Roman: Book 2 (The Hunter Brothers Series) (18 page)

He retrieved a
glass of champagne as I took a sip, the cool, fresh bubbles blasting a cold
refreshing sweetness against my mouth as I savoured the taste, looking up only
to see Brad Johnson striding towards us. “For fucks sake, not again,” I muttered
as Roman chuckled and Charlie turned to stare.

“I was out of
order there, Chas. I apologise,” he said as I nodded. He shook hands with
Charlie and then Roman. “No hard feelings,” he said as Charlie nodded.

 
“None at all, it worked out rather well for
me,” Roman smirked as I gasped. Could he be any more indiscreet?

Brad smiled a
knowing smile at Roman before walking back towards his friends and I wondered
if he knew how cheap he’d just made me feel. I’d deluded myself into thinking
that was special. I was wrong. Bottom line; I’d just been fucked in a
nightclub. Roman said nothing else, but took off as I watched his glorious,
irritating form striding across the dance floor towards A.K.

 
I turned to smile at Charlie. He wasn’t
smiling back.

“Classy,” he
sneered as my mouth dropped open in shock and I was so stunned at the hostility
in his voice that my words just stuck in my throat as I stared at him wide
eyed. “Don’t pull the doe eyed innocent, baby. You’ve just been fucked in a
nightclub by a man that won’t even remember your name next week. I thought you
were different, Chas. Christ, you’ve told me you are often enough, but you’re
no better than those skanks who drop to their knees to suck Brad Johnson’s
cock. Yeah, the ones you’re always slagging off for having no self worth and
low esteem. In fact, you’re worse. At least they’re honest about what they
want. You, my darling, are simply a liar. Eye on the prize? What a fucking
joke,” he snapped, throwing back his shot.

 
I stumbled slightly, holding myself on the bar.
I wanted to ball him out, retaliate and hit out with the retort that he deserved.
Unfortunately that would also mean drawing attention to us, and that was
exactly what I didn’t need. I felt pretty certain that once I started, I
wouldn’t stop, and I couldn’t allow that to happen. Roman would be all over it
and there was enough bad blood as it was.

My only option was
dignified silence, but I didn’t trust myself to hold back for long. I took a
deep breath, walking confidently but quickly down the stairs, catching my
breath as the cold night air hit me and I leaned against the wall, barely able
to process what I’d just heard.

Had Charlie really
said those things? It was like some horrible dream. Minutes ago I’d been
floating on air in a bubble of warmth. Roman had made me feel like the most
special woman alive before his flippant comment, and Charlie had brought me
back down to earth with a terrifying thud. Even worse, he was right. I tried to
blink back the soft hot tears that were pricking at the back of my eyes.

It wasn’t special,
it was seedy. Being fucked in a nightclub was full on slapper territory and I’d
discarded my morals for a flash of the killer smile and a bit of hip grinding.
I loathed the kind of women who went with Brad Johnson, they gave us all a bad
name, and now I was like them. According to Charlie I was worse and he was
right about that too. He’d been distant and I could live with that, but this
was downright hostile and my stomach churned at the thought that our friendship
might not survive this weekend.

Roman hadn’t come
to find me and I doubted he’d try. He’d had his fix of violence and got his
rocks off, so why bother? He’d soon be gone, forgetting my name, and it looked
like I’d lose my friend as well. I took several deep breaths, shivering in the
dark chilly air, but knowing I couldn’t go back inside yet. This was a night
out to help everyone relax. So far there’d been a fight, a fuck, and a row, and
all of them were my fault.

If I told Roman
what Charlie had said, it would probably kick off world war three. Things were
strained between them as it was and I had no desire to add fuel to that
particular fire. I debated going home, knowing I couldn’t because that would
upset my sister, taking more deep breaths and deciding I’d just have to suck it
up. Besides, I wanted more with Roman. If a nightclub was our last encounter,
it would hang with a seedy aftertaste and I needed to dispel it.

