CHAPTER FIVE: DANGEROUS GAMES

Years had passed since that night in college,the night they had shared. She had so much trust in him, but he let his pride overtake him. 

He remembered how he laughed when the rumors started. He had denied her in front of half the school and had been silent, while she got bullied for something that wasn't her fault. Like she wasn’t a person with feelings.

“I’m not that desperate,” he had said to them. 

God. He wanted to punch his past self, for being so stupid, for making such a foolish blunder. 

 He didn’t expect her to become who she was today. Reyna Styles, acclaimed designer, she was confident, breathtakingly composed, and didn’t look like someone who was broken. She looked like someone who had rebuilt herself without a single help from anyone. 

And that hurt him more than he was willing to admit. That she had struggled so much and it was probably his fault. 

He was grown now, he knew that he made foolish decisions in the past but now he wanted to correct his mistakes only if she would give him a chance to. But she wouldn't. 

He downed the champagne in one sharp swallow, bitter with guilt.

He didn’t know why it mattered now. Maybe it was his pride? maybe it was the regret he was feeling, maybe it was her. Her presence. 

He wanted to apologize. But she wasn’t the kind of woman who would make it easy, especially since she was denying knowing him.

And honestly, he couldn't blame her, she owed him nothing.But he wasn’t walking away this time, not until he made things right with her.

Until she forgave him. Even if she never looked at him like she used to, with love and faith. 

He would earn her trust again, he would correct his past mistakes. 

Vivian, Roman's girlfriend rushed to where he stood and clung to his arm like a diamond-studded accessory, she was tall, blonde, the picture of perfection. She wore a red dress that looked like it was very expensive. 

“Rome” she called seductively but he didn't reply, his attention was somewhere else. On someone else. 

Vivian felt it, like a shift in gravity. She followed his eyes, and when she saw where they landed, something inside her hardened.

Reyna Styles looked over her shoulder, catching his stare for just a second, then turned away as if bored.

That dismissal lit a spark of fury in Vivian’s chest.

“Roman,” she said sweetly, tugging on his arm. “Don’t stare. It’s embarrassing.”

He blinked, she caught him, and he  looked at her. “What?”

“You were staring,” she said through a tight smile. “At the fashion designer. Reyna, right? The one in purple. The whole room noticed.”

Roman straightened. “She’s the host of the Fashion show, It’s her event.”

Vivian leaned in closer. “You don't even look at me that long, or stare at me with so much intensity”

He didn’t respond. Just pulled away gently and moved to get them drinks. Vivian’s eyes didn’t leave Reyna, even as her jaw tightened.

Vivian made her way to where Reyna stood, talking to other elite people, she introduced herself to her. 

“Reyna Styles,” Vivian cooed, offering a hand laced with rings. “Your work is... impressive.”

Reyna smiled politely. “Thank you, I'll try my best.”

Roman walked towards them, standing awkwardly between them, his eyes betraying him holding far too much interest.

Vivian noticed it again. 

“I didn’t realize you two knew each other,” she quipped, voice sugary, holding darker intentions than she let on. 

Reyna stared blankly. “We don’t.”

That lie sliced through Roman like a knife. Vivian  turned to him, arching a brow.

“She looks familiar, doesn’t she, Roman?”

He hesitated, he wasn't going to say anything to her, it was obvious she was adamant on denying his existence. 

Reyna looked directly at Vivian and said, “A lot of men think they know me. Especially when they’re used to getting every woman’s attention.”

Roman’s jaw tensed. Even if she acted like she didn't know him, he knew why she was saying all that. 

Vivian narrowed her eyes, staring at Reyna with a frown. 

Then Reyna tilted her head, smiled softly, and said, “Excuse me. I need to check on my models.”

She walked away, and Roman turned around and stared at how she moved, her hips swayed with each graceful step she took and he was enthralled by her. 

Vivian’s voice dropped low. “What happened between you two? You are staring at her too much” 

“Nothing,” Roman said, dismissing her question. 

Vivian scoffed. “It's so obvious you are after her. I am not stupid.”

Roman ignored her, and walked away the opposite direction of where Reyna had gone. Vivian could see that he was spellbound by the fashion designer and that angered her. 

Reyna Styles had earned herself an enemy, because anyone who was a threat to her and Roman, she automatically hated. 

No one would take Roman Knight away from her. 

Vivian, took a glass of wine from a waiter that passed and drank it too

 quickly, the sweetness turning bitter in her mouth.

 From across the room, Reyna was laughing with a fashion editor, poised and elegant, effortlessly graceful yet sharp enough to cut with a glance.

She spotted Roman at the bar counter, distracted. His eyes flicked back to Reyna like a bad habit he couldn't break. Vivian noticed yet again.

She walked toward him, taking a seat beside him at the bar and ordering a drink. “You’ve never looked at me the way you are looking at her.”

Roman tore his gaze away. “Don't start this Vi.”

She turned to him fully, her voice's silky tone coming off harshly. “Then prove it, Rome, dance with me.”

He hesitated, and didn't make an attempt to move. 

Vivian gave a hollow smile. “I thought so.”

Roman sighed and took her hand, but as they moved to the dance floor, his eyes drifted once more.

This time, Reyna noticed and she smirked.

Not out of spite,but power. The power of indifference. She didn’t have to chase him; her silence did the talking. The tables had completely turned. 

As the music played and Vivian moved stiffly in his arms, her voice dropped so low only he could hear. “If I find out you had anything with her before or now I will kill her .”

Roman looked down at her, with a cocky yet charming grin. “You're not as intimidating as you think you are Vivian.”

She smiled. Her dark smile was venom laced in gloss. “And you're not as discreet as you think you are, I can see the longing in your eyes.”

Across the room, Reyna stepped into a conversation with a producer from a top fashion magazine,completely unfazed by the cold war unfolding behind her.

But inside, her thoughts weren’t nearly as still. 

Roman was happy, did he deserve to be happy? Her emotions were conflicting, she wanted nothing to do with him but yet she couldn't help but hate seeing him.

‘ Roman had gotten engaged.’  

‘Good.’ 

‘Let him watch what he’ll never have again.’ She thought to herself. 

She turned just slightly, catching Roman’s gaze again.

This time, she held it, and she did something that surprised him, she winked. Her declaration of war, she was going to shake the tables. 

Vivian saw what she did, jealousy surging through her whole being, her grip on Roman’s shoulder tightening as Reyna kept staring. 

“That bitch, I won't let her go so easily” she whispered to herself anger pulsing through her veins, her eyes never leaving Reyna’s retreating figure.

If she wanted war, then she had just gotten it.