“N-no.” Anne choked on the lie. “Roman, it’s not—”
Roman pressed a finger to his lips to shush her. “I don’t care about all that. And before you ask, don’t worry. I haven’t mentioned a word to Mark, though I did consider it. I think a husband has a right to know when he’s being followed. From experience.”
Anne felt the color drain from her face. Her fingers trembled. She had blown everything. The only scenario worse than Anne confronting her husband about the affair, about the PI and the stalking and everything else, was someone else beating her to the punch. Especially someone like Roman.
It was with a slow dawning of realization that Anne saw there was more to Roman than she had anticipated. His silences weren’t accidentally awkward—they were planned, manipulative devices. He had a way with words, the ability to twist them, stretching and expanding and shrinking them until they were mere remnants of their former selves, like a stretched-out rubber band left to curl in on itself after the elasticity had tired.
Anne was also certain that Roman was aware of his looks and the effect they had on women. However, this evening, Roman didn’t need to use his looks or his cunning or his twisted silences to spark fear in Anne. He was using pure, old-fashioned techniques. Blackmail.
“What do you want me to say?” Anne’s body quivered as she hovered in the chasm between anger and terror. “Whatever Mark and I discuss—or don’t discuss—is our personal business.”
“Fair enough, but I’ve gone and made it my business.” Roman eased back in his seat. “But this doesn’t need to be difficult, Anne. I need something, and you can get it. Look at it like a business arrangement.”
Anne glanced down at her feet. The urge to leave the room built up, bubbling just beneath the surface. She had half a mind to swing her purse over her shoulder and stomp the half mile back to her car. But Roman had her pinned to the chair, and he knew it.
“I knew when Eliza fired the maid, even though she tried to keep the place clean herself. I knew she funneled chunks of money into my account every month like an allowance. It’s like she thinks I’m her little puppy dog on a leash—cute, playful, but too stupid to manage my own life. Do you know how humiliating that is for a man?”
“I swear I didn’t know any of that.”
“You didn’t, but I did,” Roman said. “That’s the thing, Anne. I know everything.”
“I don’t see how this has anything to do with Mark or me.”
“We can make this quick.” Roman was watching her with pity in his gaze. “Luke is a buddy of mine. We didn’t start out that way, but when I suspected he was following me, I turned the tables on Eliza. It’s sad, really. Our marriage wasn’t always doomed. I loved her. Still do, even.”
“I think you should talk to Eliza. You guys can sort it out, I’m sure. Eliza is crazy about you.”
“She was, maybe still is in her own strange way. But I can’t trust her anymore.”
“She only hired a PI because she thought you were having an affair.”
“After all we’ve been through, she should trust me. I married her so she could stay in the country.”
“You married her because you knew she’d provide a comfy, cozy life for you,” Anne retorted, unable to help herself. “You’re no saint, Roman.”
“No, I don’t think I am,” Roman said. “In fact, that’s why we’re here tonight.”
“Where exactly is here?”
“I know your secrets. Better yet, I know Mark’s. And you’ll do everything in your power to protect him, which is where I come in. That’s the beauty of a marriage like yours, Anne—it’s not over yet. You two can make things work.”
“What do you mean?”
“I paid Luke Hamilton more than Eliza was offering.” Roman gave a thin smile. “I bought the information your private investigator was supposed to be providing to you.”
Anne felt her stomach sink. “That’s not ethical of Luke.”
“Is having your husband followed without his knowledge ethical?”
Roman let the question hang between them for a long moment. “Like I said, I did love Eliza. Still do. But I don’t like when people underestimate me. My father’s been doing that for years, and I don’t need it from anyone else.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Oh, Anne. You know it, I know it, Eliza knows it,” Roman said. “Unless I turn into Tom Cruise overnight, my own father will always be disappointed in me. And my mother… I think she’s afraid of me.”
“Why would that be?” Anne managed.
“I think she’s afraid I’ll turn out like my father.” Roman gave Anne a darkly thin smile. “And we wouldn’t want that.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Feels good to get it off my chest,” Roman said easily. “It’s nice to talk to someone who won’t report my father to the police because I shared his dirty little secret. He hits her, you know. But my mother will never leave him. I called the cops once when I was seven. When they showed up, she denied everything, told them I made it up for attention. How do you think that made me feel?”
“That’s awful, Roman. I am so sorry.”
“Do you know what I just can’t figure?” Roman sat back in his seat, looking deep in thought. “They love each other. Really, truly, in some twisted way. Isn’t that fucked up?”
“Are you like him?” Anne asked quietly. “Have you ever—”
“Don’t play the saint, Anne. I’m not the one who left my kids for three days without a word. You’re just as fucked up as I am. We all are.”
Anne’s throat began to close. “You still haven’t told me why I’m here.”
“I want money. I thought that’d be obvious.”
“From me?” Anne gaped. “I don’t have money. Plus, you and Eliza are loaded.”
“Were loaded,” Roman said. “Past tense. And I don’t like to give up pretty things. That’s where you’ll help me out.”
“How’d you get the money for Luke, then? He’s not cheap.”
“No, but like I said, we used to have money. Those morsels Eliza doled into my account bit by bit—she thought I squandered the money on stupid, frivolous things. On women, fancy dinners, hotels, the like. Paranoid, that one. It’s a miracle she hasn’t had you followed after your little incident.”
Anne swallowed hard. “You saved the money, I’m guessing?”
“Tucked it safely away.” Roman leaned forward, his elbows coming to rest on his knees, his eyes gleaming with confidence. “The truth is, Anne, if I want a woman, I don’t pay for her company.”
Anne felt her cheeks heating.
“Don’t worry. It’s not you I want.” Roman’s eyes flicked over her. “If I was looking for a woman’s company, I could do better than a housewife who spends her free time spying on her husband.”
Anne flew to her feet. “What the hell is wrong with you, Roman?”