Page 75 of Roman & Olivia
Roman
Roman lost track of how many times he had checked his phone since last night. He thought he’d put enough fear into the man that Mason would crack under the pressure by now.
Of course, it was barely twenty-four hours since their little interaction. And Mason was stubborn. He might be scrambling to find a way out of the box where Roman had trapped him.
“Any word?” Marcus leaned against the railing of the corral. The knowing smirk that tugged at his lips was not amusing.
“What doyouthink?” Roman grumbled. “He’s all about control. He’s not going to give in because I gave him an ultimatum.”
“Have you called Olivia?”
Roman gave his brother a sharp look—one that was enough to give Marcus pause.
He held up his hands. “All I’m saying is that you should tell her what’s going on. Speed up the process, you know?” Marcusfolded his arms and leaned against the rail again. “If Mason hasn’t done anything yet, then she’s still with him. She could be going out on another date with him. She could be kissing?—”
“Don’t you say another word,” Roman gritted out. He didn’t like the idea of Olivia kissing another guy. He didn’t like the idea of another guy holding her hand or touching her whatsoever. Marcus had just made the best argument for ending the radio silence with Olivia.
He felt the need to pull out his phone again just so he could give her a call. But he refrained. This would be something better to say in person.
And what if she was with Mason right now?
Roman ducked out of the corral and thumbed toward the horse he’d been working with. “Can you take care of this? I need to make a call.” It was a lie—and a bad one at that. He wouldn’t be calling Olivia. But he would talk to Camilla. Maybe she could call Olivia for him. She could find out if Olivia was alone so he could stop by and see her.
His heart pounded against his ribcage as he headed for the house. The last time he’d seen Camilla, she’d come back from running errands. She was in the kitchen when he found her, and she offered him a smile upon seeing him.
But then the smile faltered and her eyes narrowed. Could she read him that well?
Of course she could. That was a Camilla superpower.
“What’s wrong? Is it Olivia?”
“Olivia adjacent,” he admitted.
Her frown deepened. “What’s going on?”
He heaved a sigh, grabbed his phone, then held it out to her. “Look at the pictures from last night.”
She did as he asked, and her face flushed with a dark red color that could scare off the bravest man. “What is that?” she snapped.
“Evidence.”
Camilla rolled her eyes. “I see that. Why do you have it? Did you show Olivia?”
He shook his head, and her flush deepened.
“Why not?”
Roman shrugged. “I can’t be the bad guy. Not again.”
She groaned, shoving the phone back at him. “You’re not the bad guy.Heis.”
“Well, I gave him an ultimatum to break it off with her.”
Camilla’s lips parted with surprise. “And you believe he’ll do it?”
“He will if he doesn’t want a smear campaign. He understands that I’m serious.”
She folded her arms. “No, I mean…” She sighed. “He’s not going to be honest with her, you know that, right? He’ll probably blame you. He’ll tell her that you threatened him?—”
