully make a move, but I wasn’t sure I could wait that long. I let out a frustrated breath. My plans to seduce him weren’t going to happen if the guy remained so bloody elusive.

It was obvious he wasn’t going to come to me as I’d hoped. I knew he was as attracted to me as I was to him, but he was likely fighting it. He was probably doing everything he could to convince himself that he should stay away from me, that the things standing between us were insurmountable and pursuing me wasn’t worth it. I needed to convince him otherwise, but I couldn’t do that if he wasn’t around. The longer he stayed away, the longer he had to talk himself out of pursuing his interest in me. I couldn’t let that happen.

Our evening together at Glitz had been wonderful, and the way he reacted to my tiramisu flirtations was exactly as I’d hoped. Operation Seduce Romi was working, and I needed to keep the momentum up to complete my mission, and the only way to do that was to spend time with him.

I needed to find a way to ensure that he had to spend time with me without running off. Today, I was going to find a way to do that, whether he liked it or not. I headed for breakfast filled with determination.

Everyone was busy, and Nonna had gone to visit a friend, so it was just Marko and me at breakfast, which suited me perfectly.

Marko and I were closest in age and spoke the most when I was away at University. Marko always kept me informed with family gossip, keeping me up to date with what was happening with the family business when my other brothers and Romi left me in the dark.

So, I planned on grilling him for information on Romi—subtly, of course—because even though Marko was likely to be the most accepting of my brothers when it came to Romi and me, he would still have difficulty with it, and right now was not the time to let him know anything. I needed to get my man before I could open up to anyone about us.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Ash has business in the city, and Romi is with him. They should be back later this morning. Miki is in the office doing whatever great Pakhans do, I guess,” he mumbled around a mouthful of cereal.

He must have been up all night in his office working as he was obviously famished. He always stuffed himself whenever he had pulled an all-nighter. It was as if he needed the food to sustain him through the day and keep him awake. Where other people would resort to copious cups of coffee, Marko ate copious amounts of food instead, so it was a good job he spent a lot of time at the gym too. Otherwise, the guy wouldn’t fit into the chair he sat at behind his computer the rest of the time.

“Are you busy today?” I asked, trying to make the question sound innocent while doing my best to send out subliminal telepathic messages—say yes, say yes, say yes—in the hope they worked. I needed everyone but Romi to be busy so he would not be able to wriggle out of spending time with me. Somehow, I was going to back him into a corner and make sure he did.

“Yeah, I need to try to get information on these attacks,” he replied.

Biting into my toast to avoid grinning at his reply, I waited for him to continue.

“We assume the Malia Boys have something to do with them, so I am trying to hack Siri’s phone.”

Siraaj Farah, otherwise known as Siri, headed the Somalian Malia boys. They were one of the gangs always trying to muscle in on our territory, and he was an utter creep. The Malia Boys ran brothels and were involved in human trafficking for the sex trade. Ash told me Siri even gave his own cousin away as a sex slave to some sleazy Somalian politician. Pig! The poor girl had been missing ever since, and her sister was understandably frantic. My family had been helping look for her, but so far, she hadn’t been found. It was so sad.

If Siri was behind the recent attacks, then I hoped my brothers killed the bastard. He deserved it. Of course, I hoped they found out what happened to the girl first, though, and if she was still alive, I hoped they were able to bring her home.

“When exactly will Ash and Romi be back?” I asked.

“Why?” he replied, looking up at me as he munched on another big mouthful.

“I was thinking of going out this afternoon and was hoping Romi might take me,” I said, trying hard to keep my tone light so he wouldn’t see how desperate I was to see Romi.

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