Page 29 of Roman

“You gonna keep her, Roman?”

I recognized Vi’s voice. Roman’s as well. He had a commanding tenor to his speech, but right now, I would add pissed off to the tone. The other voice, I was unsure of, except I thought it belonged to Aldo.

I opened my eyes, startled to see Roman crouched in front of me. His head was turned, and he was speaking to Vi and Aldo. I recognized him from last night. Roman’s voice was quiet but firm.

“She needs to rest and recover. I am not moving her.”

“I need to go home.”

Roman’s head snapped around, and he met my eyes. For a moment, I saw his emotions clearly shine in his eyes. Then, as if a veil descended, he distanced himself.

“You’ll go home when I say so.” He stood. “And you should be in bed. Twisted around like a snack to go isn’t doing your injuries any good.”

“I bet he wants to eat her like a snack,” Vi murmured.

Roman glared, Vi laughed, and Aldo turned his head, trying not to join her. Roman glanced my way, and I had to hide my amusement. He almost looked embarrassed.

“Sometimes the snack-sized pretzels are the best,” Vi continued.

“Stop it,” Roman said, dropping his voice. I knew it was meant to sound scary, but it only made me want to laugh too. Vi was ridiculous, and he was taking her far too seriously.

I stood, planning on gliding past them all and heading to the room down the hall. Except I moved too fast, and the room spun. I gasped, reaching out to grab something to steady myself and found Roman’s arm already going around me. He lifted me up, practically growling in anger. “She. Needs. To. Lie. Down.”

He stomped down the hall, ignoring Vi’s giggles. Aldo began humming something familiar, and Vi’s chuckles turned into laughter.

“Let yourselves out,” Roman snapped over his shoulder.

I sighed, letting my head rest on his shoulder. I wondered why I felt so safe in his arms. Lethal, Vi had admitted.

Unless he cared.

But I doubted that was the case.

Right?

I wasn’t sure how to ask him.