The CEO's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 34

　　Eve's head was clear when they arrived at the house. She was stone-cold sober. Fear did that to a person. Roman was a billionaire and had the resources to pull off whatever he wanted, and she had pissed him off somehow.

　　She hadn’t said a word to him the whole drive out of the city, but he hadn’t bothered to speak either. She could feel his anger suffocating her in the confined space, and it had pushed her own anger with him to the back of her mind.

　　What had she done wrong?

　　And if he was that pissed off, why had he brought her back here? Why hadn’t he just told her her services were no longer required and just left her in the city?

　　Her answers would be in that contract but she knew deep down that she had sold her soul to the devil. There was a different atmosphere around Roman now, one she’d never felt before.

　　Her heart was pounding as the car came to a stop. The moment she read that contract her life wouldn't be the same. She felt the impending doom looming over her as Phillip opened the car door for her. As if she was a little lamb being led to the slaughter.

　　She couldn't move. Panic rose in her chest as she imagined what Roman could have put in her contract that had made him break his own rules to come here on a Saturday.

　　Roman let himself out and walked around to her side to hold his hand out to her.

　　"We don't have all day, Evelyn," he said.

　　She hesitantly put her hand in his and allowed him to help her out.

　　When the cool night breeze hit her bare bottom, her cheeks coloured and she looked down at her feet. How could that have happened at the club and then led to this? Just a couple of hours ago she'd been trying to drink her heartbreak away. She should have just gone home, then maybe she wouldn't have ended up back here. She could have been just heartbroken, and not heartbroken and scared. Terrified.

　　Phillip closed the car door as Roman led her up to the house. She didn’t resist.

　　"I'll see you on Monday morning, sir."

　　What?

　　She tripped in her haste to turn back to Phillip, but Roman's strong arms caught her before she fell. The moment she righted herself she pulled out of his arms quickly. She didn't think she could stomach him touching her again, not after this. How had she even thought herself in love with this man?

　　Roman noticed her reaction and his jaw clenched but he didn't say anything. But it was his silence that scared her the most as he turned away and unlocked the front door.

　　When she looked back at the car, Phillip was already driving out of the gates.

　　Monday? Was Roman really staying until Monday? Why?

　　A few weeks ago she would have been over the moon. Having Roman stay over was something she had daydreamed about for months.

　　But right now? She knew nothing good was going to come out of this.

　　When she turned back to the door, Roman stood there holding the door open for her. His anger seemed to have multiplied and for the first time, she felt the danger of living so far away from anyone else. She couldn’t run, but if she did, she was sure he would catch her before she went too far. And the keys to the car he had left her were still on the sideboard where she’d left them.

　　She couldn’t meet his gaze as she walked into the house and past his imposing frame. The sound of the door locking made her heartbeat go faster. Her set of house keys was in her little bag but it felt like another sign. She should have run instead of coming in.

　　Roman didn’t say anything as he walked towards the sitting room. He’d almost passed the sideboard when he stooped and looked at the keys and paperwork for the car still in the spot he had left them. His cold gaze met hers. Maybe he saw something in her eyes because he reached out and picked the keys up before he continued walking.

　　She was trapped here.

　　“Go and read your contract, Evelyn.”

　　She didn’t know how long she stood there, trying to sort her head out. Not once in the year that she had known Roman had she ever felt like this about him but she should have. He was a man who could toy with her and no one would be able to stop him.

　　Finally, she started up the stairs. There was still complete silence from the sitting room so she didn’t know why Roman had even stayed. To make sure she read the contract? Or to punish her for whatever he thought she had done wrong?

　　Once she was in her room, she looked at the nightstand where the contract was. But she still couldn’t take the final steps to get it. She felt nauseous at the thought of what could be in it that she had to rush to the bathroom. She made it to the toilet just in time to lose all the alcohol and food she had consumed, and when she finally stopped heaving, she lowered her shaky body onto the floor. Silent tears fell down her cheeks but she wiped them away.

　　Maybe she was just being paranoid. Maybe it was seeing Roman in his environment, his real life, that had shaken her like this. She just needed to read that contact and figure it all out.

　　After a shower. She felt sticky and disgusting, she had to at least shower and put some knickers on. In the back of her mind, she knew that was just a delaying tactic, but she didn’t care. She needed a moment. Once she slipped the dress off, she threw it in the laundry basket. Then something made her dig it out and throw it in the trash. It would always remind her of how Roman had made her feel when he’d got out of the car with his date.

　　She shouldn’t care. It was over, there was no going past this. But still...

　　After the longest shower she had ever had, she finally put her knickers on as if they were amour, and wore a comfortable pair of pyjamas. Then she sat on the bed and picked the contract up.

　　She had to read it a few times to understand, but when she did, she put the contract back on the side and lay down. Her head was pounding but it had nothing to do with the alcohol.

　　The contract said that she was to live here during school so he could schedule his visits when she wasn’t too busy. He could come any day he wanted. A car would take her to and from her lessons. It also said that she was supposed to tell him when and with whom she was going out so he could give his permission. Like she was a child. Or a prisoner. Her friends were not allowed anywhere near this house, she was not to give anyone her address.

　　She could also give her notice whenever she wanted. But it was up to him to accept or decline.

　　So all the points listed on the termination clauses were worth nothing. She still didn’t have an out.

　　But the worst of it all? He had just purchased the house that her parents wanted from right under her nose. Her offer had been accepted because the owner wanted a very quick sale, the paperwork had started and her parents were already packing. But in swooped Roman with his money and gazumped her.

　　Roman would still let her parents move in if she followed the rules.

　　She had thought her heart had been broken before, but now she actually felt it. She trembled as sobs racked her body. What would she do now?