Chapter Eight

Short A/N
Some of you wanted Roman's POV whilst a handful preferred to be in the dark for a little while. So, instead of writing a whole chapter through the eyes of the Garza boss, I decided to give you guys a small sneak peak towards the end. This way, you could have a glimpse inside Roman's head but not enough to reveal any juicy info.
Without further ado...

Chapter Nine

Inhaling a deep breathe, I turned around to face the devil. His eyes slowly took it's time scanning me from head to toe, not bothering the hide the scrutiny that shone inside them. When his thick eyebrows closed together at the sight of my bunny slippers, I felt like a caged animal on display at the zoo. My instant thought was to yank the stupid thing and shred it to pieces. I've never felt so self conscious my entire life. "Sit," he repeated.

How I managed to obey his command? Only god knew; my legs were closest to being made of lead than flesh and bones.

He warned you, Eliya. He warned you not to go against him. And what did you do?

Exactly that.

God, I hated that stupid voice in my head. But one thing was for certain; it was completely right this time. So I did the only thing left to do and the only thing he probably expected.

Closing my eyes tight, I waited for the bullet to come.

And waited...

And waited...

Then: "I'm not very keen on waking up before the sun rises, Eliyanna. It makes my head hurt and I don't have time for that shit."

Mouth open, I stared at him as he yawned and sat on his leather chair.

Hmmmm... If I played my cards right, I could get out of this, couldn't I?

"You don't say?" Strategy Eliya, strategy. Escaping a sociopath 101: Choose your words wisely. "Then how about..." I continued, slowly rising from my seat. "...we pretend this never happened. I go back to New Jersey and you go back back to being a criminal lord. Everything will..."

"Sit!" he banged his fist on the desk. My brain: I'm a hundred percent certain it didn't process when my butt reconnected with the chair.

Yeah, it was that fast.

Roman kept looking at me with those intimidating blues, as if expecting a legitimate reason why I disturbed his sleep. How ironic was it that I had none? This was worst than the time I was dragged to the principals office for eating Sarah Lambardi's chocolate.

From watching criminal minds, I knew sociopaths fed on the fear of their victims. With that in mind, I held back my overwhelming emotions and answered his question truthfully. Well, as truthfully I could. "Oh, I didn't know you slept at night." Clearing my throat, I added, "My bad."

"Why?"

I stared at him, waiting for an elaboration.

And stared at him...

And stared at him...

Obviously, there was nothing coming. "Sorry?"

"Why won't I sleep at night? Do I look like a Vampire to you?"

"Ummm... N-no sir. Ummm... I just thought cause of..."

"Cause of what?"

"That... You know."

"No, I don't know."

I fidgeted on my seat. God, how awkward was this? There was no way I could answer that question without getting crooked. Immediately.

"Ummm.. never mind."

"I do. Answer the fucking question."

God please help me. Clearing my throat, I quickly spat, "Cause of all the murders you commit."

Okay, Eliya, time to close your eyes again. Your friend, Mr. Bullet, will be arriving really soon.

Five Seconds later... Nothing.

Ten seconds later... Nothing.

Fifteen seconds later... I heard a sound so unexpected, my eyelids instantly flew open. Laughter. Deep, throaty, honest-to-god laughter. Huh. Who knew he had the ability to create such sound?

Awkwardly, I started laughing along even though he was probably laughing at me.

We laughed and laughed...

Then silence. The man's face turned emotionless in a blink of an eye, literally. One second he was showing those pearly whites and the next... wush ...they were gone! Was that even possible?

He rose up from his seat and leaned in closer and closer until his nose was almost touching mine.  "The people I kill don't mean shit to me. In fact I sleep better - like a baby actually - knowing their oxygen is: Crick," he motioned a killing movement on his neck. "Cut off. Do you know why, Eliyanna?" He slowly caressed my cheek.

Up, down.

Up, down.

When I saw the wetness on his fingers, I knew my damn tear ducts were at it again. What the hell happened to showing no fear?

"Hmm?" he asked again. I shook my head in reply. Was I gonna pass out?

