Page 57 of Sapphire Storm

He told himself to hold his tongue.

He didn’t listen. “You know, my mom might not have been thewarmest person in the world, but she never threatened to show me the door if Ididn’t have sex I didn’t want to have. So maybe I’ve just got a different ideaof family.”

Diana was nodding, but she’d also pursed her lips and tensedher jaw, which Roman had learned was a sign of repressed, roiling anger, and herblue eyes blazed. “We’re going to leave the trust the way it is for now. That’sall for today. I’ll put in some time on the rower. You seem unfocused, and Iprefer you at your best.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Get some rest.”

She descended the steps toward the sunlit sand, leaving himtrembling with rage.

When his phone’s ring belted from the BMW’sspeakers, Roman’s name flashed in the cupholder next to him.

“I can’t…” Roman coughed between tears, tears it soundedlike he was trying to muffle. “I can’t, Ethan. You’re right. It’sher.The problem’s her. She’s a monster. I can’t…I need to get out of here or I’mgoing to do something I’ll really fuckin’ regret.”

“Okay, well, don’t do that. Just tell me what happened.”

“I told her I’d do it if she signed the trust back over tome and she said no.”

Of course she did,Ethan thought, hands tensing onthe wheel.

“Like she’s got a right to it or something, and she nevereven met the damn woman and now she’s got her house and she won’t…” A growldevoured the last of the sentence.

“Where are you?”

Roman sniffled, cleared his throat, and spoke in a steadiertone. “Locked in my bathroom like a friggin’ teenager.”

“Go to my place. There’s a key under the third rock out fromthe front door on the lefthand side. It can be yours for a while.”

“Did you already leave?”

“Yeah, but I’ll be back in a day or two.”

There was a long silence, during which he heard the soundsof Roman packing up what sounded like toiletry items and bath products—dozens ofthem. “So I didn’t lose out on the offer when I changed my mind the firsttime?” Roman asked.

“You most certainly did not. And food’s still included.”

A few sniffles later, Roman asked, “So who are you going tosee in San Diego?”

“My friend Donnie. He runs a porn studio but he doesn’t haveany shoots scheduled this week, and he got me the meeting at Sapphire Cove thatgot me the job, so I owe him a thank you dinner.”

“Which porn studio?”

“Are you a porn fan? I figured your no casual sex policymight extend to other media.”

“Hardly. I love porn. It keeps douchebags out of my house.”

Suppressing a laugh, Ethan answered, “Parker Hunter.”

“You don’t want company?” Roman asked quietly.

“Roman…”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m a mess, and I’m being too much.”

More zippers, more items being stuffed inside some kind ofbag.

“Are you?” Roman asked. “Into porn, I mean.”

“A little, I guess. I’ve been friends with Donnie for years,so I’ve seen how it gets made. It takes some of the thrill out of it, to befrank.”

“I see.”

---