Roman: Book 2 (The Hunter Brothers Series)

by L. J. Dee

  “Well, you know all about me now, and I don’t know anything about you, Chastity,” he smiled, eyes smouldering as I bit my lip under the intensity of his gaze. He was like the dark to Charlie’s light; not just in colouring, but in his whole demeanour and attitude. Where Charlie was funny and sexy, charming girls from their panties with his charisma; Roman was mysterious with an undeniable edge about him. It was no less thrilling to observe as I shifted again in my seat.

  Lucas stepped in. “I’m sorry, Roman, I haven’t even introduced you all yet. This is Jess, my girlfriend, and her sister, Chas.” I could feel Charlie looking between me and his brother, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Eventually he stood, pacing the room in frustration until he picked up a cigar from the velvet lined mahogany box on the table and made his way through the patio doors.

  Lucas and Tyler glanced at each other, clearly worried about Charlie’s state of mind. Roman was still staring at me as I swallowed hard. “I’ll go and make sure he’s okay,” I mumbled, walking towards the patio and glancing back at Roman who was watching me closely.

  “Hey,” I smiled, taking a seat next to Charlie on one of the cream cushioned outdoor chairs, but he didn’t return my smile. He was deep in thought and gazing out over the acres of beautifully manicured stepped gardens, taking a deep draw on his cigar. “What are you going to do about Scarlett?” I asked as he turned his head slowly to face me, blowing out a soft stream of smoke that dispersed in the air between us. He looked as hurt and regretful as I had ever seen him, soft full lips set in an uncharacteristically stern line.

  “I fucked up, Chas,” he said, shaking his head as I rested my hand reassuringly on his arm. It was agonising to watch. He had buried his father only a few hours ago. They should be sitting around reminiscing about the good times, sharing tales over brandy and helping one another through the grief. They hadn’t had the chance. Roman’s revelations had cast a whole new light on each of their lives, and for Charlie in particular, had opened a Pandora’s Box of hidden feelings, hurt and regret.

  “I didn’t even give her the chance to tell me her version, or ask her about it. I can’t believe Dad lied like that,” he sighed, taking another long drag of the cigar. “The worst thing is, I can’t even ask him about it or get an explanation. Scarlett isn’t responsible for what her fucking father did and that’s if any of it is even true,” he said as I frowned.

  “It sounded true to me, Charlie,” I said as anger gripped his features and I could see how much he was struggling to believe it, touching his arm again as he tipped back his head, looking skyward and taking another drag of that cigar. His guilt was palpable and all I wanted was to take his pain away. I had never seen Charlie this way and my heart was aching for him. There was only one thing he could do to try and rectify this, as much as I didn’t like the thought. I knew how that relationship had affected him, it was the main reason he was determined not to get involved again. He was still raw and still reeling; only it seemed that his ex and his brother hadn’t been to blame after all. “Speak to her now, explain what’s happened. You can’t undo what’s past, but you can offer an apology,” I said softly as he smiled gently.

  “It won’t do any good. Jesus, Chas, I behaved appallingly.” I shook my head.

  “You’re being too hard on yourself. Roman left, and you had no reason to think your father would be so deceitful,” I offered supportively.

  “You don’t understand, babe,” he replied sadly, looking back out across the lush green lawns, the fountains and the beautiful lodge by the lake that stood in the distance.

  “Then explain it and I’ll try and help. At the very least I can offer you advice from a girl’s perspective,” I said as he took a deep breath.

  “She was head over heels in love with me. If I’m honest with myself, part of me wondered for a second if he was lying. It just seemed so implausible because of the way she acted around me, but I trusted my father implicitly and had no reason to doubt him. If he’d have said Tyler or Lucas I would have reacted differently, but Roman....well...he’s a puzzle and the truth is; I believed he might be capable of it.” I was desperate to ask more about his beautiful brother, but now was not the time.

  “I know how Roman is with women; I’ve seen it often enough. I’ve yet to meet one who hasn’t fallen for him when he turns on the charm, and even when he doesn’t. It’s always been the same and I can’t really explain it. It’s as if he radiates a strange magnetism. You’ve experienced it yourself, Chas,” he said, throwing me a look that knocked the breath from my lungs. He was right, and not remotely happy about it.

