"Roman, I have to go," I laughed against the man’s chest, which he currently had me pressed up against. Roman refused to let me go, even as I protested against his chest.

I took to nipping at his neck in order to gain his attention, and was only met with a groan. Not releasing me from his strong hold, Roman only turned to bite at my neck in turn, and I gasped at the sensation that shot through me.

I was glad for the hospital giving Roman his own private room in that moment. Then again, I doubted they would have put a guest as important as Roman in a shared bedroom with some of the other patients. I found myself musing on the idea of Roman in a room with three other people and his bodyguards.

Roman had taken to hiding us both beneath the covers of the hospital bed, declaring that if we didn’t see the world, then it, in turn, did not see us. I had to tell him with a loud laugh that that wasn’t how the world worked.

"Why?" He groaned into my neck. I felt a pout forming there where he had previously been peppering kisses all over. I scrunched up my nose as he left kisses on every inch of my skin he had access to and grabbed his cheeks to stop him.

The face he made at me when I stopped him this way was funny to me and I couldn’t help but laugh at the face he made. Giving his pouting face one more kiss, I made a funny face at him in turn before answering.

"Um," I pulled away from him, "because it’s hospital policy. Visiting hours are over and I, unlike you, need sleep."

"You can sleep here." Roman told me, and I rolled my eyes at the way he seemed so adamant on me not leaving that night.

"We’ll both end up on the floor by morning," I told him matter-of-factly.

He only shrugged his shoulders and looked at me seriously as he said, "Then we’ll make a nest on the floor."

"Roman," I warned him softly.

It wasn’t like I wanted to leave him. If it were up to me, I would’ve brought in another spare bed and pulled it up next to him so that I could sleep here. But one of us had to be the adult right now, and, unfortunately, that responsibility fell onto me.

I hated it. I wanted to stay with him and spend as much time with him as he seemed to want to spend with me. Unfortunately, we didn’t always get what we wanted.

Sighing heavily, he pushed the blankets off us. I managed to get out of bed quickly before he was able to pull me back in. I gave the pouting man one last kiss before telling him I would be back in the morning to check up on him.

The doctor had given us a date for Roman to be let out. We were both, him more than I for obvious reasons, excited to leave the confines of both the hospital and its small bed.

Giving Roman one last wave goodbye, I blew a kiss to him before stepping out of the hospital room and then through the front doors.

I refused the offer of one of the guards who had been stationed outside of Roman’s room to come with me home, and told him it wasn’t more than a fifteen-minute drive to the mansion.

The ride proved to be even less time than that, as I arrived precisely ten minutes later and texted Roman that I had arrived at the property safely and in one piece.

Roman: 18:03

Come back.

I laughed quietly at his childish text and rolled my eyes as I got out of the car.

Me: 8:04

If you go to sleep, I’ll be back quicker.

Roman 8:05

If you come back right now, you’ll be back quicker than that.

While walking past the main door to the mansion, I noticed the bodyguard that had always been stationed there was missing. If I remembered correctly, his name was Andre. He was a tall man with dark hair that was greying at the roots.

Shaking my head of any bad thoughts, I surmised that he might have just gone to take a look around the property and focused my attention back on my phone. Roman was sending me a glorious amount of crying emojis and images.

I shook my head at his antics.

A few months ago, I would never have guessed a man like Roman was capable of being so clingy and forward with his emotions as he was right now. Then again, I doubted even Roman knew he was capable of such a range of emotions either.

I sent him a funny face back before I closed my phone and started heading up to my bedroom. The heels I had worn, although not too bad to walk in, were beginning to hurt my feet from the way I had been wearing them all day.

I quickly took them off and went to the kitchen for some water before I made my way to the main bedroom. I decided to check in on Lori and Lauren to see if anyone was there. To my surprise, the house seemed quiet.

Besides the humming of the wind that had begun to howl outside and the open windows that cast a chill throughout the house, it was quiet. A small voice in my head said that it was somehow too eerily quiet.

But I banished that thought from my mind.

This was Roman’s home. No one would even dare set a foot here with evil intent. Never mind that, but guards were patrolling the area 24/7 and stationed at each gate and wall available.

I was safe here.

Finally making my way to the bedroom, I went to the closet immediately and began to set my things back in their place. Grabbing a fresh set of pajamas, I took them with me to the bathroom and started the shower.

The water was warm on my body. I sighed deeply as it washed away all the worries of the day. I was glad for the news the doctor had given to both Roman and me in that hospital room. Soon, he would be able to come back home, and the case would be closed with regards to the Auction House.

Then after... After that, Roman and I could finally try to have a normal life together.

A smile stretched across my face as I let myself imagine it. Roman and I had had a somewhat, although blissful, strained relationship. No... Maybe strained was the wrong word. I loved him and he loved me, but the consequences of those emotions seemed somehow forced on us.

If Roman and I were to continue living with each other as a married couple, I wanted a real wedding with a real honeymoon. I wanted to invite my friends and family—the people I loved. I wanted them to be there and witness the love I had grown to share with Roman with no strings attached.

No ulterior motives. Just Roman and I.

My skin tingled as I began thinking about all the memories we would make together without the constant threat of being shot at or kidnapped or threatened with our lives.

After I got out of the shower, I quickly dried myself off, applied my lotions and creams, and put on my pajamas.

A shriek escaped me, however, the minute I entered my room. A strong arm wrapped itself around my torso. Another arm caught my throat in a tight hold, and a hand clamped over my mouth with a cloth in its grasp.

Quickly realizing what was happening, I tried to keep my eyes wide open and halted my breathing altogether as I struggled against the man’s harsh grip.

No matter how hard I kicked and screamed, it seemed the man who was currently trying to drug and what seemed like incapacitate me with the cloth over my mouth was much stronger than I was.

He held me against his hard body as I struggled. Eventually, my lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen. Still refusing to give in so easily, I managed to pull my head back and nock the man square in the nose.

"B*tch!" I heard from behind me as I scurried away from the man, coughing and heaving as I tried to catch my breath.

My eyes went wide as another figure appeared. Through my bleary eyes, I was barely able to make out the person’s face as they forced yet another cloth over my face. This time, I was unable to hold my breath for as long as I had and breathed in.

Unsurprisingly there was a different smell than just cotton on the cloth that was forced over my nose and mouth. My mind became fuzzy with sleep.