I shrugged. “I had heard it was beautiful and it seemed wild and free. It was a place unlike anywhere my parents took me on holiday. No way would my mother step foot anywhere in South America, so it was the perfect place for me.”
“To rebel,” Roman said.
“To figure out who I was as a person,” I corrected. “It may have seemed like rebellion, but it was a necessity. I felt like the world I was living in was swallowing me whole. Everything was so planned and choreographed. My entire life and future was mapped out for me.”
“To marry me.”
I shook my head and paused as the waiter came to our table and opened our wine. I held my words as Roman tasted the small sample poured into his glass and nodded his approval. When the waiter left, I said, “Why I left had nothing to do with you. I wasn’t running away from you or from marrying you.”
“It felt like it,” Roman confessed.
“I loved you,” I said softly. “So much so, that it scared me. I could see how the women flocked around you. I knew that everyone would have done anything to be your bride. I also knew I was chosen, but not chosen by you. Deep down, I believed that you wouldn’t marry me unless you had to. It was your royal duty.” I took a sip of my wine and took a moment to enjoy the rich flavors dancing along my tongue. “I suppose that I believed at the time that if I sort of vanished, you would figure out a way to marry someone you chose and live your life.” I took another sip, buying time to admit another truth that I wasn’t sure I wanted to share. “Plus, I knew it was unrealistic for us to both marry after only having had sex with each other. At least for you.” When Roman opened his mouth to speak, I cut him off by raising my hand and saying, “Which is completely normal. I couldn’t expect you to never be curious or have desires for other women. You needed that, and frankly so did I. But there was no way my heart would be able to sit back and watch that happen. I didn’t want to see you lie and cheat. It would have destroyed me. So, I left so we could grow up and live life. So we could both experience other things and other people.”
“I allowed you to leave for the same reasons,” Roman admitted. “Trust me, it took all my might to not hop on a plane and chase you down. I knew I could have demanded your return and most likely had gotten my way, but I knew you needed time to… spread your wings, I guess the saying is.” He took a long drink of his wine and then leaned back in his chair with a devilish smirk. “But I knew it was just a matter of time until you would be mine again.”
Chapter Nine
Roman
“You are so fucking sexy sitting there eating that steak,” I said low enough that only Cheri could hear me. I was a man known for saying exactly what I thought which could be a bad thing in life at times, but I didn’t care. I held very little back.
Her eyes lifted from her plate and connected with mine as a tinge of pink colored the tops of her cheeks. “You’ve had too much wine,” she countered back without any hesitation. Another thing I loved about her—her sharp wit and venom-laced tongue.
“I’m serious,” I continued. “I’ve never sat across from a sexier woman.”
“Is that so? Are you going to ask me to spread my legs again so you can stare at my pussy?”
God the woman had an ability to always make me smile like some weak-kneed schoolboy whether I wanted to or not. “Maybe. If it means we get to fuck again like last time.” My cock twitched at the thought of being buried inside of her again.
“I think we should wait until our wedding night for that to happen again,” she said as she batted her eyelashes and tilted her head in feigned innocence. “I need to be the pure and innocent princess the world expects. What would the royal family think if they knew I was not a virgin?” She was trying not to laugh, but I could see the humor in her bright eyes.
“Oh fuck that. Fuck that!” I chuckled. It felt good to be able to sit across from this woman I have loved my entire life and share a meal with her, bantering back and forth. It was easy, comfortable, yet she managed to keep my blood racing through my veins at high speed. I truly could see myself spending the rest of my life with her if she would be able to immerse herself into my world. But my world was unlike any other, and though she thought she knew all that it entailed, and though she had a very small sliver of a taste tonight, she truly had no idea of what was still to come. I feared she wouldn’t want to, or be able to do what would be required next.
Next.
What came next would be far more than most women could handle.
Would my dark connections swallow up our budding romance before it even had a chance to bloom?
“What just crossed your mind?” she asked, lowering her wine to the table with a look of concern on her face. “Everything about your eyes and face seemed to darken just then.” She put a smile on her face. “I was kidding about waiting until marriage.”
I took a deep breath and darted my eyes around the room to make sure no one had seen the change in my expression that I hadn’t been aware of. “Sorry, it had nothing to do with what you said. I was just allowing the next topic I have to discuss with you creep in before I was ready to.”
“What topic?” she asked.
I didn’t want to ruin our wonderful night by discussing this matter, but I also knew there was no choice. It wasn’t fair for Cheri to get any further along in this engagement process and then throw this at her. She needed to know right off the bat what she was getting into and what would be expected.
“You have spent your entire life being groomed to be a princess,” I began.
She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.”
“But you were groomed for the young, innocent, and naïve parts you were privy to.”
“Okay,” she said with a furrowed brow. “What are you getting at?”
“I’m a powerful man who associates with other powerful people.”
“So, you are saying that our dinner parties aren’t going to be the norm. I get it.”
I shook my head slowly and poured more wine into our glasses. She was going to need it after I got done telling her what I needed to say. “You don’t get it. Power does not come with clean hands. Wealth comes with new rules. A darker law is formed among those who rule over their own empire. Secrets make up the backbone of the society in which I walk. Secrets that have to be protected at all costs.”
“Roman, you aren’t making any sense.”
“Like you, I’ve been groomed my entire life to someday be a king. Though it’s unlikely due to my older brother getting that crown, I was still prepared in all ways for that day to come. I have spent my entire life surrounded by powerful men and women who can be crafty, ruthless, heartless, and cruel at times if they have to. Wealth and power often forces one’s hand.” I needed to get to the point. I realized my trying to sugarcoat this was only confusing Cheri. “I am part of a secret society called The Iron Colt Brotherhood. I was born into it. It’s a society that is made up of old money, new money, royal money, stolen money, and blood money. Unlike some members, I didn’t get to choose to be part of it, but regardless, I am. Once you are a member, you are always a member. There’s no leaving it.”