“There you are,”
came the low deep voice, disrupting my thoughts as I turned and forced a half
smile. “What is it? You look like you’ve been crying?” he said, running a soft
finger down my cheek as I shook my head. “If it’s the CCTV in the office, I’ve
just had it wiped. A.K. offered me a fortune to watch it, but our secret is
safe,” he smiled as I shook my head. If I thought it was bad before, he’d just
taken it up a level.

“Hey, I was only
kidding around, not about the CCTV, that has been wiped, but the other stuff. What
is it, Chas?” he said, holding my cheeks softly in his hands and assessing me
closely.

“Nothing, I was
just a bit hot, I needed some air,” I said as he smirked.

“You’re not just
hot, sweetheart, you are blistering heat, sizzling and scorching like some
rampant fucking volcano,” he laughed as I started to giggle.

“That’s better,”
he said, squeezing my hand as he led me back inside and I took a seat next to
him in the booth, trying to avoid Charlie’s piercing, accusatory gaze from the
bar.

I joined in the
conversation, quieter than usual and no one seemed to really notice as we
chatted and danced, drank champagne and tried to push away the woes of the
weekend. It was working for the brothers, if not for me, and that had been the
point, although the tension between Charlie and Roman hadn’t let up and they
had barely spoken two words.

Tyler disappeared
first with the three women in tow as Lucas frowned at him. “Be careful, you’re
a commodity now,” he said seriously as Tyler shrugged off his comment before he
asked Charlie to join him. I almost wished he would. I didn’t like a cheat, but
it would be the end of Scarlett and maybe he could work off some of the
aggression that was clearly still raging inside him.

“No,” he snapped,
shaking his head as Tyler left and Lucas suggested to Jess that they stay at
the apartment in the city so they could see Dex in the morning. She agreed,
hugging us all and swaying slightly as she said goodbye, leaving the three of
us sitting in silence. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

“I’ll call the
car,” Charlie said firmly, beating me to it.

“Do you want to
stay a bit longer?” Roman asked as I shook my head, kissing my cheek and
telling me he was going to say goodbye to A.K. I sipped my drink, looking up
occasionally at Charlie, but he didn’t return my gaze and was clearly still
livid. I was desperate to say something, to challenge his assumptions and make
my point, but with none of the others around to diffuse the situation I feared
it would get ugly and I couldn’t afford for Roman to overhear.

The ride back was
long and interminable as we sat in silence, staring through the blacked out
windows. I could see Roman casting a puzzled glance between me and Charlie
occasionally and I’d turn and smile at him, trying to show him that nothing was
wrong. You could still cut the atmosphere with a knife.

Roman got out of
the car first, unlocking the door to the house and allowing me to enter before
he paused. “I need to speak to Charlie, babe,” he said as my stomach lurched
and I knew this wouldn’t be pretty. I also knew that my presence would only
aggravate the situation, and disappeared into the kitchen to watch them on the
gravel through the huge window.

I couldn’t hear
what they saying but I didn’t need to. Their body language said everything I
needed to know and as Charlie threw a punch that connected squarely on Roman’s
jaw I left through the patio and made my way down to the lodge. What the hell
was wrong with just talking?

I was furious,
knowing I’d probably shoulder the blame for this as well, slipping on the
negligee in my own, cold room as thoughts of earlier burst into my brain. Okay,
it was seedy, but like all my sex with Roman it had been out of this world. He
had a pull, magnetism and a way about him that just got to me somehow,
evaporating my logic. I blamed the hormones, twisting and turning, trying to
shove down my anger and sleep. It wasn’t working.

I didn’t look up
as I heard my door edge open.

 
“You don’t belong in there. At least if you’re
mad, come and be mad next to me,” he said as I blew out loud.

“Mad, Roman, I’m
absolutely fucking furious.”

“Why?” he asked as
I stared at him incredulously.

“Are you serious?
Because I just had to witness you and Charlie tearing lumps out of each other
over me.”

