Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 21429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
I shrug, take a sip of the whiskey. “I suppose so…”
Roman takes a long sip of his drink, finishing it off. The ice cubes clink in his cup as he sets it down, and an uncomfortable silence lands over the room as he reclines in his chair and levels his eyes at me. I’m a big guy—6’3’’ and 215 pounds, but Roman is intimidating as hell, and it’s not just because he’s Skylar’s father. If he wasn’t a lawyer, he could easily have a career as a mob boss.
The silence hangs over us for so long I’m starting to feel like he’s waiting for me to say something. But what? This is so unbelievably awkward. I don’t even know what instigated this.
It has to be about Skylar, right? But why now? Why right in the middle of movie night? Why when we were right about to share what could have been our last intimate moment together for a long time?
“How much does your job at my firm mean to you?” Roman finally asks, breaking the terrible silence.
The questions shocks me. I was not expecting that.
“Uh, a lot,” I stammer like an idiot. “It means a ton to me. I can’t thank you enough for taking me in.”
“Pays well,” he says, completely matter of fact.
Is he testing me?
“I’m more than happy with my salary, Roman.”
“Seeing as how I’ve been unfair with you,” he says. “Bringing you here and then immediately sending you back to Los Angeles, I’ve decided to double your pay.”
“Double it?” Roman is already paying me a hefty sum. To double it would basically kick me straight up into high society.
Roman grins, pouring himself another drink. “That’s right. It does come with one condition, though.”
I have to swallow hard and take a breath before I can even respond. With this raise, I’ll be making almost as much as the partners. At my age, that’s unheard of.
“And what’s that, sir?”
Roman raises his glass. “That you stop seeing my daughter.”
I freeze.
Roman’s words hit me like a knock-out punch—the follow up blow in a one-two combination. First he tells me about the salary raise, throws me off my guard, then hits me with this.
So he does know…
I don’t answer right away. I just look at him, holding his gaze and trying not to show weakness despite the fact that my heart is in my throat and pounding like I’ve just run a marathon.
I wasn’t prepared for this. Christ, he’s good.
Roman takes a confident sip from his glass. Whatever emotions he’s feeling right now, discomfort definitely isn’t one of them. In fact, from the look in his eyes, I’d almost peg him for…amused.
Is he screwing with me?
Well, I guess at this point the gloves are off. There’s no point in pretending any longer. If he knows, this means Kathleen told him what’s going on. My hidden camera theory definitely isn’t true, or he’d be trying to pound my face into the ground right now, not offering me more money to back off his daughter.
No…if I were a betting man, which I’m not, I’d say he’s testing me right now.
He’s offering me something most men my age would never turn down so he can see how serious I am about Skylar. If I accept, take the cash, and head back to LA, he’ll assume I was just playing her the whole time. He’ll fire me anyway, and there’s a good chance that will rip this family apart.
The realization causes a sense of relief to wash over me and a smile to form on my lips. Roman, reading my reaction completely wrong, raises his glass in a toast.
“I see a shiny red Ferrari in your future, boy!”
Shaking my head, I push my glass across the desk toward him. “I don’t.”
Roman’s expression betrays him ever so slightly. He cocks his head to the side. “Oh no?”
“I love Skylar, sir,” I say, leaning in. “I’ve loved her ever since that night when we first met. I don’t know if you felt this way when you met Kathleen, but the only way I can explain it is that it felt as though someone out there—God, or maybe just the universe—made her just for me. She makes me feel complete, whole, like my life just isn’t right when I’m not with her. So I’m sorry, sir, but all the money in the world couldn’t get me to leave her. Not even if you offered me twenty million dollars a year.”
Roman’s eyes narrow as he looks at me.
There it is. I poured out my guts. I’ve laid it all on the line. There’s nothing more I can say. It’s a speech I wish Skylar could have heard, that I know my mom would understand and probably would have made her cry, but will Roman get it? Will he buy it or will this be the moment it all comes crashing down?