Roman: Book 2 (The Hunter Brothers Series) (27 page)

“Oh yeah,” he said
as I nodded my head and he wrapped his arms even tighter around me.

“Yeah, Carpe
Diem,” I smiled as he chuckled softly.

“Seize the day.
Are you trying to tell me something, Chas? That saying is often misinterpreted
to justify reckless behaviour. I assume that’s not what you’re suggesting,” he
said as I spun around to face him, suddenly wishing I hadn’t when I saw those
plump pink lips smirking and only millimetres from mine. God, this was hard.

“I was not
suggesting any reckless behaviour, Charlie Hunter; I was just telling you that
it’s the only Latin I know. For the record, I know from experience that living
by that mantra can land a girl in a whole heap of trouble.” I forced myself to
turn around as he spooned me again.

“I think I’d like
to hear about your naughty little adventures,” he whispered against my ear, his
hot breath sending a delicious shiver bursting down my spine. I was pretty
certain he wouldn’t. It was the day I’d met Roman.

“Behave,” I
chastised him, almost wishing he wouldn’t, and trying to ignore the cock that
seemed to be growing against my behind by the second as he laughed softly.
There was one last thing I had to say. “Charlie,” I whispered as he nuzzled his
head against mine breathing deeply. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so safe.” He
responded by kissing my hair and nuzzling even closer, and eventually I drifted
peacefully into a long, uninterrupted sleep.

I woke in the
morning relaxed and warm, wrapped in the arms of Charlie, whose hands had
wondered to my breasts in the night and his very solid dick was thick through
his boxer shorts and every inch the morning monster I’d grown used to with
Roman. What was it with these Hunter men? They seemed to have it all, and what
was worse I was seriously attracted to more than one of them. A girl couldn’t
beat herself up about that too much. Physically they were glorious male
specimens.

Instinctively I
knew Charlie was awake. “Do you want to take your knee out of my back,” I said
as he laughed, disappointed as he rolled away, pulling his hands behind his
head.

“Sorry, Chas; just
give me a minute,” he smiled as I turned to face him, already missing the
warmth as I snuggled in beside him.

He cupped his
muscular arm around me and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
I wasn’t like this with my other male friends, but Charlie and I were
different. Our relationship was unique and he was truly someone to be
treasured. “Thank you for staying, I really appreciate it. I can’t believe I
slept like a baby after everything that happened. It was blissful,” I smiled,
shielding my morning breath with the covers as he gazed at me curiously.

“Blissful, Chas?
It was fucking torture, and I’m glad you slept because I couldn’t. I don’t
think I’ve ever been so....” His voice trailed off before he finished his
sentence. He jumped out of bed before I could even ask what he’d been about to
say as I watched him dress. “I need to run, sweetheart, but I’ll send a team
around later to secure the place,” he said, moving to kiss my forehead quickly.

“Can’t I even get
you a coffee?” I asked, climbing out of bed as he looked me up and down.

“Where are the
socks?” he grinned.

“I kicked them off
in the night, I was hot,” I smiled as he chuckled gently.

“You certainly
were,” he winked, taking off just like that as I stood there silently shaking
my head.

Later I would
clean the apartment, ridding it of the powder they’d used to fingerprint,
hoping Charlie’s team would secure the place so I could try and get my life
back to normal. He hadn’t been here long, probably barely got inside, but
everything seemed dirty and tarnished and I felt somehow violated. Everyone had
a right to feel safe in their home, and up until now I had always taken that
for granted, pulled from my thoughts by my ringing phone and a panicked
sounding Jess.

I filled her in on
the events of the night and she was crying down the line, worried sick for me
and apologising profusely for not being around more. “It’s not your fault, Sis,
and I’m glad you weren’t here. Can you imagine if he’d woken Dexter? I shudder
to think. I felt better when Charlie came and I’m going to clean the place up.
Hopefully once it’s secured again I can get back to normal,” I tried to
reassure her although I wasn’t even certain I believed that myself.

