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A sinking feeling settled in my stomach, not letting me enjoy the ceviche the server set down between us. “What’s this about?” I asked. “Do you suddenly not trust Roman?”
I didn’t think I could bear it if my newfound happiness was about to be ripped away. Or even dented a little. I knew that Roman had a past I didn’t like thinking about. But his womanizing ways were behind him now. I didn’t think Papa cared about things like that, though, so if he was getting at something, it was much worse than Roman’s bad-boy reputation.
Thankfully, Papa relaxed. “Nothing like that, sweetie. I just want to make sure you’re getting along. Newlyweds talk about their childhoods, don’t they?”
“Sure,” I said, the knot in my stomach slowly untying. “We just haven’t gone back that far yet. There’s plenty of time.”
He agreed, and motioned for me to eat up. I was so relieved that I wasn’t going to hear something bad about Roman that I was able to gobble down the meal. We walked along the beach for a while after, peeking into the shops and catching up. When his driver returned me to the house, I felt foolish for being worried.
I was barely home for ten minutes when Roman’s video chat came through, and I hurried to answer it while standing on the back patio. He frowned to see me wearing a sundress instead of the sexy lingerie he’d been expecting.
“Sorry, I forgot all about it,” I said. “I can’t wait until you get home to talk, though.”
His face went dark, his frown deepening. “Am I in trouble for something?”
I laughed. “No, silly. I just want to know more about you. Like what it was like to grow up with a twin.”
He shrugged it off, saying he had to get back to a meeting and ending the call. I wondered if he would have had more time for me if I’d been half naked, and tried not to let those thoughts or what Papa had said at lunch put me in a bad mood. Instead, I took a shower and changed into something slinky for when Roman got home.
He was exactly on time, and I threw myself into his arms. “I missed you,” I said, not even feeling embarrassed for admitting it. “What do you want to eat for dinner?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, oddly cool. He half-heartedly returned my hug, then asked me what I did all day.
“Nothing much,” I said. “Thought of you, took a swim, thought about you some more.”
He didn’t smile. “You didn’t have lunch with your father, then?” he demanded.
I was stunned at his tone. “I did,” I said.
“So it was a secret lunch?”
What was wrong with him? “No, I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Do I need to fill out an itinerary for you when we’re apart? He just called me up and invited me, so I said yes.” Then I realized he shouldn’t have even known about it before I told him. “Are you spying on me?” I asked, unable to hide my feelings about that.
He looked as offended as I felt. “So, was Demian part of your father’s security detail today? Did you two have any little chats?”
Fury had me balling my fists at my side. I never even noticed who was working security for Papa that day. “Are you seriously getting jealous right now? After the honeymoon we just had? A honeymoon I didn’t want to end, by the way.”
His eyes swept me from my hairline to my bare toes and back up again. His laugh was cruel, and his eyes shot daggers at me. “I don’t get jealous,” he told me. “I just want to make sure you know who you belong to. Since I’m not sleeping with anyone else when I could have a throng of women waiting in line, then you shouldn’t get to be with anyone else, either.”
I stepped back as if he’d slapped me. The words hurt as much as an actual slap. As he brushed past me to go toward the kitchen, I turned and hurried upstairs before he saw the tears that threatened to roll down my cheeks at any second. I slammed into the guest bedroom that I didn’t think I’d have to hide out in ever again and let them fall.
Once they were unleashed, it didn’t seem like they’d stop anytime soon. How could I have been so happy and sure of everything only that afternoon, positive I’d never be as miserable as I used to fear in my arranged marriage. This was pure and utter misery, sitting on the floor and sobbing after being distrusted and insulted. I finally forced myself to stop crying because Roman didn’t deserve my tears, but I stayed huddled on the floor, unable to leave the room to face him.
What had gotten into him? How did everything go from being so perfect to absolute hell?
Chapter 13 - Roman
It was rough leaving Karine that morning, but I needed to get back to work. I set up my computer at the bar to catch up with everyone on the West Coast, reaching over to turn on the coffee machine. My South Beach apartment was now doubling as my temporary office until I could find a suitable building for the new branch.
As soon as I was settled in with a cup of coffee and had all my emails pulled up on my laptop, I got a call from Evelina. She was on my regular phone under a false name that would be traced back to an accounting firm in Los Angeles. It was a perfectly benign contact as long as we didn’t spend too much time in conversation together. She may have tried to call me on the secret one, but it was still hidden away on silent mode, only to be brought out when I was sure I was alone. Which hadn’t been often since my honeymoon took a turn for the better, and Karine and I had been nearly inseparable the last week.
“What’s up?” I asked, tension rising. It had to be something important, or she wouldn’t be calling me at all.
“I’ve got discreet surveillance on Feliks,” she said. “And your house, of course. And no sooner than you were out the door today, a car picked up your wife and drove her to meet him at some restaurant on the north end of the beach. Crowded place, couldn’t overhear a word of their conversation.”
I’d known about both her tail on Feliks and her covering my new home, but I’d never expected Karine to be up to something fishy. And to be honest, I wasn’t that worried about whatever she and Feliks were talking about. But there was something I was definitely interested to know.
“Can you send me pictures?” I asked.
