Upon waking up, Rose was surprised to see Roman in bed, working on his laptop, on heavens know what, looking like he was still naked, and as ravishing as ever.She was tempted to trace his tattoos with her fingers, and see if they were as callous as the man or not. One of the tattoos was of a coweb, with the number 1 on it, and it was stretching above his right shoulder. As for the second tattoo, she couldn’t make out what it was exactly, but covered the skin from shoulder up to his neck.Feeling her gaze, he asked, “What are you looking at me so intently for?”Rose blushed and averted her gaze, mumbling a shy “Sorry.”“Don’t apologize,” he let out in a tone of soft chiding, despite the icy gaze he focused on her. “Answer the question.”“I want to see how soft or callous the tattoos feel,” she retorted truthfully after a beat, even though a furious blush crept under her skin.“Why aren’t you?” He asked, the weight of his gaze making her squirm.“You don’t like people touching you,” sh
The way his breath fanned the column of her neck, the way his hands held her possessively in place… everything was almost too much for Rose to bear. On the plus side, however, she wasn’t facing him. And heavens only knew how easily all her walls would crumble, under his scorching hot gaze.She wanted to pinch herself and make sure she wasn’t dreaming. But, deep down, she knew that this passion flaring between them had been long in the making.After the initial shock, Rose managed to say without so much as a stutter, “I am not some lamb to be branded, you know?”She was still frozen on Roman’s lap, with no desire to escape. After all, she was making some of her daydreams a reality. It was all she could do not to give in to the dangerous man that was the mafia boss.She knew it was wrong… and yet, it felt so right.“Must you always be so troublesome?” He chuckled, as he deftly rearranged her, so she would straddle him in a way that she would face him.Oh no! It was as if he knew the effe
Rose didn’t know anything about the butterflies swarming her belly, and would happily deny their existence… but the sight of Roman Bianchi making a beeline to her, in an impeccable navy blue suit, was enough to make any tame woman go wild.Rose was determined to be the exception to that very rule… Even though flashes of their passionate night together flooded her mind.How could she have allowed such a dangerous man to take her, in a restaurant no less?“Good to see you again, Roman,” she said breathlessly… and boy did the words sound wrong on her.“Still trying to remain professional, I see?” He said at once, an eyebrow rising in question, and she wasn’t sure how to take the comment.“I just…” she stammered on her words, and blushed to the roots of her hair, to her utter and complete mortification.She averted her gaze in dismay, and then asked, as she looked at the table in the dining room, which seemed full to the brim with many no doubt lovely dishes, “What am I here for?”“Who yo
For twenty minutes now, Roman had been in what others often called the torture room. To him, it was simply the interrogation room. And as the name suggested, in order to interrogate someone, one must be creative.The man, who had dared to think himself above Rose, had just passed out from the pain, and Roman could only shake his head in abject disapproval.The man was blindfolded securely, to enhance every little prick of the skin, every blow, every wake-up slap.Roman looked at the word he had personally carved out across the man’s belly, and was rather satisfied.In big letters, it read: COWARD.Indeed, to Roman, the man was not only a nobody, but a nobody who had dared to raise his voice at Rose. To him, Rose, the woman he couldn’t get out of his mind, the woman who had nursed him back into a good shape, was not to be messed with… and he would challenge anyone to cross him on this matter.If there was someone foolish enough to do so, he would have to teach them a valuable lesson.Th
“Someone’s glowing,” Daniel let out in a teasing manner the moment he saw Rose the following day. “And don’t go thinking I didn’t see you limp your way here.”Rose averted her gaze as she blushed a deep crimson.“Did you…?“ He trailed off, and she focused her gaze on him again, eyes almost painfully wide.“Shh,” she told him meaningfully.Daniel chuckled good-humoredly. “I thought I would never see the day where our sweet little Rose got…”Not allowing him to finish his sentence, Rose didn’t hesitate to place her hand above his blabbering mouth. He didn’t seem to mind, and his chuckles doubled.“Who?” He asked after a moment. “I want deets.”“I don’t kiss and tell,” she narrowed her eyes at him, knowing full well that this wouldn’t be enough to deter him from asking more questions.“Oh, you refuse to even tell me?”There was an underlying tone of hurt at the last word, and Rose smiled at him and found herself saying, “It’s nothing serious, Dan.”“Bullshit! I don’t believe that,” he sho
Roman didn’t feel any resistance from Rose. On the contrary, she was compliant, submissive to him, and eager to get touched, arching her back to meet his hungry hands.He felt no resistance, up till it was time for him to enter and possess her. That was when he felt her tense up.“Easy, little butterfly,” he drawled huskily, eyes focusing on her face, as he tried to understand what made her tense up. “I won’t hurt you.”“I know,” she whispered back breathlessly.Despite his reassurance and his hungry sensual caresses, she didn’t ease up.He did his best not to sigh in dismay, and then asked the one-million dollar question, “Are you sure you want this?”It had been too good to be true, and he should have known better.“I do want this – you,” she nodded. “I really do, but…”“But?” He urged her to finish her words, already sensing that the night was ruined.“I am a V,” she told him timidly, averting her gaze as she said so.“What?” His eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and he took a mo
In the end, Roman and Rose ate in silence. Albeit he wasn’t known to like sharing food, he went out of his way and offered her a couple slices of pizza. Then, something even more unexpected happened. When she was cutting her fourth piece of steak, he grabbed her hand and directed the fork to his mouth.Rose was surprised to say the least. She always thought that the mafia boss was a bit of a germaphobe. And yet, he had just eaten from her fork, a fork she had used a few times already.Was he trying to convey a message? Was he silently telling her he wouldn’t mind if it were her?“Roman,” Rose began hesitantly in a mellow tone of voice, once they were done with food, “What are you doing here?”“I lied when I said there’s nothing to settle,” he grumbled, his gaze locking onto hers.The intensity of his icy blue eyes was far too much to handle, and Rose found herself dropping her gaze to the floor.“Tell me?” Her mouth was parched, and she had difficulty speaking. “Give me your bank detai
Rose didn’t dare to make a scene, or even put an inch of distance between her and Roman. Hell, she didn’t even breathe too loudly, for fear of upsetting himf further.She didn’t know what could have made the mafia boss so angry, much less what could have made him seek her out to begin with… But she knew she was bound to find out. The waiter soon came around, and despite the little bit of a grimace on his face – as he no doubt wondered why Luke had been replaced – he asked, “Are you ready to order?” Roman merely gave him a look, promptly sending the man running for the hills without another word. “Who was the man, Rosalina?” Roman asked without so much as a preamble.Rose knew she was treading on dangerous territory, but she knew she couldn’t possibly give in to the mafia boss just because she could feel his simmering fury. Still, would it be wise to say his name, or claim that she had been on a date? It was obvious already that he knew all there was to know. Considering he had suc
Roman was busy on his laptop, reviewing security footage, as he tried to figure out who had allowed Naomi in yet again, despite the orders he had given. Stefan had offered to take care of the matter, but being the stubborn man he could be, Roman wanted to be the one doing the job, and the first one to know. He had just figured out who had not paid heed to his words when there was a knock on the door. He lifted his gaze just in time to see Flora enter his office, a disgruntled look on her face. He looked at her intently, wondering what kind of issue was she facing, and who had dared to upset her… And then, she spoke up, and basically turned his world upside down. “How clumsy can you be, young master?” She asked, pursing her lips. Before he had the time to retort, she went on, “Rose is going on a date with someone from Connect this evening.” His eyebrows shot up. He truly thought he had more time, but it would appear he had thought wrong. “Time and place?” He grumbled, as he though