  “Go on,” I urged, deciding that getting off the subject of Roman might be best all round. “When Dad told me what he’d seen, I ended it. I called her and told her it was over. I didn’t let her speak or reply, just announced that and cut her off. She phoned me relentlessly, came to the house, the office and my apartment. Her messages got more and more desperate, and I needed to find a way to get her off my back,” he said, sighing regretfully.

  “What did you do?” I asked, watching as he shook his head, blowing out a long plume of smoke.

  “The only thing I knew that would stop her contacting me. I hit her with the lowest and most humiliating blow I could think of,” he said, staring at the floor, absorbed in shame. I was intrigued to know what it was, gazing at him as he turned to look at me. The Charlie I knew didn’t seem capable of cruelty towards a woman he cared about. It couldn’t be that bad, surely.

  “Have you heard of the Barbie sisters?” he asked as I nodded. They were blonde topless model-types, infamous for threesomes with celebrities and appeared endlessly in the papers in kiss and tell stories. My hands flew to my mouth in shock. “I fucked them and told them to go to the press with an expose. Hunter Industries was big news at the time. Lucas and I were out to show the world we meant business. Everyone wanted to know more about us. Lucas is a private person and they weren’t getting a story from him, so I utilised the situation to humiliate my ex and give them what they wanted,” he sighed.

  “Holy shit, Charlie, that’s harsh,” I gasped, wishing I could suck back the words as soon as I’d said them. Pain engulfed his features once again.

  “I know. Everyone saw it; her friends, her staff, probably even her dad. She was hurting and raw and I put her through hell.”

  “She didn’t even know that it finished because you thought she’d slept with Roman?” I asked, feeling all of a sudden quite sorry for the woman I didn’t know, who had gone through this agonising devastation even though she’d done nothing wrong.

  “No. I mean, I assumed she’d know why we’d finished, because I thought she was guilty of it. We never had the conversation. I couldn’t face hearing what I thought would be just more lies. She must have been so confused, Chas. She had no idea why I ended it, and then I’m all over the papers breaking her heart for screwing the Barbie’s. I even made an on record comment that it was the best night of my life. I was hurting and I wanted to stick the knife in,” he sighed as I shook my head.

  “Shit, Charlie,” I said, slightly stunned at his admission as he stared at me long and hard.

  “What should I do?” he asked as I thought about it for a moment. Roman had called her a sociopath and Silus had clearly hated her. The last thing I wanted was to push Charlie back with someone his family didn’t like, but the poor woman deserved an explanation at the very least.

  “You need to talk to her,” I said, placing my hand on his arm. “It won’t be easy and she may not want to hear it, but you have to call her and tell her everything. It’s the least you can do.”

  He nodded his head. “I don’t know whether Roman wants to share that he’s Everett’s kid,” he sighed as I thought about it for a moment.

  “Then don’t tell her that. Just tell her you don’t know why your father lied. If he hated Everett as much as you all say he did, then she’ll probably believe he wanted her out of your life just because she’s Everett’s daughter. Roman will
have to decide whether he wants to tell her he’s her half brother, and that will depend on whether he wants to tell Everett he’s actually his son,” I said as Charlie nodded.

  “What’s Scarlett like?” I asked, desperate to know more about Charlie’s mysterious ex, and Romans half sister.

  “She’s unique, a bit of an acquired taste” he quipped, turning to face me. That didn’t sound altogether a positive thing as a small smirk curved on the corner of his mouth. “She’s adopted, so she doesn’t look anything like Roman. She’s a redhead with green eyes and just about as spirited as they come,” he grinned. “She gets a hard time though. There’s a really sweet side to Scarlett that no one ever sees. It’s as though she has a hard shell that she shows to the world, but underneath she’s a different person. Most people just see the feisty ball-breaking bitch,” he laughed softly.

  “You like feisty women,” I winked as he laughed, flashing his eyebrows and putting his arm around me, sending a soft warm shiver down my spine.