Yep, I'm pretty sure I was.

"Because, they FUCK. ME. UP," he answered, specifying the last three words. "Like you're doing right now and that's a problem. Which makes you a problem and kitty," he chuckled. "Every problem, needs fixing."

When he sat back on his chair, he placed a green folder in front of me.

"W-what is this?"

"What it is, is up to you," he answered, lighting a cigarette.

I hesitantly reached out and grabbed it, making sure I kept my eyes on him. There was a hundred percent chance he has a gun hidden somewhere.

I slowly opened the folder... then looked up at him.

Turned a page... then looked up again.

Read one line... then looked up.

After reading the second paragraph, I looked up before my brain processed the information. But when it did, I knew it couldn't be right. There was no way.

No way.

Concentrating all my attention on it, I read the two paged document without looking up, then read it again. But the words weren't changing or going away. The documents were in fact accusing my Grandpa's company of embezzlement and fraud. But I was a hundred percent certain they were fake. They had to be.

"It's not," he suddenly answered. Oh my god. Did he read my mind?

"No, Eliyanna, I'm not reading your mind. You're talking out loud, like you're doing right now." He got up from his seat and walked over to his scotch bottle. After pouring two glasses he handed me one, sat on the corner of his desk and looked down at me. "Right now, you're at a state of shock. Your brain is processing the information but you're refusing to accept it. That's why you're... umm.. leaking so much." Leaking?  "I need you to stop so we can get to work." I flicked the tears from my cheeks, looked at the folder then back at him. First of all, who the hell called crying, leaking? And second of all, was a faucet near my eyes? How could I automatically stop crying because he said so?

"My dad will never do something like this," I protested, despite the evidence that begged to differ.

But it was true. My Dad would never do something like that. He could be called a ruthless egotistical asshole, a douche bag or a scumbag- lord knows I myself called him that a couple hundred times -but he prided himself on never gaining money through illegal means. Charges like that could collapse everything my grandpa built for a period of sixty five years; 'Holland Pharmaceutical' was his legacy. With his unsteady health, how could he survive a loss that big?

"True, he didn't, his partner did. But you see, just like me, the law doesn't give a fuck." He got up from the desk and back to his seat. "He knew about it but kept his trap shut. You know, like you should have done."

"You can't do this," I said quietly, trying to hold back tears.

"Oh yeah? Who says?"

"Umm... you just can't."

"The fuck I can't."

"This is my grandpa's company. If anything happens to it, he won't survive."

"Tell me, Eliyanna, why should I---" he paused and scowled all of a sudden. "Stop fucking doing that!" I unhooked my arms and released my lips, not sure which he was referring to. "Why? he continued. "Why should I give a fuck? Honestly, I want to know so I could at least have the energy to give a damn."

"H-he might die."

"Ohh..." he nodded, as if honestly trying to process the information. "Like how the members of my organization could have died because of you?"

"W-what?" Oh, God, this was even more serious than I thought! "I-I'm sorry," I bawled out biting my lip so hard, my teeth could easily sink in it.

"Fucking hell, I said stop doing that!" Jumping on my sit a bit, I released my lips immediately. "I'm not fond of killing women but I think I should start with you." He opened a drawer on his desk and placed a gun on the table with a bang.

I screamed and hugged myself tighter. I knew it. I just knew he had a gun hidden somewhere. "I'm sorry, Mr. Alexander. P-please, I won't do it again."

"Choose one," he pointed to the gun then the folder. I looked up at his blurry face. Strangely, he instantly looked down. "Choose one," he repeated through gritted teeth.

"W-what?"

"Either I leak this tomorrow or I fucking kill you right here."

"I can't," I closed my eyes and shook my head. "You're asking me to chose between myself and my grandpa, I can't do that."

"If you don't, I'll do both," he said matter-of-factly.

"I promise, I won't do it again. I s-swear, Mr. Alexander."

