Since I Fell For You(35)
“So you agree that talking with Craig made sense?”
She nodded. “I was going to speak to him tonight.”
“With me there?” She couldn’t read Roman’s expression. Not when his man-of-stone mask was back in place. “Or without?”
She’d asked him to be honest with her, which meant he deserved the same from her. “Without. Which I now see might also have been the stubborn route. But now you’ve beat me to it.” Her anger mostly gone now, she asked, “What did he say?”
“He isn’t behind any of it.”
She couldn’t stop “I told you!” from bursting out.
“I now believe that he’s not the one causing you problems,” Roman said again, “but you were wrong that you didn’t mean anything to him. He wanted you back, Suzanne. More than he ever let on.”
That gave her pause. “How do you know?”
“He told me.”
She hadn’t seen that coming, hadn’t guessed that Craig’s feelings for her might have gone beyond a few hours of letting off steam together in the dark. “What did you tell him about the”—she paused to search for the right word—“problems I’ve been having?”
“I didn’t give him any details. But he was concerned enough to offer to help if we need it.”
We.
The tiny word leaped out at her. Her brothers, her friends, had always been there for her. But she’d never been a we with a man. The thought of being a we with Roman filled her with crazy longing. Even though it was the very last thing she should want.
“Next time,” she made herself say in the midst of her rampantly conflicted thoughts, “I’d like you to tell me what you’re planning so that I can either talk you out of it or go with you. I guess your talk with Craig wasn’t that big a deal.”
Roman looked uncomfortable. “I was pretty rough with him.”
“Define rough.”
“I shoved him up against the wall.” He paused a beat before adding, “By his neck.”
“Why?” She couldn’t understand what would have driven Roman to such lengths. “Why would you do that?”
“I need to protect you.”
“You’ve got to see by now that I’m not fragile.”
“I know you’re not. You’re anything but fragile, Suzanne.”
“Then…” It felt like she was trying to pick her way through a minefield to get to the other side. And yet she couldn’t stay where she was. Not if there was a chance that reaching the other side would be worth the risk. “Why are you so hellbent on protecting me?”
Her phone rang in the space where his answer might have come. Standing closest to where the device lay on the corner of her desk, he looked at the screen, likely to assess whether it was another one of the junk calls.
“It’s Smith,” he said as he handed it to her.
Though she was always happy to hear from her cousin—he was so busy with his film projects that she didn’t see him nearly often enough—she couldn’t help but wish he’d waited another five minutes to call today.
“Smith, how are you?”
“Couldn’t be better, Suz. Any chance you can come to Summer Lake for a couple of days?”
Joy jumped inside her as she instantly guessed why he must be calling to ask that question out of the blue like this. “Is Valentina finally going to take you off the market for good?”
“I’ve been off the market since the first time I laid eyes on her.” Suzanne could hear the love in Smith’s voice for his bride-to-be. “And yes, we’ve finally picked a date. How does Friday at noon sound to you?”
As it was already Wednesday afternoon, she would have to wrap up anything pressing at the office, pack her bags, and head to the Adirondacks first thing the next morning. She had a multinational corporation to run. She had a massive task list ahead of her for Rosa’s foundation. And she was just beginning to accept that the server and phone attacks deserved more of her attention.
But none of those things was anywhere near as important as celebrating with Smith and Valentina as they made their vows of forever to each other.
“It sounds absolutely perfect. And I won’t tell a soul. Well,” she amended so that Smith would know she’d be bringing a hired plus-one, “no one except for my bodyguard, Roman.”
She could easily imagine Smith’s eyebrows rising. “I don’t like the sound of that. Why do you have a bodyguard?”
“I’ll explain everything when I see you. But until then, don’t worry, I promise you I’m safe and sound.” Roman, she was starting to understand, wouldn’t allow anything else.