  “I certainly do, Chas,” he flirted as I kissed his cheek.

  “Go and call her. It will make you feel better,” I said as he stood, crunching out his cigar on the flagged stone and making his way back inside. I sighed deeply, wondering whether sending Charlie back into the arms of his ex might have been my worst idea yet.

  Roman was staring at me as I made my way through the patio doors. Electricity shot through my skin just from the penetrating glare of his eyes as I shuddered, wondering how delectable it would feel if that glorious specimen actually touched me. Tyler glanced up at me, tearing me from my wayward thoughts, his furrowed brow betraying his concern. “Where’s Charlie gone?” he asked as I glanced at Lucas who looked equally as worried as his brother.

  “He’s gone to call Scarlett to explain what happened,” I said as Roman came to sit beside me, my body responding immediately to the proximity. Fuck, he even smelled of testosterone.

  “What’s he going to tell her?” he asked, turning to face me. My breath hitched as his thigh rubbed mine, gazing deeply into my eyes and studying me far too intensely. I forced myself to look away. Charlie was right. He did have a strange magnetism and it was taking me all my effort to breathe as every eye in the room landed on me, waiting for answers.

  “He won’t tell her that you’re Everett’s biological son, or her brother. He’s just going to tell her why it ended and that he’s sorry about the Barbie’s,” I said, glancing back at Roman, whose eyes were twinkling with amusement, a small smile playing around his mouth.

  “The Barbie’s?” he asked, and it suddenly dawned on me that Roman didn’t know. He’d taken off and this part of the story was as much news to him as it had been to me.

  “Yeah. There are these girls, they call them the Barbie sisters,” I said as he smirked.

  “Yeah, I know the Barbie’s.” From the look on his face he clearly knew them well, intimately even. My stomach lurched in a sudden illogical jealousy that nestled in the pit of my gut as I tried to keep the annoyance from my face. It was a completely unwarranted reaction that I hadn’t anticipated. I pulled myself together quickly.

  “Well after he found out what you did, or at least what he thought you did, he screwed them to get Scarlett off his back. They went to the press with their story,” I said as Romans mouthed formed a delicious looking ‘O’ and he sat back, momentarily shocked before he burst out laughing.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, the humiliation of that must have absolutely crucified her,” he said as I stared at him, wide eyed.

  “Yes it probably did, so it’s not really funny, Roman,” I said seriously as his smile faded, gazing into my eyes. I swallowed hard as another surge of electricity raced through me and I tried to maintain my composure.

  “You don’t know Scarlett, Chastity. She deserves everything she gets. The woman is an out and out bitch and she doesn’t even know it. She thinks her behaviour is normal. She might not have lied about this, but she lied about everything else while they were a couple,” he said as I frowned, looking across at Tyler who was nodding in agreement.

  “Do you think they’ll get back together, Lucas?” I asked quickly as he shrugged.

  “I don’t know, Chas, but he’s not in a good place. He’s filled with regret and remorse, feeling guilty and in mourning and he won’t be thinking straight. It would be better if he didn’t do anything too hasty where Scarlett’s concerned,” he said as my stomach sank. “She had a hold over Charlie that I’ve never seen before. In spite of all the warnings we gave him, and everything she did, he couldn’t see it. He only ever saw the good in her, and believe me, that’s not easy.”

  The more I was hearing, the more concerned I felt. “Surely she wouldn’t take him back after what he did to her,” I said as Lucas laughed coldly.

  “Don’t be surprised. When it comes to Charlie, Scarlett doesn’t behave rationally. He called it love, but it wasn’t. It was unhealthy, bordering on obsession if you ask me,” Lucas said as I blew out a long, slow breath.

  “You look worried,” whispered Roman and I wasn’t sure what the comment meant, keen to let him know exactly where I stood.

  “Of course I’m worried, he’s my friend,” I whispered back as he cast me a narrow eyed glance, pushing the firm muscles of his thighs closer to mine and leaning into my ear. My skin bristled with excitement at the contact.