"Coming from anyone else I might believe them but you---," he paused, then reached forward towards me. Oh God, what now? As he came closer, I reclined lower on my seat but when those blue eyes glared at me, I stopped and mentally started accepting my fate. However, all he did was pull my bottom lip from my teeth. "You fucking lied to me," he continued.

"I'm sorry," I apologized softly. My lips trembled but I was afraid to bite it again. I mean, the man's anger sky rocketed in milli-second. I tried to keep back my tears but couldn't stop from hiccuping. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration then suddenly got up from his seat. Instinctively, I instantly did the same.

Without a single word, he came closer and I moved backwards, sobbing.

Closer, backwards.

Closer, backwards.

Closer, backwards, till my back connected with a wall.

I closed my eyes again, waiting for my fate but when nothing came, they flung open and found him looking down at me yet again.

"I'll give you one more option." Did I hear that right? My breathe hitched and I nodded quickly. Literally anything was better than the first two choices.

"You will live here, until I say so." I nodded.  "Say yes," he commanded.

"Yes."

"Living under me means living under my rules. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"You will go anywhere I go, unless I say otherwise."

I nodded again. When he glared at me I quickly added, "Yes, sir."

"After your two week break you will return to work," he leaned closer.

Pump, Pump.

"Pump, Pump," the beat of my heart escalated. 

"Without the attitude"

"Yes," a shaky voice -which most definitely couldn't be me - agreed.

"And anything you see here, stays here," he came a little closer.

Oh dear Lord, help your girl out.

"Do you understand, Eliyanna?" His lips were so close to mine I was afraid if I breathed it would touch his.

"And most importantly: no more leaking in front of me. It's annoying as fuck."

"Yes."

"Starting now. I mean, stop leaking right now."

Chewing on my lip, I wiped away my tears and took a deep breathe. When his eyes followed the movement of my mouth, I quickly released it.

"Are we clear?"

"Yes," I breathed out.

Even though he had no smile on his face, I could feel accomplishment radiating off of him, while pure satisfaction and achievement shone in his blue eyes. "Good, tomorrow my lawyer would draw up the documents."

"Of course." I nodded.

Being near him felt so uncomfortable. With an overwhelming urge to move away, I followed his stretched arms to a hanger of a wall phone behind me, then tried to slide through the empty space on my left.

Thump.

In a blink of an eye, he placed his hand on the wall. I tried to press against his arm and even docked down between the gap but he blocked my every move. When I tried another escaping route, he looked at me so sharply, all my movements froze. His eyes: they were daring me to move again. Did I?

Hell no! I was not stupid. I sighed in surrender and fidgeted inside the prison his body trapped me in.

"Aurora.... Yes... Come to my office. Wake up Natalia and Bruno. My new housemate needs to settle in," he smirked, as if he wasn't the one flaming up moments ago. This man had more colors than a chameleon. I smiled back at him weakly then looked at my feet.

"Take it out," he said, after hanging back the phone.

I stared at him wide-eyed. Take out what?

Oh my god. Oh my god.

"I knew it. I knew it! This was what you wanted all along, wasn't it? You want to keep me here so I could be your sex slave." Both his eyebrows shot up. "Men like you don't just do favors especially after I broke the "Omertà" rule. You want to Omertà me. Not gonna happen," I shook my head. "You know what? Kill me. Kill me right now so we can get this over with. I'm tired." I closed my eyes but couldn't stop the muttering that escaped my mouth. " Unless you want syphilis, you better stay away from me. There's a whole lot of..." Suddenly, long, warm fingers gently traced my lips. It's pressure, though soft, I could feel against it heavily. My words; they disappeared with the wind as my eyelids flung open. What the hell was he doing?

"I could only thing of one thing this mouth of yours is good at, and it's not talking. So I strongly advice you to keep it shut...," he came closer and closer until his body flushed with mine. "Before I do to it, what it's really meant for and trust me, you will be the one asking for it." I gulped. Hard. "Now Eliyanna, your car keys;  take it out of that little Halloween costume of yours and give it to me."

Wordlessly, I quickly reached in my pockets and pulled it out.

"Good girl," he commented, leaving me frozen where I stood.