“I’ll spend more
time there,” she said as I ended the call, letting Charlie’s security team get
to work. He had certainly pulled out all the stops as the neighbours gazed on
curiously.

Chapter Twenty One

I picked up my
ringing phone, not recognising the number.
 
“Hey, sweetheart, I’m just calling to see how you’re doing after the
break-in.” I sat back in the chair, curling my feet underneath me and smiling
at the familiar voice that was laced with concern. It was the last thing I’d
been expecting.

“I’m okay, a
little shaken. Did Charlie tell you?” I asked and he was silent for a second.

“No, I’m in South
America, I got a notification on my phone,” he said as I frowned. What the hell
did that mean?

“What kind of
notification, Roman?” I asked as he chuckled softly. He probably wouldn’t tell
me.

“I have a link to
the police database relating to certain people. If anything is recorded, it
flags up on my cell phone,” he said as I gasped.

“Why the hell do
you have me flagged?” I asked, utterly confused and wondering what other tabs
he was keeping. He was laughing gently.

“I tag all the
people I care about, baby. Just because I’m not there it doesn’t mean I’m not
watching out for you all,” he said and the admission warmed my heart.

“Wow. What exactly
is it that you do for a living again?” I smiled as he laughed wholeheartedly.

“I told you, I’m a
negotiator.” Well that covered all bases and I was still none the wiser,
deciding to probe deeper while he seemed in the mood for honesty.

“What are you
negotiating in South America?” I asked, biting my lip to stifle my laugh.

“Right now I’m
negotiating the price of a pretty necklace I think would look nice on you, with
a particularly obtuse street merchant,” he said as I raised my eyebrows,
suddenly hearing a lot of what sounded like unfriendly shouting in the
background.

“Is that what that
God awful racket is?” I asked, knowing full well it wasn’t and wondering what
the hell was going on at the other end of the phone.

“Something like
that,” he laughed. “Hang on.” He went quiet for a second and the voices faded.
“That’s better. Now where were we?”

“We were on the
subject of your very secretive and clandestine negotiation job,” I smiled as he
laughed again.

“Were we? I
thought we were on the subject of your burglary. How are you really feeling?”
he asked as I sighed.

“It was awful,
Roman. I thought it was you at first. When I came through to the lounge and
realised it wasn’t, I freaked out. I don’t feel safe. I can’t believe I was
actually half expecting you to turn up in the middle of the night.”

“If I’d known that
I would have done,” he said as my stomach did a happy little flip. We’d had our
goodbye and the admission surprised me. “Do you want me to send a security team
over to sort out the house?” he asked quickly before I could say anything else.

“No, thank you. I
really appreciate the offer but Charlie did it already. He came over and stayed
with me and sent a team round this morning. I’ve got new locks on the windows
and doors, CCTV and a whole lot of other paraphernalia. It bet it will take me
ten minutes just to get out,” I laughed.

“Charlie stayed
over?” His voice was a curious mixture of surprise and concern.

“Yeah. He was out
with Scarlett, but I didn’t know who else to call. I couldn’t be alone, I was
too frightened.”

“You could have
called me,” he said as I frowned. “I told you to call if you need me.”

“You’re in South
America, Roman,” I smiled although, in fairness, I hadn’t known that then.

“It doesn’t
fucking matter where I am. If you’re in trouble you call me. That’s why I gave
you my number, Chas,” he said sounding suddenly annoyed.

“Okay, next time I
will, although I’m hoping there won’t be a next time. If Charlie hadn’t been
here I wouldn’t have got a wink of sleep. Burglary really fucks with your
feelings of security.”

“Did he stay in
your bed with you?” Roman asked as I frowned.

“Yes, but just as
friends obviously,” I said as he went silent for a moment.

“What were you
wearing?” he asked. What?

“What the hell
does that have to do with anything?” I asked as he laughed.

“Just tell me,
Chas, I want to know,” he said as I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t laugh. I
was wearing a crop top and shorts with Minnie Mouse on, and a not very sexy
pair of scrunched up bed socks,” I said as he groaned audibly.

