Page 69 of Between Love & Ruin

“You don’t have one,” I point out.

“So do you,” he says, a smirk on his face. “Or has that changed overnight?”

“Not really,” I say, truthfully. Sienna and I may not have that label, but I know soon we will. Everything’s clear between us now that her douche bag of an ex is out of the picture.

She needs space so I will give her that. But she and I both know that we have an undeniable pull between us that makes it really hard to stay away. It is why I couldn’t stay away from her even when I knew she had a boyfriend. It’s the same reason why she fell for me just as hard as I did for her.

“What do you mean?”

I roll my eyes. Does he lack common sense or a brain or both?

“She just broke up with her ex,” I say. “She needs space. And I have promised to give her that. We both know we have feelings for each other. She knows I love her. She just needs a little time to come around.”

“You what?” he says, giving me a shove forward as we enter the elevator in my office building.

“Are you insane?”

“You told her you love her?” He practically yells at me.

“Yes,” I say. “Why are you acting so repulsed?”

He glares at me. “You are so unromantic. She writes romance for a living, and you tell her you loved her in your living room.”

“How do you know that I confessed in the living room?”

“You told her in the living room?” he screeches, and I cover my ears with how loud he is being right now.

“You are so fucking dramatic,” I scowl. “Of course I told her I loved her the first moment I had the chance. I have been holding back for weeks. So sue me for not wanting to do that anymore. She didn’t have any problem with that, so why do you? And of course, I plan on making it special for her, but I don’t think my confession was any less anyway.”

He is making me overthink everything now. And I am not even somebody who does that. Sienna appeared to have no issues with my approach. I don’t overthink shit, but the way he is reacting is making me feel I didn’t do justice to my feelings.

Sienna didn’t seem to have any problem with the way I went about it. I know she is a romantic by heart and she probably likes big gestures too, but what we shared yesterday was raw and vulnerable. Whatever I said to her yesterday came from within my heart and the depths of my soul. I don’t think she would mind that.

“I am just saying if I were a romantic as Sienna, I would want you to confess your feelings in a slightly romantic way. Not a loud, materialistic gesture. But I am saying flowers would be nice. If I were a woman, I would want that.”

I narrow my eyes. “Thank God you are not a woman, then. Don’t make me overthink this, Roy.”

He chuckles and I seriously feel like throwing him off this building. I remind myself that he exists to annoy me and nothing else and that I have a much better task to do.

“All jokes aside, it is good that you guys are finally together,” he says, entering my cabin where he has no business being. “Almost at least. Now make sure you treat her nice. She has been through a lot, and the last thing she deserves is for you to be a jerk to her.”

I glare at him. As if I would ever hurt her. I know she has been through a lot, but even if I weren’t aware of her past, I would never treat her unfairly. No one knows better than me that she is a blessing. There has not been a single day where I haven’t gone to sleep at night without a smile ever since I got to know her.

“I would never do that, you dick,” I say, annoyed and no longer in a mood to talk to him anymore. “Now get out of my sight before I throw you out of this building myself.”

“No need to get handsy,” he says, raising his hands in surrender. “I was leaving anyway.”

I shake my head as he saunters off. I have better things to do, and the most important of them all is cleaning off the remnants of Sienna’s past.

There’s nothing more I have hated to see than the tears in her eyes. The sadness that envelops her the moment her ex is mentioned. I hate it more than I hate anything in the world, and while I might not have done anything before, I won’t hesitate in taking any actions now.

When I promised Sienna that I would take care of everything for her and protect her from anything, I meant it with my life.

I lean back in my chair and pick up my phone. The jackass’s number is saved in my phone with the most suitable name for him.

“Sienna’s trash.” She might not like me saying that, but I know she agrees.

He is her trash that she took out herself, and I am very proud of it.