Page 19 of Saved By the Billionaire

Her heart stammered and skipped a beat; she could no longer look at him. It was too much. The air between them seemed to swirl with awareness.

“Garrett brought your things from the hostel.”

“He did?”

When she glanced at Roman it was to see the last vestiges of a scowl on his handsome face.

“He says it’s a dive.”

She laughed. “Well, I mean, if this is your baseline,” she said, gesturing to the palatial living area, that looked as though Architectural Digest had curated it from their most stylish feature properties.

“It’s not,” he assured her.

Curiosity flexed anew. There was so much she didn’t know about this man, her saviour, and suddenly, that felt impossible. She pressed her weight into the sofa with one hand and stood unsteadily, dipping her head to hide a smile at his muttered curse, and the way he moved so quickly. His reaction was predictable and heavenly. She craved the feeling of his arms around her, craved that sense of security and warmth, even when she knew danger lurked behind that addiction.

“What do you need?” he asked.

“Well, actually, the bathroom,” she said, flushing. She’d made her own way that morning, and again at the clinic. “I can do it.”

“Stop arguing,” he admonished, carrying her to a guest bathroom and placing her within a single step of the toilet.

“Thank you,” she murmured, glancing up at him. “Please leave.”

He nodded, but stood exactly where he was, so she wondered if he was tempted to offer to help with her pants; and was she tempted to let him, if he did?

“I won’t be long,” she said, her voice croaked. And then, because he was still standing there, she pressed a hand to his broad chest, felt his thudding heart, and said, “Thank you for everything, Roman.”

“You’re welcome, Kate.” He touched her cheek then, as though he couldn’t help it. “I’ll be just outside.” And then, in an act that was only strange because it wasn’t strange, he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before leaving her in the bathroom, staring at the wall with a frown on her face and a racing heart.

Chapter Five

“WHAT GIVES, HAYES? YOU’VE dropped completely off the face of the earth.”

Usually, the sight of Tia Stallone striding into his penthouse with a bottle of wine and their favourite take-out in hand would have been not only expected but also welcome. Tia, Grace’s best friend. Tia, who knew the real him, the man he’d been before all this. Tia who understood him better than anyone. Tia, who besides Garrett was the only person in his life to have a key fob granting entry to his life, because she’d always be welcome.

But with a freshly-showered Kate curled up on the sofa, sipping a cup of tea, he felt a thousand emotions—embarrassment, self-consciousness, and as though a bubble he had wanted to keep just a while longer was about to be burst.

“I texted you,” she prompted. “Let’s celebrate.” She lifted the bottle of Pol Roger in the air.

“What are we celebrating?”

“I sold it.”

It took Roman a minute to catch up and then, he let out a low whistle. Tia, Roman and Grace had made a pact a long time ago. They weren’t just going to get out of the hellhole that was their childhood—a variety of trailer parks and poverty—but to make it. To really make it.

Roman had.

And Tia had. Stallone Realty was the premier residential real estate company on the Eastern seaboard. She sold blue-chip homes, penthouses, anything with more than six zeroes, essentially, and today, she’d apparently sealed the deal on the most expensive residential apartment in Manhattan—apart from Roman’s.

As always, though, their success contrasted with Grace’s death left a lump in his chest he struggled to ignore. But he was used to pretending, to faking that he was fine.

But with Kate there with him, everything felt strange. Different. As though the very air around them had a different quality to usual.

“Oh.” Tia’s attention had strayed in Kate’s direction. “You have company.”

It was right that Tia should look confused. While Roman was hardly a priest, he didn’t tend to have women back to his place. This was his space. His sanctuary. Privacy was important to him.

So why had he brought Kate here and all but refused to let her go?