Roman knew better than to let himself love like that. And yet, when he’d vowed to keep his heart locked in a cage forever, he hadn’t expected to meet a woman like Suzanne Sullivan.
“Roman,” his father said again, obviously getting impatient, “some kid told me you’re here. Buzz me up.”
Suzanne put her hand over Roman’s. “You’re not alone anymore. You helped me with my family at the lake. What do you need me to do to help you deal with your father?”
A part of him wanted her to leave so that she didn’t have to see what a train wreck the elder Mr. Huson was. Where Roman had come from. What Roman could have become if he hadn’t fought so hard to get the hell away from that world.
But a bigger part of him wanted backup. Backup he’d never had before.
“Just be yourself. And don’t take anything he says personally. He’s not the most tactful, not the most polite guy on the planet.”
“Don’t worry about me. I grew up around my brothers and their friends. Not to mention all the strangers who have always pried into my family’s private business because of how famous my parents were. No matter what your father says, I’ll be fine.” She squared her shoulders as if she was preparing for battle. One she would fight for him. “I’ll buzz him up if you want to go grab a shirt.”
She was right about putting on more clothes. He could only imagine the crude comments his dad would make if he knew they’d been having sex. If his father said one inappropriate thing to Suzanne…
Roman sprinted up the stairs, grabbed a dark T-shirt from his closet, and got back down to the main level just in time to hear the knock on the door.
Suzanne didn’t look at all nervous. Instead, she seemed curious about the man who had raised him. Curious and protective. Roman had always had to protect himself. His chest squeezed tight as he realized she’d really meant it when she said he wasn’t alone anymore.
Knowing he couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer, he opened the door.
“Son.” His father clapped him on the back. “Looks like you’ve been keeping up the workouts.” Suzanne moved forward to say hello and his father’s eyebrows lifted practically up into his hairline. “I didn’t expect to find a pretty woman here.” He moved closer and grabbed the hand she’d extended. “Tommy Huson, at your service.”
“Suzanne Sullivan.” She smiled warmly. “You have a wonderful son.”
“Sure do,” his father said, nodding. “Couldn’t be prouder of him. You should have seen him back in the day, when he used to rule the—”
Thankfully, Suzanne’s phone rang with the song, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” Roman knew it was her ring tone for Alec, because her brother had called her cell repeatedly the first couple of days he’d worked with her, when she’d still been too mad at him to pick up. “You should talk to your brother.”
“Alec can wait.”
Roman appreciated that she wanted to be there for him no matter what. But if her family had heard about the fire in her apartment building, they were probably worried sick. He should already have contacted them to let them know she was safe with him, but he’d been too wrapped up in making love to her to remember how the hell to do his job.
“He might have heard about the fire.”
Her face clouded over. “I’ll be quick,” she promised as she grabbed her phone and headed toward the glass sliding doors that led to his outdoor patio space.
As far as Roman was concerned, his father watched her walk away with far too much lecherous appreciation. “Good-looking girl you’ve got there. I hope you’re tapping that fine ass.”
Roman had his father by the shoulders before he realized what he was doing. “Don’t ever speak like that about Suzanne again.”
When his father winced, Roman made himself uncurl his hands from his shoulders.
“You’ve forgotten the rules, haven’t you, Roman?” His dad lifted and lowered his shoulders a couple of times as if to make sure no serious damage had been done. “Never trust a good looking woman.”
“I said not to talk about her again,” Roman warned.
His father might be blood, but Suzanne had come to mean something deep and real to Roman. If he had to choose between his dark past and the promise of a brighter future, there would be no contest.
“All I’m saying is that you’ve got to be careful with a fancy woman like her. I can tell by the way she moves that she comes from money, comes from something better than us. Look what happened with me and your ma. She swore she didn’t care about slumming it with me, but she didn’t mean it. She ripped my heart out of my chest and this one will do the same to you if you let her.”