  “Are you sure that’s all he is?” he growled softly as I nodded mutely, strangely overcome by the closeness and feeling suddenly bereft as he moved away. He strode to the other side of the room, chuckling gently as he poured himself another brandy. I risked a quick look at my sister who flashed her eyebrows momentarily, grateful that apparently no one else had noticed the interchange.

  “To Dad,” Roman smiled, lifting his glass as we all turned to him, slightly shocked at the sudden toast. “He may have been one almighty bastard, but he was our almighty bastard,” he said as everyone raised their glasses, silently thoughtful. Roman took a huge glug of his brandy, leaving the room as I followed him, moments later, to try and find Charlie.

  The house was a maze, huge and elegant, stately and beautifully furnished as I made my way from room to darkened room, listening for any sign of life. What Lucas had said worried me, but even more than that, I needed a few minutes to gather my wits.

  Roman Hunter had me seriously off my game and it unnerved me. I never behaved like that around a guy, but it was involuntary; a mix of emotions and physical reactions as powerful as they were intimidating, and the rush was addictive. Ordinarily I would have work, the gym, shopping or coffee with my girlfriends to still my raging hormones, give myself a mental slap and get back on an even keel. This weekend I wouldn’t. I was trying to convince myself that was a bad thing, but there was a little voice with a very big message currently at play in my head.

  ‘Four days in a house with Roman Hunter, imagine what could happen – woohoo!’

  I don’t know where my mind dwelling horny little pixie had sprung from, but I could do to squish it before I brought a whole heap of trouble on myself. I could barely believe my eyes when he’d walked through that door, the prodigal son with the dangerous glint in his eye, and my reaction had been no less extreme than it had in that graveyard. Then there was Charlie to think about; and I was – endlessly.

  I gasped suddenly, pushed by firm hands into a darkened room that looked like a lounge. The outline of the furniture was bathed in soft moonlight as my back hit the wall. Heat radiated from the tall, dark figure standing over me and pinning me in place with his hands at either side of my head.

  “Are you looking for me?” he asked, the low deep voice cutting through the darkness and sending those familiar shivers through my skin as I gazed up at him, swallowing hard.

  “I was looking for Charlie,” I said, my breathy voice barely recognisable as he pushed his body closer, drowning me in his masculine scent as my heart somersaulted in my chest.

  “It’s not Charlie you want, Chastity,” he said, soft f
irm lips moving closer to mine as my brain raced along with my heart and I tried to gather my wits and my senses. Right now, if this man asked, I doubted I’d have known my own name.

  His face was millimetres away and I was melting under the dark, intoxicating spell of Roman Hunter, being driven by a desire that was laced with a lust so powerful I couldn’t ever remember feeling this way before. I’d laughed at Jess and her thunderbolt theories, but this had to be close.

  “You should know I came back here for you,” he said, his voice dripping with seduction as I shivered in anticipation. Roman was an enigma, a complex puzzle that had every cell in my brain screaming for me to run, while my body stood captivated by that mesmerising gaze, pulling me in, even as I tried to step away. He was unreachable, unobtainable, untouchable, only he wasn’t. He was centimetres away, and right now touching him was all I longed to do. Put my lips to his and see just how good that forbidden danger tasted.

  It wouldn’t last, I knew that. Even here, where the bonds were unshakable and the love for him was so palpable you could feel it, he was distant. But those incredible blue eyes were calling to me so enticingly that I couldn’t look away.

  “We will happen, Chastity,” he said, with such forceful conviction that I knew he was right, whether I wanted to accept it or not. Ordinarily I’d be coming back with a cutting one liner, belittling his enormous ego or undermining his efforts. It was my speciality. But just as it was in the graveyard, my mind was blank, my tongue rendered incapable of response and sticking to the roof of my increasingly dry mouth.

  I didn’t want to argue. I wanted him to be right, and every inch of my shivering skin was only betraying just how much. My palms were sweating, my heart hammering through my chest in an autonomic response I was powerless to control. All thought evaporated as I closed my eyes and held my breath, waiting for the inevitable train wreck I knew I was inviting into my life. When I finally opened them, he was gone.