Undone (21 page)

Roan couldn’t say he was really surprised to learn that Nicholas Grayson had paid him a visit. Matter of fact, Roan had been expecting it for weeks now. He’d noticed once or twice the unmarked vehicle that had trailed him since he started seeing Sophie. Her stepfather was keeping tabs
on him, Roan could understand that, so he hadn’t called attention to it. Whatever helped the man sleep at night. Roan had nothing to hide and aside from his friends with benefits relationship with Sienna, Roan was an open book. He looked over at the card, flipped it back and forth. The name N. Grayson was written in bold white font, standing out against the blackness of the card. With the way things were going with Sophie, Roan knew if Nicholas hadn’t initiated the contact, he certainly would have.

“You in trouble or something?” He sounded casual in his inquiry but Roan could tell the man was worried.

“Nah, nothing like that,” he reassured him, clapping David’s shoulder for good measure. “It’s just her old man. Her family is very protective of her. Her father just wants to make sure I’m not a complete fuck up.” Roan needed to assure Nicholas that they were both on the same page. Sophie’s welfare was now his number one priority.

“She worth the trouble?” 

Roan’s gaze veered to the truck where he could see Sophie playing with the radio dial, bobbing her head slightly to the song that was playing. She was wearing that red knitted hat again. Her favorite. The one with the stupid red fuzzy ball on top. He’d teased her several times about it already, but she’d simply given him that “Sophie stare” and he’d been impelled to kiss her senseless. She was cute without even meaning to be sometimes. Beneath the blasé exterior, beneath the false bravado, there was vulnerability, a sweet shyness about her that he adored. She was tough when she needed to be, Teflon skin with a hell of a lot of pride, and he admired that ferocity that burned like a flame inside her. When he’d decided to bring her over to the Dragos’s house, Roan had been confident in that she would charm them as easily as she’d charmed him. And he was glad to have been proven right. Maria was practically planning their wedding and David, hard as he’d been to read, had occasionally laughed at the jokes she’d made and not out of politeness either. In the three years that Roan had known David, the man rarely ever did anything he didn’t want to.

Roan hadn’t realized until just now how important it’d been for them to like Sophie and vice versa.

“Yeah,” he finally answered, “she’s worth a lot more actually.”

“Well, if it’s any conciliation, I think she’s good for you. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

Roan nodded with a grin. “Thanks, old man.” He laughed heartily knowing how much David hated it when he called him that. “I’ll see you Tuesday.”

“Don’t be late.”

Sophie was lost to how much time had passed, but with the verve of their passion having dulled to a soothing hum she lay in the silence comforted by the even rise and fall of his broad chest. In the darkness she listened to him breathing, sleep having overtaken him a little bit ago. She watched him, his handsome features reposed in sleep, and reached out to touch his bristly jaw, liking the unshaven look on him. She’d given her virginity to this man, had practically begged him to take it, and he’d been exquisite, far exceeding any of her expectations. Color rose to her cheeks at the thought of all they’d done since that fateful night. He’d taken her to heights of sheer delirium and back again. Her fingers whispered along his beautiful mouth, touching lips that had given her the most intimate of kisses, devouring her with feverish appetite.

What now, she wondered? What happened now that they’d taken their fledgling friendship to this level? Would the other shoe drop and reveal Roan’s true intentions? Was there truly an ulterior motive to this or did he sincerely care about her? The questions were innumerable and the answers elusive. The only thing Sophie did know was how she felt when she was with him. He made her feel cherished, made her feel like she
was worth something. He quieted the bedlam in her mind, shielded her from the cocked gun of depression aimed at her and ready to fire. Sophie needed Roan to keep her sane.

She bit her bottom lip, her heart constricting in her chest when realization dawned. She was in love with him.
The walls around her heart crumbled to beat only for him and she hadn’t even known it until now. It’d been inevitable really, maybe going even further back when they were kids. She sighed deeply, afraid that this was yet another doomed romance. The pessimist in her was ready to push her back into the muddiness of her mind, ready to remind her that she wasn’t meant to be loved. But Sophie blocked it out, holding on to her mother’s words.

“You’re thinking way too loud, Soph.” The heaviness of sleep filled his voice making it gruff and sexy. He wrapped his hand around her arm, tugging her so that she splayed out on top of him. He wrapped an arm around her small waist, curving her into contact with his straining cock. “I know of better ways we can put that mind to work.” He nipped at her mouth, his tongue suggestively tracing her lips.

Sophie moaned, his hardness making her painfully aware of her own body, every inch of her skin tingling in aching anticipation for him to master. He seized the challenge with overwhelming vigor, conquering Sophie and suspending all her thoughts. 