Knock, Knock.

"Mr. Alexander, are you there?" asked a sleepy voice.

"Yeah Aurora. Come in."

The blonde woman that escorted Detective Josiah and I earlier entered, followed by a brunette and a buff looking man. "Aurora, Natalia, set up the room next to mine for Eliyanna." Next to his? Oh god... "Tell the others not go in without knocking." Others! He lived with the rest of his pack? Shit! How come that didn't come up on our little one-way negotiation?

"Right away sir,"  the blonde nodded and left immediately.

"Bruno, go the 26th precinct and bring Eliyanna's car. When you arrive, bring up her suitcases."

What? How? What!  My eyes widened in confusion as I stared at him.

After Bruno left was when I recovered my voice. The pending question in my brain was burning a hole through my skull. It was begging to be asked.

"How did you know my bags were already packed?"

He turned around and smirked as if I was asking the world's most stupid question. "You belong to me now kitty, I know every shit about you."

With that, he left the study without a second glance.

Roman's POV.

Climbing up the stairs, I left Eliyanna confused with her thoughts. So naive, poor girl, I played her like a violin and she didn't even know it.

"How did it go?"

Without looking up, I knew who the questioner was. Nosy son of a bitch, of course he stayed up. "How do you think it went?"

Julian smirked and extended his hands. I handed him my cigarette. After taking three puffs he gave it back to me. "Shit, Wolf, you're fucking genius. It's like killing two birds with one very sexy stone," he chuckled.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten in my head. Something, I found myself doing every time I felt the overwhelming need to punch Julian so hard, his nose sunk in his face.

Two months. Two motherfucking months, I've been warning this idiot. "Julian."

"Hmm?"

"Stay the fuck away from her."

"Noted." He grinned.

Leaning off the banister, I pulled the hand he hid behind his back. Like I suspected, it was crossed. Since he was five years old, he had the same old shitty tell.

Without a word from me, he held his hands up in surrender. Julian knew better than anyone else. He most have sensed my strong urge to push his ass down the stairs again. "Okay, Okay," he gave up lazily, taking another puff of my cigarette. When he tried to give it back again, I shook my head and headed towards my room. However, Eliyanna's slippers squeaking against the tiles, followed by a pink glowing light caused me to stop and watch her.

"What the fuck is she wearing?" Julian gasped. "That shit is blinding, man."

When Eliyanna climbed up the last step, she immediately froze at the sight of Julian and I. Her big green eyes darted from me to him, then back to me.

It was strange. The way she irritated the shit out of me but strangely amused me at the same time. I couldn't help but want to feed off her naivety; it drew me to her like a magnet.

"So, you used the document to screw her into submission. Are we still gonna use it on him?" asked Julian.

I chuckled and watched as Eliyanna finally recovered her frozen bones. "Fuck no. She's all we need."

"When I call him tomorrow what should I say?"

The brunette took her time slowly passing opposite us, as if afraid we would pounce on her.

Oh poor kitty, how could she know acting too soon would ruin the game? All the fun is in the chasing after all.

"Tell him: Checkmate."

A/N

Hmmmm..... Am I the only one feeling the pressure right now? Who was expecting that to happen? Poor Eliyanna, she won't only be living with one criminal but a house full of them. But with that feisty attitude of hers, I wonder who should be worried. LOL.

And Roman. Roman, Roman, Roman. What was that about? I'm sure his POV left you cupcakes with a shit load of questions, haha. C'mon did you expect any less from the man though? You get what you wish for. *Wink, Wink.*

A fan suggested I cast Jacey Ethalion for the main male lead (Roman Alexander) a few weeks ago. At first I wasn't up for it but I found myself picturing his face everytime Roman was involved. It just feels so right. I don't think it hurts to switch it up a bit. I mean, he's super gorgeous. LOL. I've left a photo of both men (Gui Fedrizzi and Jacey Ethalion) on the media thingy above and another below. Please tell me what you think.

Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked the chapter. It would mean a lot. :)

Plenty hugs and kisses.... Tima.