The CEO's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 37

　　Roman pushed away the paperwork he'd been trying to do all day and looked at the food that had been sitting on the table since lunchtime.

　　Evelyn didn't trust him? Really?

　　Wasn't she the one who'd flaunted her boyfriend in his face? Wasn't she the one who'd started playing these games because she wanted him?

　　Well, he was here so what was the fucking problem?

　　He'd gone out of his way to find out what her schedule would be like so he wouldn't disturb her when she was busy with her academic work. He'd given her a date night. He had essentially guaranteed that he would be the one who was available for her, not the other way round.

　　Like a boyfriend.

　　There was no room for her to see Brendan in this equation, and him buying the house from under her nose was just to make sure the rules were followed. There would be no problems if they both stayed within the boundaries set on the contract.

　　So he liked to be in control of things. That was his nature, and if she hadn't known that before then she wasn't as clever as he'd thought.

　　Now she was upstairs acting like a child when she had known what she was getting into in the first place.

　　And to imply that if he touched her it would be rape? How the hell had things gone down the shitter so quickly?

　　He could touch her and she would react the same, despite her denial. But she didn't want it. She didn't want him.

　　And she was scared of him.

　　That was what had kept him downstairs the whole day.

　　He had knots in his stomach every time he remembered how she had looked at him.

　　But he wasn't letting her go. Evelyn would come around once she realised that what she'd signed wasn't so bad. They could see more of each other, she'd get her degree and her parents wouldn't be homeless. Everybody got something out of it.

　　But it was late and Evelyn hadn't come down for anything, not even a drink. He had to go and try again.

　　As walked to the kitchen to make her a coffee, he wondered why he was even doing any of this. She had been a liability from the day she'd left the first time. If he'd just let her go then, they wouldn't have come to this. He could have dealt with Bains properly at the party. He wouldn't have paperwork piling up on him. He wouldn't have to reschedule meetings.

　　Was all of that worth it just to keep fucking her a little while longer?

　　Once the coffee was ready he grabbed a couple of bottles of water and then made his way upstairs. As he'd expected, she didn't answer when he knocked.

　　He walked on then stopped when he saw her sitting in the same spot he'd left her in, still looking outside the window like she was a prisoner waiting for her freedom. It was already dark out so she couldn't even see anything without any city lights.

　　"I've brought you a drink."

　　No response. He shook his head and walked towards her to put the coffee down on the side table.

　　"I asked the lawyers to draw up the paperwork for the house once it's finalised. It will be in your name when all of this is over."

　　"It's over now, Roman. You'll never touch me again."

　　He stiffened. He hadn't come in here to have that conversation again.

　　"Drink your coffee before it gets cold and then go and eat something. I've got work to do."

　　He was halfway out of the room when she spoke again.

　　"When are you leaving?"

　　Why? So she could leave, too?

　　"It's my house. I don't have to leave," he stated.

　　Evelyn turned her head from the window to look at him, and the distress on her face was like a kick in the balls.

　　"Why are you acting as if I’ve imprisoned you? I want to discuss the contract because clearly, you're upset about it, but we can both go once that's settled."

　　"So you're keeping me a prisoner only until I do what you want me to do," Evelyn snorted. "I don't know what I ever saw in you."

　　"You know exactly what you saw in me," he said firmly. "And that is all I've ever offered. It's not my fault that you expected something different. And now that things haven't gone your way you're throwing tantrums like a child."

　　Evelyn looked deflated as she looked away from him.

　　"Find someone else to play with, Roman."

　　"I don't want anyone else."

　　Evelyn chuckled and looked back at him.

　　"Right. I suppose that woman the other night was a figment of my imagination," she said.

　　"I don't want to fuck anyone else, Evelyn. Unlike you, I've stuck to our agreement."

　　"Unlike me?" Evelyn asked. "You know what, it doesn't even matter what's going on in your head. All I know is that you can have women like me tucked away everywhere and I wouldn't even know it. I don't want to be part of that."

　　Was she jealous? Was that the root of all of this? He'd seen it on her face when she'd seen him with Vivian.

　　"You know what we have together. And I'm sure you know by now that you won't find that again so easily. I'm not fucking anyone else."

　　"So I'm supposed to stay here because the sex is great?"

　　He sighed and walked back to her. He ignored the way her body tensed as he sat on the window sill.

　　"I want you to stay because we're good together. I'll take care of you, Evelyn, even after we go our separate ways. And you'll never have to worry about your parents again."

　　Evelyn chuckled again.

　　"If you think that's what I'm worried about then you're more fucked up than I thought," she said. "I don't want to stay with you, Roman, because you've just shown me who you really are. The thought of you ever touching me again is making my skin crawl. I don't need you to take care of me, I need you to leave me alone."

　　Her words left him feeling cold. She meant every word.

　　The knot he'd felt in his stomach turned into something he didn't recognise as he stood and left the room.

　　By the time he was downstairs he knew that he couldn't be here anymore. He packed his paperwork up and grabbed the car keys.

　　She'd looked at him like she hated him.

　　Had he fucked up that much? If she had let him explain...

　　He was halfway home when he realised that he would probably never see her again. It was really over.