Chapter 7 - The Heat of the Night
The adrenaline that had sustained me through the confrontation in the lobby evaporated the moment the elevator doors closed, whisking Roman and me back up to the penthouse.
My knees felt weak. I leaned against the back wall of the elevator, taking deep, shaky breaths.
"Are you alright?" Roman asked, stepping close to me, his dark eyes filled with genuine concern.
"I just destroyed my family," I whispered, looking down at my hands.
"No," Roman said firmly, taking both of my hands in his, forcing me to look at him. "You defended yourself against parasites who spent twenty-four years draining your lifeblood. You were incredible down there, Sadie. You stood your ground like a queen."
The elevator chimed, opening into the warm, sun-dimmed sanctuary of the penthouse.
We walked into the living room. The night city lights sparkled through the glass walls like a sea of diamonds. The heavy tension of the evening seemed to dissolve into the quiet, intimate atmosphere of the high-altitude space.
I turned to Roman, looking up at his towering frame, his sharp jaw, the dark ink framing his throat. The fear of being abandoned, the pain of my parents' betrayal, and the intense, burning attraction I had been suppressing for weeks suddenly collided inside my chest.
"Thank you," I murmured.
"For what?"
"For standing beside me," I said softly. "Nobody has ever stood beside me before."
Roman stared down at me, his dark eyes darkening further, swirling with a dangerous, heavy hunger. "I will always stand beside you, Sadie. Against your father, against the city, against the whole damn world."
He didn't pull away. He reached out, his hand cupping the back of my neck, his thumb caressing the soft skin beneath my ear. The warmth of his body radiated off him, wrapping around me like a velvet blanket.
"Roman," I whispered, my heart hammering like a trapped bird.
"Tell me to stop, Sadie," he growled low in his chest, his face descending slowly toward mine. "Tell me right now, or I won't be able to."
I didn't tell him to stop. Instead, I stood on my tiptoes, reached up, and wrapped my arms around his broad neck, pulling him down to me.
Our lips met in a fierce, breathless collision.
The kiss wasn't gentle; it was a hungry, desperate claim that consumed us both. Roman let out a low groan, his arms wrapping tightly around my waist, lifting me off my feet as if I weighed nothing, pulling my body flush against his hard chest.
I buried my hands in his thick dark hair, melting into the heat of his mouth, giving him everything I had held back for years. He carried me across the living room to the massive leather sofa, setting me down gently before leaning over me, his dark eyes burning down into mine.
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"You are not collateral, Sadie," Roman whispered against my lips, his hand tracing the curve of my waist, sending electricity through every nerve ending. "You are everything."
That night, on the high floor above the storm of the city, I gave myself to Roman Costa—not as a captive, not as a debt settlement, but as a woman who had finally found the one man strong enough to cherish her strength.