When Sophie woke up again
to the sound of a loud vibration, it was nearly midnight. With Roan clearly absent, she rolled over on the queen sized bed and winced, her achiness speaking volumes of their previous activities. But it was a delicious soreness, one that made her miss the weight of his body. She sat up, long wavy hair tumbling around her shoulders as she stretched. She turned to the nightstand where hers and Roan’s phones sat side by side and found that his was the one buzzing. She wasn’t that sort of girl, the snooping kind, but with his phone going on continuously, Sophie’s curiosity got the better of her. Grabbing the phone before she could talk herself out of it, she clicked on the power button to light up the screen and her eyes widened. Roan’s pale haired shadow had sent him a picture of herself in her birthday suit, blue eyes looking into the camera suggestively. When she heard the shower shut off, Sophie scrambled to put the phone back on the nightstand, just managing to read the text that had come along with the picture.

Need you now. Be there soon.

Sophie didn’t know how to feel in that moment, all she knew was that it hurt like hell. Her heart constricted painfully in her chest, feeling foolishly betrayed but really having no reason to. They had never defined this relationship. Roan was good with words; he was good at comforting her, being the knight to her damsel-in-distress, but really he’d never called himself her boyfriend. Even when he’d introduced her to Maria and David, there’d been no label on their relationship. So why did she feel so hurt? She’d only just discovered that she loved him, but that didn’t mean he felt the same. Hell, maybe he was just giving Sophie exactly what she’d asked for in the beginning. A fuck buddy…a lover and nothing more.

When he emerged from the shower looking like every woman’s wet dream, something primitive shot through her rendering Sophie momentarily weak with want. She wanted to rake her fingers across his back; she wanted to smear her lipstick all over his rock hard body with lips that would worship him like nothing else. Sophie wanted her scent locked in his pores, she wanted to claim him as hers and tell that annoying blond bitch to back the fuck off and take her double D’s with her. But she couldn’t do that. She had no right to do that. So rather than rant and rail like some insipid female with jealousy issues, she maintained her composure while she watched him walk around the room.

“I have a confession.” She licked her lips, trying to talk around the sizable lump in her throat. “I looked at your phone.” Admitting it was a huge pill. “You got a text.” 

Her mannerism instantly told Roan that something was wrong. “What’s the matter?” She gave a noncommittal shrug, looking everywhere but at him. Roan’s frown only deepened as he rounded the bed to grab his phone from the nightstand. When he finally saw the text and the image that undoubtedly accompanied it, he released an expletive that rung her ears. “I can explain…”

Sophie shook her head. “I’d much rather you dropped the towel and fucked me.”

“Trust me, I want nothing more, but we’re not going to ignore this.”

“I get it, Roan. Believe me I do.” She slipped into the role so seamlessly, ready to take on everything by herself, pretend that there really wasn’t an issue here so that she wouldn’t need to deal with the unpleasantness of her own emotions. She was good at taking the pressure off others, acting happy; deflecting the awkwardness was Sophie defense mechanism. It was one she’d probably perfected since childhood, needing to be perfect for her single mother, needing to fix things when Nicholas went away and returned. She’d busied herself with other people’s problems, other people’s emotions so that she wouldn’t have to deal with the strife that was happening inside herself. And through it all, Roan suspected that she wasn’t even aware she did it. “We’re all adults here. So if you and I are to have the sort of relationship you have with her then…”

“What
we
have, Sophie, goes far beyond what she and I have ever shared.” Sophie blinked, staring dizzily into his dark eyes as he knelt down to frame her face with his large tender hands. “I have never felt an ounce of what you make me feel in all the years I’ve known her. Every minute I spend with you is a minute I want to prolong because I get to learn who you are, I get to know you that much more.” The sound of the front door opening and the soft call of “Roan” prevented Sophie from saying anything. He devoured her mouth, inhaled her scent and then dropped the tenderest of kisses at the corner of her kiss bruised lips. “Wait for me.”

He slipped into a pair of pajama bottoms and headed for the door.

~*~*~*~

He’d given her a key because, at the time, it’d been convenient for her to have one, but now the thought of Sienna barging in on him just as she was currently doing no longer suited him. He ran a hand over his head, releasing a heavy sigh at the thought of the scene that was about to occur. But he’d never been one to shy away from his responsibility, so he did as they said and bit the bullet. His place wasn’t all that big and with her presence here along with Sophie in his bedroom, Roan suddenly felt like he was living in a shoe box. As was customary in their late night rendezvous, Roan could take a good guess that she was naked beneath the coat she was wearing. The ‘fuck me’ smile that curved her red rose mouth would’ve stirred the blood of any man, but Roan remained unaffected.

“I brought the Pinot,” she hailed, her black heels clicking on the linoleum floor as she came further
inside. “Did you get my text?” Here she smiled wider setting the bottle of wine down on the small island top of the kitchen and advanced on him but before she could wrap her arms around his neck, Roan took an immediate step back.

