Page 70 of Roman & Olivia
Okay, she’d made a mistake and all because she was struggling with losing her best friend. It wasn’t an excuse. And it took all her self-control not to call Roman and vent to him about the whole thing.
He probably didn’t want to hear from her anyway.
27
Roman
“You sure you really want to do this? Olivia isn’t going to like it.”
Roman shot Marcus a withering scowl. “If I had wanted someone to judge me for stalking Olivia’s boyfriend, I would have asked Mateo to come with me. Not you.”
Marcus shrugged. “I’m just saying. Olivia doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who wants you to get into her business.”
His steps faltered and the two of them stopped suddenly on the sidewalk in front of a bookstore. Marcus shifted nervously under Roman’s glower. He was right of course, but he didn’t have to know that. Out of all of Roman’s siblings, Marcus knew Olivia the least. It was probably the fact that Marcus was the youngest. He’d been interested in other things when Roman and Olivia had been at their closest.
He was also young enough that Roman had thought he’d be up for a little light stalking.
Apparently, he’d been wrong.
“Look, if you don’t want to do this with me, then say so now. You already called the office to find out his schedule. We know that he’s got something on the books for dinner and that Liv isn’t part of it because Camilla asked if she’d be up for a trip to the city for something.”
Marcus continued to fidget, and Roman held back a groan. Maybe he should have asked Mateo. Even Sophia would have been a good option at this point, seeing as she hated Mason as much as he did.
His baby brother heaved an exasperated sigh. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
They resumed their walk toward the restaurant where they’d last seen Mason. Roman had followed him here, a nice place a couple towns over. Lucky for them, Mason’s car stood out in traffic, so it hadn’t been hard to catch sight of him after he’d left work. He’d gone home to change clothes, then returned to his car and left town.
“What if he’s not out with another woman?”
Roman cut him a glance.
“Like,” Marcus continued, “what if he’s actually at a work dinner? What then? Are we going to keep following him around until you catch him red-handed?”
“Probably.”
Marcus sighed again.
“What?” Roman snapped.
Marcus frowned. “It’s just that… you said yourself that you don’t know if they have some sort of open relationship. What if Olivia knows and all you’re doing is showing her that you’re a jealous guy who has no right to act the way he’s acting?”
They stopped again and Roman practically pushed his brother against the brick building. People moved around them as if they didn’t even notice a thing. Roman’s voice lowered to a hiss. “The problem right now is that I don’t have anything togo on. You’re right. I don’tknowif they’re officially a couple—but after that article in the newspaper was printed, I’m making an educated guess. It wouldn’t look very good for the mayor’s son to be dating multiple people at once when someone wrote something about how romantic it is that he’s found a steady girlfriend. Would it?”
Marcus shook his head. He was still pressed up against the building, but he didn’t look scared. If anything, he appeared bored.
“Do you have any other questions? Because I’m getting tired of answering them. No more what-ifs, got it? We’re out here for one reason. I need to get evidence that he’s being dishonest before I have a chance at convincing Liv she deserves better.” When Marcus didn’t say anything, Roman left him and started walking again.
They hadn’t parked far from the restaurant, but Mason was likely already inside and seated. They’d have to figure out a way to get a table close to them. Otherwise, they’d be wandering around the space pretending to head to the bathroom, and Roman really didn’t want Mason catching sight of him.
A beautiful woman with a darker complexion and black hair pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck smiled brightly at them when they entered. “Welcome to Christopher’s Steakhouse. Table for two?”
Roman nodded, his focus already scanning the restaurant from the doorway. Thankfully, the restaurant had an open floor plan. He could see most of the patrons, and the others that were hidden around the corner appeared to be on the way to the restrooms.
Marcus elbowed him in the ribs and he startled. “Table or booth,” Marcus muttered.
He glanced over to the hostess. “Sorry. Booth would be great.” At first he didn’t see Mason. But then his eyes landed onthe back of the guy’s head. He would have noticed the miscreant anywhere. There was just something so… sleazy about the guy that he hadn’t noticed before.
There wasn’t a woman with him.
