Page 83 of Taking What Was His

“I won’t be long.”

Roman placed the huge pizza box, napkins, and plates on the sofa table, then sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“How are you holding up, baby?”

She rested against his chest and looked up at him. “Most of the hard part is over. I dread telling Jayden about Evan killing his father.”

“That kid is tough. I think he’ll make an excellent police captain someday.”

He grinned when she snorted, and then he sat forward to slide a piece of pizza onto a plate and hand it to her.

“Just eat what you can.”

She nodded and took a bite. She stayed silent when Jayden came back, and the guys ate and talked about school.

She could only eat a few bites before she handed it back to Roman. “I can’t right now.”

He cupped her cheek. “It’s okay. Why don’t you go and lie down? We’ll clean this up.”

“I think I will.” She stood and then bent to kiss the top of Jayden’s head. “Night, sweetheart. You come and get me if you need me.”

“I know, Mom. Goodnight.”

“I’ll be in soon,” Roman said when she looked at him.

“All right.”

Both the boy and the man watched her walk away with different degrees of anger rushing through them.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“She’s going to be okay,” Jayden stated with confidence.

Roman smiled. “With you and me around, she has to be.”

Jayden snorted and started eating again.

The two sat down on the sofa and faced each other when everything was cleaned up.

Roman could tell the boy still had questions, and he was going to take the time to answer every one of them.

“What’s on your mind?”

Jayden glanced at him. “I’ve got a lot going on in my head. I know I have a lot of questions, but I can only think of a few.”

“Hit me with the ones you got,” Roman said.

“Did he hurt her anywhere else besides her cheek?”

Roman shook his head. “No. She might have a few bruises on her arms from where he gripped her, but otherwise, besides the mental stuff, she’s fine.”

Jayden nodded. “Do you have any idea how long he’s been hiding stuff at our house?”

Roman shook his head. “No. We can guess, but the only one that really knows is Evan.”

“Is it bad that I want to slug him for hurting Mom?”

Roman grinned. “If it is, I’m bad, too. I’m envisioning giving him a bloody nose.” It was actually worse than that, but he wasn’t going to tell the boy he wanted to kill the man for touching her.