Her dubious stare lasted for a small second before her smile returned. “I like this,” she began slowly undoing the buttons on her coat, “you playing aloof and…”

“Sienna stop. We can’t do this anymore.”

She did stop now to look at him seeing the grave expression on his too handsome face. “Why? I thought we were doing okay.”

“We were. I…I just can’t continue to do this with you anymore.”

She was silent, her mind working. “It’s her isn’t it?”

“Sienna…”

“I knew it; I knew she was going to come between us. Since that night in the alley when you left me with Adam to go with her, I knew things were going to be different.” She was seething resentment. “You’ve know her for like a second and you’re ready to throw away everything we have just for her?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Then fucking un-complicate it! Stop with the passive aggressive shit and just talk to me. Matter of fact, just get rid of her and you and I can continue fucking our brains out like you wanted!”

“Stop yelling,” he said evenly, “and getting rid of her isn’t going to happen.”

Sienna scowled. “What’s so great about her anyways? Huh? Didn’t you say she was a spoiled, immature little brat with daddy issues? What’s changed? And don’t fucking tell me you’re in love with her because that’s just complete horseshit.”

“I’m going to give you twenty seconds to grab your fucking bottle of wine and get the hell out of my home; otherwise, I just might be tempted to shove it down your throat.” The deadly calm of his voice was offset by the lethality of his obsidian gaze that bore into her like beams. She took an involuntary step back, chilled by the hard, strikingly handsome face and the dark expression she saw there. She’d never known Roan to be so fearsome, so mean and ruthless even. But then again, Sienna had always been subjected to his impassivity that had oftentimes turned into tolerance which had annoyed her to no end. She’d waited years for him to show her even the tiniest bit of the passion he felt for that girl. But it’d never come.

“How can you care about her so much in only a few months when you and I have known each other for years and I’ve never once received even a morsel of your feelings?” The tears trickled down her cheeks as she waited for him to answer that one question.

“Because those feelings were never meant for you.” She looked at him like he’d struck her, her heart literally breaking from those words.

Now Sienna understood why. “Lose my number, Roan.” With that said, she made her exit and he felt like a bastard because of the weight that instantly lifted the second she closed the door behind her. Once he would’ve felt the need to go after her, because aside from Adam, she’d been his only friend. But the urgency to get back to Sophie
surpassed all other emotions.  He didn’t get a chance to walk two steps before he found her in front of him, fully dressed and looking at him with a vacant expression.

“I was just coming in to…”

“
Spoiled, immature little brat with daddy issues
?”

Roan cursed and tried to approach her. “Sophie…” She recoiled from him, stepping back.

“You talked to her about me?”

“It wasn’t like that…”

“I’m glad you guys had a great time discussing my issues, Roan. But the next time you decide you want to have a laugh at my expense, I suggest you fuck yourself first.”

She was gone and he didn’t really know what happened, but all that Roan cared about was going after her. He raced towards the elevator, screaming her name all the while and undoubtedly disturbing his neighbors, but Roan was beyond caring. The doors closed seconds before he reached her so he doubled back
. Urgency and desperation pumping through his veins, he headed for the stairwell, nearly breaking his ankle once or twice in his haste to reach the bottom floor. He wished that he’d gone to pick her up instead, like he usually did, but she’d met him at his place because he’d gotten off work so late today. He broke through the back entrance of the parking lot just in time to see her peel off.

Roan didn’t sleep that night but rather stayed up and dialed her number continuously until the break of dawn and still she did not answer. He left one message after another, begging her to answer, but she hadn’t returned his calls; his texts also went unanswered. By the time six a.m. rolled around, he decided to take a shower, brush his teeth and refuel on coffee and toast. He deliberated on whether it was too early to head over to her parents’ house now to try and talk to her. Decent folks weren’t up until nine so Roan decided it was best to wait until then; otherwise, he didn’t know how he would be greeted by one Nicholas Grayson. Waiting was murder, the slow march of time making it seem like an eternity. At 8:00 he was inside his truck driving towards
the swank suburbia with its gated homes.

In comparison to the single family house he remembered in his youth where Ellie and her children had called home and Roan had stayed on most weekends, the new Grayson estate was practically a compound. It was a structure of sheer beauty that revealed itself steadily upon driving up the slight incline of the tree lined driveway covered by snow. It sat on what Roan could only estimate as 1,500 acres of land, the main house flanked by two massive wings. Roan wasn’t surprised by the vastness of the estate, what
had
surprised him was his fuss free admittance through security at the front gate. He thought for sure he was going to get detained or even denied, but upon saying his name, they’d done a quick check and he’d been cleared. He’d never actually been inside the Grayson home. Sophie had always been outside the gates when Roan picked her up and he’d never bothered to ask because he figured she would invite him over when she was ready. Roan could’ve waited for that day, but he needed to talk to her before any more time passed and this seemed the only way he could reach her. He was also prepared to have that long overdue talk with Nicholas.