The CEO's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 29

　　Evelyn had been numb when Roman had arrived. She'd cursed her stupid body for reacting to him but had been too scared to open her mouth.

　　No, not scared. It wasn't worth it to start arguing with Roman now when he had given her yet another reason to hand in her notice.

　　Her copy of the contract was on her nightstand. She couldn't take her eyes off it while the shower was running.

　　It was still dark outside, unlike Thursday when he'd left after sunrise. Either their Fridays were still the same or she had been played.

　　It was like sleeping with two different people. Thursday's Roman had been nothing like this. Thursday's Roman hadn't made her feel used.

　　Not until he had walked out, anyway.

　　They'd had this discussion before. He'd said she could have friends over if he vetted them first, and she'd been adamant she wasn't going to let him do that to any of her friends. But to make this U-turn out of the blue was such a dick move.

　　Brendan never came into the house, she always met him at the gate. Why would that be a problem? He had no idea who owned this place, and even if he was to come in, there was nothing in the house that would indicate that Roman owned the house.

　　No pictures, no mail.

　　He was a fucking ghost who came by only at night to fuck and didn't leave anything behind.

　　And she was the secret he went through all of this trouble to hide.

　　The shower stopped and she composed herself. The moment he left, she was going to read that contract properly and write her notice.

　　It was time.

　　She couldn't live like this anymore.

　　When she heard him come into the bedroom and move around, she kept her back to him.

　　"Once you've read that contract, make sure you put it somewhere safe," Roman said.

　　"Sure."

　　"And make sure you follow the rules this time, Evelyn."

　　"Of course."

　　What else could she say?

　　"The car's got a full tank, but I'm leaving the bank card for your expenses downstairs."

　　She almost snorted. Of course he was giving her back the card.

　　"No problem," she answered.

　　There was a long pause and she almost turned around to see what he was doing. But she kept her gaze on the contract waiting. It was her ticket to freedom.

　　Because that was how it was now. She needed to be free because Roman broke her heart every single time he came here.

　　"You haven't said a word about your university paperwork," Roman said.

　　"What can I say? Thank you," she said.

　　"I wanted to make things easier for you. You're my responsibility and I don't want you to struggle."

　　Wow. His responsibility?

　　Roman sounded like he knew she was pissed off and was trying to justify himself.

　　"Thank you."

　　"Most women would have been happier with that gesture "

　　Just how many women had he done this for? The reminder that he could have several other women if he wanted stung and she had to bite her lips to stop herself from asking about that.

　　"I'm sure there would be," she answered.

　　But really, if he had someone else out there, also forced to keep their relationship a secret, how would she ever know?

　　And just like that, the unshakable trust in the fact that she was the only woman in his life was shaken.

　　There was another pause from Roman.

　　"I'll see you next week, Evelyn," Roman said finally.

　　"Goodbye."

　　She didn't turn around even when she heard her bedroom door close. She closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears that were trying to fall but she failed.

　　Had she not shed enough tears over this man?

　　But still, her heart broke all over again. It was bad enough that he left in the middle of the night like he'd just finished a business deal, but now her mind was going crazy wondering if there were indeed other women out there.

　　And the fact that she cared at all when he was such an asshole was the worst part. There was something wrong with her.

　　After she dragged herself to the shower and stood under the spray for a while, she finally managed to get her tears to stop. By the time she had dressed and dried her hair, the sun was coming up.

　　She grabbed the contract and then made her way down the stairs. Coffee first, then she could try to concentrate.

　　There was an envelope on the sideboard which she guessed contained the bank card. She shook her head and ignored it as she headed to the kitchen. If Roman thought she was going to let herself get seen driving such an expensive car then he had another thing coming.

　　She took her coffee out to the deck and sat on one of the chairs before she pulled the contract out of the folder to start reading.

　　She'd only gone through one page when she noticed the first discrepancy. Though it mentioned that Thursday would be date night, the wording made it seem as if Friday would be flexible. Not that it really mattered now, anyway, since she was leaving.

　　She shook her head again and skipped all the pages again to read all the termination clauses. That was the only part that interested her now. She confirmed that it was four weeks' notice and that she would get to keep the money she had earned, and then set the contract on the table.

　　Four weeks. That was how long she had to strengthen herself to walk out of the door and never return.

　　Her phone beeped. She smiled when she saw it was Brendan.

　　'Good morning. Are we still on for this weekend?'

　　'Of course,' she replied.

　　What she needed was a good night out with her friends to take her mind off all of this. Why she had ever thought she had a chance with Roman was a mystery to her, but now she had to pay the price of repairing her broken heart.

　　'I'll pick you up early. Maybe lunchtime."

　　She was about to tell him it was okay when she remembered Roman's words. But how had he even known anyone had been here?

　　Did he have cameras here? She didn't think Roman would do that but... He was a wealthy man and this was an expensive house. She stood up and inspected the walls but didn't see anything. But still, she felt mildly violated.

　　'It’s okay, I'll meet you at your apartment,' she replied.

　　Then she picked her contract and empty coffee cup up to rush to the house.

　　There was no way she was staying here now. First, her trust had been shaken when she'd realised how easy it was for him to have a hundred other girls just like her. Now there could be cameras that she didn't know about?

　　She was packed and ready to go an hour later. After the weekend she would go and finish helping her parents pack up and meet the mortgage advisor again, so at least she didn't have to come back here.

　　One of the papers with the contract had the information for the taxi firm. A fancy one that she'd never heard of, so it probably wasn't listed and was for people like Roman. It was quite easy to get through and order a taxi, and she was surprised when it arrived at her gate on time, without calling for directions.

　　She'd been right about how exclusive it was. It was as shiny and expensive as her house, she didn't even feel comfortable putting her bag down.

　　It was for the best that she was leaving. Living like this was something she would never get used to.

　　'Coming early. We can hang out until tonight.'

　　'Great! Can't wait.'

　　For a moment she wondered again if she was leading him on. But Brendan hadn't made a move yet so she hadn't needed to have the 'just friends' talk. She was sure it would be perfectly fine to hang out and crash at his house again.

　　At least she wouldn't feel like someone was watching her there.