5


    92%


    ?


    By the time they finally made it home, ir felt like she was running on fumes. The adrenaline that had carried her through the day hadpletely worn off, leaving her feeling hollow and shaky.


    Roman unlocked the front door, and they stepped inside. The events of today would change their lives forever. She needed to talk to Sutton and Keira about their parents‘ business. That mess was going to take weeks to sort out. But for now, she was just d to be home.


    “I need a shower,” ir said quietly, her voice soft, too tired to use energy to talk more than that.


    “Me too,” Roman agreed. He looked as exhausted as she felt, dark circles under his eyes and tension still evident in his shoulders. He really hadn’t liked hering face to face with Peter on her own like that. But they had little choice. If they hadn’t caught Peter when they had, he would have sent someone else after her.


    They moved through, getting ready for bed, shower, brushing teeth. ir’s mind felt foggy, too overwhelmed to process everything that had happened. Peter’s arrest, his confession, the confrontation with Vivian… it all felt surreal to think her own uncle had tried to kill her and had killed her parents. For money. Greed. Because her family had the life he had wanted for himself.


    When they finally crawled into bed. ir curled up against Roman’s good side, being careful of the small bandage still covering the cut on his arm from their car ident. It felt like a lifetime ago, though it had only been days.


    “It’s really over,” she whispered against his chest.


    “It’s really over,” he confirmed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.


    ir wanted to say more, to process everything they’d been through, but exhaustion won out. Within minutes, they were both fast asleep, holding each other close after days of stress and fear that something could happen to her.


    ir woke slowly, awareness creeping back gradually. Sunlight was streaming through their bedroom windows, and she could hear morning noises from outside. For a moment, she felt disoriented, then everything came rushing back. Peter’s arrest. The confrontations. The relief of finally having answers.


    She was wrapped in Roman’s arms, her head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. He was still asleep, his face peaceful in the morning light. The small bandage on his arm was the only visible reminder of what they’d endured.


    The bandage from the small cut on her head was gone. Her hair hid the tiny red line that was only an inch long. There had been a lot of blood the night of the ident, but she hadn’t needed stitches, just some butterfly sters. But any cut to the head always bled a lot, making it look worse than it was.


    As she watched him sleep, fragments of yesterday began filtering back through her mind. There was something… something he’d said during the funeral. Her eulogy. When he had spoken at her fake funeral. Words she’d been too emotionally drained to focus onst night.


    Roman’s eyes opened then as he stretched, and he smiled when he saw her watching him.


    “Morning,” he said softly, his voice still rough with sleep.


    “Morning.” ir shifted slightly to look at him better. “Roman, yesterday at the funeral… what you said during my eulogy…”


    His expression grew more alert. “What about it?”


    ir felt her heart skip a beat. “You said you loved me.”


    Roman went very still beneath her. “Yes. I did.”


    “Did you mean it? Or was it just… part of the act?”


    16:18 Wed, 18 Jun


    For a moment, Roman didn’t respond. Then he reached up to cup her face gently.


    “ir, I’ve been in love with you for a very long time. The funeral just gave me an excuse to finally say it out loud. I have been struggling with how to tell you. So much has happened.”


    Her breath caught. “A very long time?”


    +28)


    “Yeah, I’m not sure of the exact time frame. But I can tell you it’s not a sudden feeling.” His thumb stroked across her cheek. “I know the timing isplicated with everything that’s happened-”


    ir silenced him by pressing her lips to his. The kiss was soft at first, tentative, then deeper. When they broke apart, both were breathing harder.


    “I love you too,” ir whispered against his lips. “I don’t believe I even thought I had feelings for Dan because what I feel for you is so much stronger.”


    “I want you to know that I didn’t just ask you to marry me because of Jessica. It just moved the timeline up a little,” Roman said firmly. “I had always nned on asking you to marry me.”


    This time when they kissed, it was with a desperate hunger born from fear, relief, and finally being able to express what they’d both been holding back. ir’s hands tangled in his hair as Roman rolled them over, careful of both their lingering injuries.


    “I do have something to confess,” he said suddenly, his eyes searching hers. “I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about it. But I want there to be no secrets between us.”


    “Well, providing you’re not going to tell me you’re a killer, I think we’re good,” she said, trying to keep her voice light even as anxiety crept in.


    Roman’s lent down to kiss her softly. It was a few moments before he pulled back. “ir, I had Dan investigated.”


    She pulled back, surprised. What? “Wait. You what?”


    “We have an issue at the office I’m still working on. Someone in the sales department is stealing money. I had the whole team investigated. During that investigation, I found out about Dan’s affair with your cousin.”


    ir wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact he knew. The words hit her like a physical blow. He knew about Dan and Laura before she had. “What? Why didn’t you say something?” ir wasn’t sure how she felt about this. Her mind was spinning, trying to process what this meant.


    “Shoot the messenger? I did make sure you found out. I made sure you would catch them together.”


    ir’s eyes widened as the pieces clicked into ce. She remembered Roman driving them all really hard to get home one day early from theirst work trip. Had that been so she would find Laura and Dan in bed together?


    Roman had manipted the situation. He knew Dan was cheating and instead of telling her; he orchestrated it so I would walk in on them. The realization hit her like a truck.


    Her chest felt tight. How long had he known? How many times had he looked at her, knowing what Dan was doing behind her back, and said nothing?


    “You…<i>” </i>ir started, then stopped. She could feel her heart pounding, but she couldn’t tell if it was from anger, hurt, or something else entirely.


    But then another thought crept in: He saved her from marrying Dan. If he hadn’t done that, she might have married a cheater. She might not have found out until after the wedding.


    ir stared at Roman’s face, searching for something, maybe remorse or guilt, even justification. She could see he was waiting for her reaction. There was tension radiating from him. She didn’t know if she wanted to thank him or p him.


    16:19 Wed, 18 Ju


    *92%


    L620


    Her emotions were all over the ce. Part of her was grateful… grateful she hadn’t married Dan, grateful she’d found out the truth, grateful it had led her to Roman.


    But another part felt manipted, like a puppet whose strings had been pulled without her knowledge.


    The silence stretched between them as she ran everything through her mind.


    “ir?” Roman’s voice was soft, uncertain. “Say something.”


    But ir couldn’t speak. Her mind was reeling, her heart was racing, and she honestly had no idea how she felt about this revtion.