“You didn’t have
your hair in pigtails and start calling him Daddy, did you?” he asked as I
gasped.

“No I did not,” I
said indignantly as I felt my cheeks heating and he was chuckling in that low
gravelly sounds that pulled at my insides. Sexy bastard. “That little stunt was
exclusive to you, Roman. In fact, most things I did that weekend were exclusive
to you.” It was true. I’d been less sexually inhibited then than I ever had
before. I wasn’t sure if it was the Carpe Diem, the dangerous nature of the bad
bastard on the other end of the line, or just because I’d abandoned my list for
once, but one thing was certain; I had definitely enjoyed it.

“Glad to hear it,
baby, because some things are just special, and that was,” he said as my cheeks
flared again, a delicious little shiver running through me at the memory. He
was right about that. “Did he try it on?”

“No, of course
not,” I gasped. “He’s with Scarlett, Roman.”

“I bet he tried to
feel your tits,” he laughed suddenly before I got the chance to say another
word.

“His hands moved a
little during the night,” I giggled.

“Lucky bastard.
He’s always been a tit man.”

“I know, he told
me in the tree house.”

“He took you to
the tree house?” Roman asked seriously.

“Yes, why?” I
asked, taken aback by the tone of his voice.

“Because it’s a no
chick zone,” he chuckled softly.

“Are you serious?
I rather enjoyed the variety of reading material on offer up there. It cheered
me up.”

“Why did you need
cheering up?” he asked as my eyebrows flew up in shock.

“Because you’d
bloody well abandoned me and I was upset.” The hurt that day had been real, but
I felt significantly better about it now.

“I am really sorry
about that, baby, you know I regret it,” he said, warming my heart. “But it’s
getting clearer now. He took you up to that tree house to make me look bad. I
bet he told you all that porn was mine and I was unreliable and untrustworthy.
He probably even tried to kiss you, didn’t he?” he asked as I laughed. I was
saying nothing.

“He fucking did.
Sly bastard”

“What the hell are
you talking about, Roman?” I asked as he laughed.

“He used to do
that all the time when I pulled a girl he fancied. He’s got form, Chas.
Honestly. He did it to Joanne McVey, Shay Simpkin, and this bird who worked on
Saturdays in the chippy when we were kids. He played you, baby,” he said as I
shook my head. “He wants me out of the picture.”

“You sound like a
twelve year old and he didn’t need to get you out of the picture, you’d done
that all by yourself, Roman Hunter,” I quipped, still laughing.

“Mark my words; he
wants me gone so he can make his move. The question is do you want me out of
the picture?” he asked suddenly serious and I swallowed hard, not sure what he
was asking and why. We’d said our goodbye, sexually at least. He hadn’t offered
more, and I had come to terms with the fact there wouldn’t be any. It was a
short term, sexually glorious fuck-a-thon with the beautiful and charismatic
Roman Hunter. At least I thought it was. All of a sudden my stomach was
spinning in anxious knots.

The shouting
suddenly started up in the background before I had the chance to give it any
more thought, followed by what sounded like the deafening whirr of helicopter
blades. “Roman,” I gasped, in fear and shock.

“Sorry, babe, I
need to go, I’ll see you soon. Call me if you need me,” he shouted, sounding
further and further away as my eyes widened in horror.

“Be careful,” I
muttered quickly as the line went dead and my heart was in my mouth.
 
What the hell was all that about. I mulled
over what he said, not even sure what he was offering, if anything at all. He
was already out of the picture; he was in frigging South America, and mixed up
in all kinds of danger from the sounds of that call. Roman Hunter was certainly
complex.

I had to put them
both out of my mind and sort out my life. Between my shifts at work, I cleaned
the apartment, scrubbing and polishing, washing and dusting and it still felt
tarnished. The windows were secure and I had a new front door with a variety of
locks, CCTV outside and a state-of-the-art alarm system. I still felt uneasy,
but certain that would fade, looking forward to tonight and the chance to
escape my little drama and inject some fun into my schedule.