AllFreeNovel
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Why would a man like Roman, a man with money and status, fight in underground clubs in his free time? “It’s an interesting hobby for a man like you. Not how I would have expected you to spend your free time.”
“What kind of man am I?” There was genuine curiosity on his voice. “What kind of hobby did you expect I’d have?”
She studied him. “You said you were in business. You obviously have money and expensive clothes, a nice car with a driver and — ”
“Max is a friend actually,” he said.
She looked at the back of Max’s head. “That right, Max? Are you Roman’s friend?”
She expected a stiff response, that of an employee delivering the expected reply to a demanding employer.
“Like a brother,” Max said, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Interesting,” she said. “Okay, so you have money and expensive clothes, a nice car that your friend drives you around in all day. I guess I expected your hobby to be more along the lines of tennis or golf by day, popping expensive champagne in the VIP lounge of some fancy club by night.”
He grimaced. “Golf? Really? Do I look that boring?”
She smiled. “It’s part of the lifestyle! Or so I hear.”
“Not my lifestyle,” he said.
“Where are we going?” Max asked from the driver’s seat.
They’d arrived in Chinatown, colorful flags and banners in front of the Bowery Street shops making it feel like a giant street fair.
“This is fine,” Ruby said. “We can walk the rest of the way.”
Max frowned in the mirror. “I don’t think — ”
“Walking sounds great,” Roman said.
Max sighed, scanned the street for a parking spot, and then pulled into a space in front of a Chinese market with an array of vibrantly packaged imported goods displayed in boxes on the sidewalk.
Ruby reached for the handle on her side of the car, then jumped when she felt Roman’s hand on her knee.
“Wait.”
She did and he got out of the car and came around to her side to open the door.
It might have felt like an affect from anyone else, a needlessly grand gesture designed to impress.
But he was unruffled, and she had the sense that this was normal for him, although already,normalwasn’t a word she associated with him.
“Lead the way,” he said when she stepped out onto the sidewalk.
They continued down Bowery in silence, the scent of cooking meat and garbage and overripe fruit hitting her nose like a memory. She knew a lot of people hated the way Chinatown smelled, but she’d always loved its assault.
She looked up at Roman, expecting him to be trying to hide his disdain, or even to be holding his hand under his nostrils like Adam, but he was walking placidly alongside her, his gaze watchful.
“You like it here,” he said, looking down at her.
She smiled up at him. “It’s where we come for celebrations.”
“We?”
“My dad and sister and I, and Olivia now. It’s always been our place, ever since my mom died.”
He looked like he wanted to say something, then seemed to think better of it.
