Page 49 of The Dollhouse

Did Roman know I went out with Lake? Did he know I slept with him? I would fight like hell to make sure Roman didn’t lay a finger on Lake. Lake was a good guy; he didn’t deserve to be thrown into this world, all because he’d decided he liked me.

And I liked him, but that was beside the point. Clearly, my feelings were not singled out on one guy. I had the most confusing feelings for Lake, Roman, and even grumpy Carter. It was like my body was trying to make up for spending those few years being loyal to Bryan, for never even looking at another guy and thinking he was cute. I’d literally kept myself in a bubble while I was dating that jerk-off, so I’d dug myself into this hole on accident.

It was official, though it’d been official for a while now: I was an idiot. A great, big idiot, and I doubted I’d ever learn my lesson. All three of them would be better off if I wasn’t in their lives, probably.

I slumped at the table, resting my head on top of the smooth, wooden surface. My mind was too frantic to shut off, and time seemed to crawl by. I had no idea how much time had passed until I heard the door opening again, since there wasn’t a frigging clock in the room. They’d taken my cell phone too, though I supposed that was to avoid me calling 9-1-1 or something.

Ugh, as if. Now that I knew this was because of Roman, calling the cops was the last thing I’d do.

I was on my feet the moment Carter entered the room, my breath catching in the back of my throat in spite of myself. Try as I might to not let Carter affect me, he always did. He didn’t radiate the same level of danger Roman did, but I knew he was. I knew he could be just as deadly, if not more so, since he literally did anything Roman ever told him.

Carter said nothing, moving to my side. He gripped my upper left arm tightly, so hard it would be impossible to escape him, dragging me out of the room. The door was left open as he walked us through the impressive house.

In the end, we entered what was a small but mostly empty room, save for the single velvet chair stationed against one of the walls in the far back. And, of course, the man sitting in it was Roman himself.

The way those black eyes looked at me, he was not happy. He was not happy in the least. The expression he wore could kill, and as I watched him breathe evenly, frowning slightly at me, I knew he was holding back. I knew that man wanted to get up and lunge at me, wrap that hand around my neck and yell at me for whatever disobedient thing I’d done.

Fuck him. Fuck all of this. The game was fun at first, but now I was done. I wanted to do what I wanted to do, not what Roman wanted. Not what Carter wanted.

Carter remained in the room, though he stood near the door, holding his hands behind his back, standing like a good little soldier. His green eyes refused to look at me now, and I was slow in turning my attention back to Roman. The man even sat aggressively, which I didn’t know was possible until now.

I literally could not tell if Roman wanted to kill me or fuck me. How messed up was that?

The silence that overtook the room was heavy, weighing down my shoulders. Still, I stood as tall as I could while beneath that dark, soulless gaze. He wore a suit, as he always did, its undershirt tucked in neatly to his pants, not a hair out of place. Roman was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, with an extra side of danger.

Since he did not seem very talkative, I took it upon myself to ask, “Where have you been?” I had no right to sound so upset; it wasn’t like I was his official girlfriend or his fiancé or wife. We were… we were nothing, and yet at the same time, that felt like a lie.

Roman said nothing. He didn’t even blink to acknowledge my question, and that only furthered the rage I felt inside, the indignation over being expected to sit there and twiddle my thumbs while I waited.

“I asked you a question,” I spoke, taking a single step towards him and his chair. My voice echoed in the room; the walls were bare, free of any paintings. I had no idea what this room was normally used for, but whatever it was, I had the feeling it wasn’t something good.

“I heard you,” Roman said, his voice just as low, rough, and scratchy as I remembered it being, the kind of voice you could close your eyes and listen to all day and night and still never get enough of. It was a voice you remembered, even when he wasn’t in front of you, even when you couldn’t hear it.

Behind me, Carter shifted his weight.

Roman leaned forward, adjusting the cufflinks on his wrists. “I expected a certain level of obedience from you, Zoey Marbella, and you have not held up your end.” He raised his hand, and Carter left, slipping out of the room without a sound. He leaned back in his chair, giving me a look of pure vehemence. “You were a busy bee while we were gone.”

I said nothing because at this point, there was nothing to say. He was right.

“I don’t take kindly to disloyalty,” Roman muttered, shooting me a frown I felt in my core. It was at that moment when Carter reappeared, barging in the room with someone else at his side, someone who struggled beneath a black sack, his hands tied behind his back just as mine were.

Carter dropped the man beside me, yanking off his hood harshly, but I didn’t need to see who it was to know.

Lake. This was all because I’d gone out with Lake and slept with him. Of course.

“What—” Lake’s voice stopped when he saw me, and he struggled to get to his feet. I helped him, because it was Lake. Because he didn’t deserve this… because I’d brought this onto him, all while knowing this could happen. “Zoey,” he spoke my name, the word laced with worry, his anxiety going through the roof.

I watched as Lake glanced to Roman, struggling to get his hands free of the zip tie and failing. Carter made no moves to cut him loose.

“What the hell is this? What’s going on?” Lake asked me.

“Tell me, Lake, do you know who I am?” Roman spoke, causing Lake’s blue gaze to travel back to him.

“No,” he said.

“Zoey here knows me,” Roman went on, gesturing to Carter. “Just like she knows him. There’s a lot about Zoey you don’t know, boy.”

I did not particularly like hearing Roman call Lake a boy. My jaw clenched, and though it was stupid, I stepped between them, earning myself Roman’s scowl. “You could’ve been dead, Roman. You and Carter. What the hell was I supposed to do? Pine and wait until I die?”

---