Before I knew it, we were in front of one of my buildings. Rome, as usual, was right about the paparazzi out front. I counted only six.
While Rome was downright infuriating, he and I fell into an easy rhythm when it came to his job. Like clockwork, he was up and out of the town car, holding the door open for me. I took his hand, double-checking that my skirt didn’t ride up, as I stood and quickly began walking towards the front door.
The press asked their usual questions. Anything ranging from my relationship status to recent market trades, and even questions about my brother and his wife.
I ignored the questions, as usual, and made my way through the front doors with Rome close behind me. The paparazzi hadn’t followed my father this much when he was in charge. The fact that I was a young, attractive woman made me more palatable and desirable to others.
It was a fact that I had initially despised. I didn’t want to be thought of any differently than my peers, but I quickly learned that was impossible. My peers consisted of fifty-year-old white men who spent their days bossing around their staff. The same staff who were the ones truly responsible for the success of the various businesses. My peers didn’t look to me as an equal, but instead as an object, which was absolutely ridiculous, as I was more educated than every single one of them.
Instead of bitching and moaning about the treatment and the attention of the paparazzi, I used it to my advantage. While those men had to fight to be noticed by Business Weekly, I simply had to walk out the door dressed nicely, and I’d make it into the headlines.
Rome and I silently made our way through the lobby and to the executive elevator, where he scanned us in. Besides myself, only Rome and my assistant, Andi, had access to the executive suite. I had called it home since my promotion—though it didn’t feel like it.
I had initially lived closer to my mother on the Upper East Side, but living in Manhattan was preferable to my business dealings, so I relocated.
“Any other plans you need me for tonight?” Rome asked, his deep voice filling the small elevator.
Tonight?
I checked my watch. Shit, it was nearly eight pm.
“Nope,” I clipped.
He let out a soft chuckle, “You’re not even going to ask me why I’m wondering?”
“I’m not all that interested in your personal life, Rome.”
“Working for you means I have no personal life.”
I looked up to him for the first time in hours, his frame always towering over me. He had cut his black hair recently, and it resembled the military cut I assumed he had grown accustomed to during his years of service. Not that I asked. Professional boundaries were a must when it came to our working relationship. “No one asked you to be here.”
“Your brother did, and I get paid, so I’m here.”
I rolled my eyes just as the door opened to my floor.
I waltzed into the living room, dropping my purse in the entryway and kicking my heels off as I stepped. “You’re free to head out, Rome. Take a night on the town, explore the city, hit up a bar, I really don’t care.”
I turned to see him standing in the threshold of the elevator. He insisted on wearing an all-black suit with a black shirt every day. He left the top few buttons undone, giving a peek at the chain he always wore around his neck. I assumed it was his military tags. He said the suit made him more professional. I think he just felt cool in the getup.
“Promise you’re not heading out tonight?” He asked with a dark brow raised.
“My God, Rome, I’m not a child. I promise I won’t leave my apartment.”
Ileft my apartment.
In my defense, it wasn’t that I had planned on defying Rome and the ridiculous rules he had set for me.
He had left for the night, and I had planned on having a relaxing evening at home… and then Alexandra, my best friend, called. She was contracted to attend a club's soft-opening tonight and had insisted that I needed to come as well. It’s not like I could’ve said no… well, maybe I could have, but I didn’t want to.
It was hard to keep up with her, and our two busy schedules meant we didn’t spend nearly enough time together. So when the stars aligned, I couldn’t turn down her offer to visit a new club opening.
I also needed a break. Between the mounting pressure of the board, spending my days being shadowed by the tallest, most obnoxious bodyguard, and the notes I had been receiving… I shook the thought away. I was choosing not to think aboutthat, and instead, focusing on finally having a small break.
So here I was, dressed in a too-short black dress, watching Alexandra’s blonde hair flow back and forth as we danced in the middle of the club.
She was far too beautiful for her own good. Which made her thriving career as a model make sense. I couldn’t fathom how someone could look so… perfect, and for as long as I had known her, she had always been perfect.
We met when she was a freshman in college. She had moved from California, and her tanned skin, long blonde hair, and carefree nature made her the polar opposite of me. I had literally been nicknamed the ‘Ice Queen’ by my peers. Alexandra and I balanced each other. Where I was cold, she was warm. With each of my eye rolls that I had never been the best at concealing, she had a dazzling smile to return.
