Page 266 of Love Me in the Dark
I flinch before I can stop myself.
He notices.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Ivy.”
I laugh, unable to help myself. The sound is sharp, short, humorless. “You drugged me. You broke into my home. Youtookme. You really think ‘I’m not going to hurt you’ counts as reassurance right now?” I’m starting to panic. “I don’t even know your fuckingname!” I practically scream.
His expression doesn’t change. But his voice softens just slightly.
“I took you because you weren’t safe there. Because that apartment, that job, that life, all of it was killing you slowly. No one saw it. No one cared.”
He takes another step forward. Close now. Too close.
“But I did. I saw you.” His voice is so low. So melodic. A siren’s song meant to ensnare me and drag me to my death. “My name is Roman O’Rourke.”
“I don’t know you,” I whisper. But that’s a lie. I know that name. He owns Everview. He owns the company I work for.
“You will.”
I shake my head. “You think this is some twisted version of saving me? You’ve erased my life.”
“No,” he says. “I’vereplacedit. With something better.”
I stare at him and realize I’m not looking at a man who lost control.
I’m looking at one who planned every second of this, and probably enjoyed doing it.
I don’t ask the obvious questions.
Not yet.
I already know the answers won’t help me.
So instead, I look at him and take in every single detail I can. This man who claims I was invisible to the world until he decided to see me, perfection in the form of an obviously flawed man. And I ask the one thing that actually matters.
“What about the man on the corner?”
He tilts his head, a faint crease forming between his brows. “What man?”
“The one who sits outside the bodega. The one who watches the street every night.” My voice is sharper now, more urgent. “He’s the reason I’m still breathing. He stepped in. He protected me when someone tried to hurt me.”
Roman studies me like I’ve surprised him.
Like I’ve said the one thing he didn’t calculate for.
“I know he’s nothing to you,” I continue, stepping forward. “But he’s something to me. And he’s going to notice when I don’t come back.”
Roman is quiet for a beat.
Then, “He’s already noticed.”
My stomach twists. “What did you do?”
He blinks, slowly. “I made sure he’s warm. Fed. Safe. One of my men offered him a place in a private shelter two blocks over and cash in hand, no ID required. He took it.”
I don’t know if I believe him.
But I want to.
