Page 38 of Hate to Crave You
Roman
He’d threatenedtodemotehim.
Roman was still in shock about it.
Out of all the things that could have happened in the past few days, this was the last thing he’d expected.
His last encounter with his father had been terse to the point of being ugly and Michael Montrose’s parting shot had been, “If this goes sideways, don’t be surprised if you end up getting demoted, Roman. I still can’t believe you fucked this up so badly.”
Humiliation and anger burned in the pit of his belly as he paced the confines of his condo.
It had never felt so…confiningbefore.
He felt like he’d come out of his skin and the idea of being trapped in here with nothing but his own anger was more than he could handle.
He had his phone in hand before he realized it and Julianna’s number was on the screen.
Why was he thinking about calling her?
It washerfault this entire mess had happened.
Except…was it really?
All she’d done was exactly what he would have done—whatever was necessary to protect her best interests.
He’d been thinking how he regretted what he’d had to do and she’d already been protecting her own back.
He couldn’t help but admire that. It was like she’d known what was coming.
Or had expected it, to some extent.
Because she would have done the same thing, he told himself, still staring at his phone.
And she had the balls to tell him he’d beenfun.
“That’s it,” he muttered.
He punched in a message and sent it to her, although he wasn’t entirely certain if she’d respond. She’d gotten what she wanted from him and was probably laughing her ass off at him.
But to his surprise, she responded almost immediately.
She was coming.
Anticipation unlike anything he’d ever known curled inside him.
And under it lay a bright edge of fury.
* * *
It tookher exactly twenty-nine minutes to arrive.
Roman had checked the time.
He stood outside, leaning against the marble exterior of the building, hands tucked into the pockets of his coat, watching the streets and searching for the sleek black car she’d arrived in the last time he’d seen her.
But she arrived via taxi.
As she stepped out, he moved to meet her. Casting an eye over the yellow cab, he asked, “Out slumming?”