“As wonderful as
you are, baby, that wasn’t just about you and it needed to happen. It’s been
brewing ever since I came back,” he said, smiling at me as I flushed, feeling a
little foolish. “Charlie’s been hanging onto that anger for months, reeling in
confusion and unable to challenge me about it. He knows that Dad lied, but rage
at that level doesn’t subside until you work it through. You were the excuse he
needed to do it.”

“Is he okay?” I
asked as Roman nodded.

“He’s got a few
bruises, but none as big as the one on his ego,” he laughed as I shook my head.

“I mean it. Is he
really okay?” I asked. I might be annoyed with him, but he was incredibly
special to me and I had to know he was alright. Roman frowned.

“I notice you’re
not asking if I’m okay. Charlie’s fine, Chas. He was pissed off and now it’s
out of his system.”

He walked across
to the bed, picking me up in his arms and carrying me to his room. Part of me
wanted to fight, but a bigger part didn’t. I was fed up with rowing. I pulled
the sheets tight as he undressed, climbing in beside me and grateful he didn’t
just try and slide my negligee off. He’d have got nowhere tonight.

“There are other
ways to work things through without throwing your fists around, Roman,” I
sighed as he laughed, shaking his head.

“We’re guys, Chas,
it’s what we do.”

“Being a guy
doesn’t excuse violent behaviour. You’re also an adult,” I huffed as he
chuckled softly.

“Yeah, but you
chicks just don’t get it. You think that bitching with your friends, rehashing
every word and talking endlessly in coffee shops about the exact same thing, is
the best way to work things through. Watch Dexter in the playground at school.
If he has a fall out with another boy, they’ll slug it out until one of them is
on the ground and ten minutes later they’ll be playing together again. Look at
the girls. They call each other names and work slowly to manipulate others to
do the same. It will still be going on days later. It’s drawn out, emotional
and hurtful.”

“So is a smack in
the face,” I interrupted as he laughed.

“Yeah, but it’s
short lived and you know your place in the pack again.”

“That’s a pretty
simplistic breakdown of the genders, not to mention highly inaccurate. I can
think of lots of examples where that just isn’t true. If it were, Roman, the
streets would be awash with people beating the crap out of each other and that
isn’t the case.”

He rolled his
eyes. “No it isn’t, because we’ve developed a more complex system of dealing
with one another. Believe me, most blokes would rather just fight their battles
and get it over with. We’re very simple creatures. Take tonight for example.
Charlie and I are snarling at one another, knowing that things are going to get
heated between us. Then Brad Johnson shows up and insults you, pissing us both
off. In that instant we had a common enemy, so we joined forces to protect you,
baby.”

“I don’t need
protecting from Brad Johnson,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Maybe not, but
taking a pop at our woman was a blow to Charlie’s ego and mine. So as men, we
needed to take a stand. Then Brad’s pack joined in, so Tyler and Lucas moved in
to even the score. Don’t be fooled by the expensive suits, platinum cufflinks
and handmade Italian shoes. Underneath, sweetheart, we’re all like dogs.”

“That’s a crazy
theory,” I said as he laughed, shaking his head.

“It isn’t and I’ve
been in the army with thousands of men. Believe me, this is true. Brad backed
down from the fight, which is him accepting we’re the alpha pack. I had no desire
to compound his misery. Now it’s all over and forgotten and we’re shaking hands
again.”

“Well, I’ll bear
it in mind, but I’m still mad,” I sighed as he laughed.

 
“Of course you are because you’re a woman. You
won’t be happy until me and Charlie are crawling on our knees, and you’ve
spoken to Jess about it. Then you’ll tell the tale to every woman whose number
exists in your cell phone that has ten minutes to listen and share their
opinion on it. Our way is much less hassle,” he said as I bit my lip and I
tried to stifle my smile. At least part of what he’d just said was true.

“In truth, baby,
it’s you that are the complicated species, not us. There are a few basic things
that drive a man,” he said, flashing his eyebrows. From the look on his face I
could guess the first.

 
“Go on then, Hunter, feel free to impart your
spectacular knowledge and wisdom on me,” I jeered as he laughed.