Cousins: An Alpha Bad Boy Romance(34)

We were riding in a freshly washed, black Range Rover SUV with tan leather interior and some sort of navigation system that looked like it was designed by a NASA engineer. And I couldn't help but overhear Juliette bragging to a girlfriend on the phone the other day how she's so proud of Roman, and how he lives in a great building with a doorman at his age.

"We already had money Elizabeth," he says flatly.

"Your father did, but Juliette says that you earn your own money. That they don't give you a dime."

"Does money impress you?" I detect a tone from him that suggests that me liking money is a bad thing. Like perhaps I'm some sort of shallow person, when I'm far from that. I'm just impressed by his success. His and Joseph's. Everything they've seemed to have accomplished. I want to be independent and an entrepreneurial success like they are. I want people to remember who I am, or at least what my contribution to this world was, and I certainly don't want to have to live in my aunt's guest room while I do it.

"There's nothing wrong with money, but that's not what motivates me if that's what you're asking."

"What motivates you?"

"The work that I do."

"What are you working on exactly?"

"I'm designing an app."

"Oh that's cool," he says with a little disinterest. "A game?"

"No, it's a productivity app that will help match high school seniors and college students to scholarship money." I say with pride in my voice.

He looks mildly impressed. "You're smart."

I shrug my shoulders. "More like inspired. My parents didn't have the money to send me to Penn or any college for that matter, but they made too much money to qualify for needs-based scholarships. So I had to figure things out on my own. I spent most of my junior year of high school online, in libraries and bookstores researching hundreds of scholarships. It was a nightmare, but it worked. I paid for my entire college education. Room and board. Even food."

"So you want to help others have an easier time finding scholarships?"

"Exactly. The money is out there, it's just the search for it which is brutal."

"That's fucking amazing."

I grin like a goofball. There's something about receiving Roman's seal of approval that makes me feel like doing a hundred cartwheels.

We ride by one of my favorite diners, and I know we're back in my old stomping grounds. I'm getting nervous, and I need to find a way to tell Roman the reason why without telling him everything. I don't like to talk about the attack. I've barely told Sloan or my parents what happened, so I sure as hell don't want to spill my guts to him.

Roman already notices my apprehension. Shit. My hair twisting always gives it away.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't think I'm going to get the security deposit back."

"Why?"

"The place needs painting, there's a hole in the wall of my bedroom, and I didn't really clean when I left."

His eyebrows squish together. "Back up. Why is there a hole in your bedroom wall?"

"A misunderstanding."

"Between?"

"Me and my ex." Well that's sort of the truth.

"What's his name?" He asks flatly. "The ex."

I turn my head and catch Roman staring at me.

"Keep your eyes on the road please." I ask.

"I got this. I was driving well before you got your period. Just give me the name."

Gosh, he can be so crude sometimes.

"I don't want to tell you."

"Why?"

"Because I get the feeling you might actually do something with the information if I give it to you."

He grins. "That's the idea."

"I handled it."

He growls under his breath.

"Listen Elizabeth, I know that we don't know each other that well yet, but you're going to learn a couple of things about me very quickly. I'm an expert at handling shit, I don't like to ask things twice, and I don't accept the word no very often or very well."

Something about that very matter-of-fact statement makes my nipples tingle. I imagine he's very hard to say no to, and that I probably couldn't say the word very much at all to him. I probably wouldn't want to.

"I need the name. It's my third time asking," he warns.

"Ethan Anderson." I say reluctantly.

"See, was that so hard?" He asks with a grin while keeping his eyes on the road.

"I guess not." I say with an unintentional quiver in my voice.

Roman turns his head, looks at me and squints again. It's like his eyes are a bullshit meter.

"What aren't you telling me?"

I take a deep breath and just spit it out. Chances are my mom told Juliette or Joseph most of what she knows anyway.

"I didn't have a fight with my ex. We were both attacked in my apartment. That's why there's a hole in the wall."