All I've Never Wanted(20)
An angry hiss escaped Roman's lips, her insult finally setting off his temper's already short fuse. He violently yanked open the door, surprising the girl inside and causing her to nearly tumble on the ground.
To her credit, Maya stumbled only a bit before straightening up and brushing off her skirt. Sparks of fire were practically flying out of her eyes as she glared at him.
Roman glared back. What the f*ck did she have to be angry about? He hadn't been the one insulting her in front of her own house!
"Drive me home right now!"
Roman's jaw nearly dropped at her astonishing demand. No one talked to him like that! Where was the groveling, the simpering, the fear? This was unacceptable!
"Do I look like your goddamned chauffeur?" he ground out, his voice low and dangerous.
She tilted her chin up stubbornly. "Since you apparently like driving me around so much, I would say yes, you rather do."
Her haughty tone of voice made Roman's blood boil until he was afraid he would explode. "God, you're a bitch!"
"Bitch. How original. Is that the best you can come up with?"
Roman's hands clenched into fists before he raised one arm, causing Maya to flinch.
He noted this with smug satisfaction. Though he would never hit a girl, it gave him immense pleasure to see her squirm. Gripping one of her arms, he dragged her toward the front entrance without a word.
"Let me go! What are you doing?" Maya struggled to escape his grasp, but it was like an iron shackle on her forearm.
Roman stormed into the foyer, dragging the unwilling girl behind him and tuning out her inane babble, even as he tried to ignore how soft and smooth her skin felt.
Suddenly, he froze, causing Maya to slam into his back. He barely noticed. Soft and smooth…? Where the hell had that thought come from?
Shaking his head slightly, Roman set his jaw and resumed his trek through the house. He need to get rid of this girl somehow, and fast. She was driving him crazier than he'd ever thought he could be.
* * *
"Eat."
I stared suspiciously at the admittedly delicious-looking slice of chocolate cake in front of me but made no move to touch it.
"No," I said, rather stubbornly. I knew I was being difficult, but can you blame me? The spawn of Satan decided to kidnap me after school, bring me to his house, mock me, and he was now…feeding me chocolate cake? Hmmm, now which one of those does not fit in with the others?
Roman narrowed his eyes at me from across the tile counter. "It's not poisoned, you know."
I sniffed disbelievingly. I had no way of knowing whether or not it really was poisoned—I wouldn't put it past him. Besides, even if it wasn't, I in no way wanted to ingest something that was even remotely associated with the name Fiori.
"Why don't you just cut to the chase and explain to me why I'm here," I snapped, shifting on the stool I was currently perched on.
A part of me was aware how ridiculous this scene was, me and Roman Fiori, chatting over cake in his obscenely huge kitchen.
Well, we weren't really chatting, but you get the idea.
"If you're not going to eat the cake, then I will," Roman said, ignoring my request. Without waiting for an answer, he slid the plate back over to his side and spooned a creamy chocolate chunk into his mouth.
I swallowed as my mouth involuntarily watered. Damn it…To make matters worse, my stomach chose just that moment to let out a loud, hungry growl, like it was scolding me for only feeding it a sandwich and some water today.
Roman smirked, but didn't offer me the cake again. Bastard.
Not that I would've changed my mind and accepted the offer, of course.
I glared at him. "I know you have an ulterior motive for bringing me here, so you might as well just spit it out." My fingers tightened on the edge of the table. "Do you have a mob waiting to finish me off once and for all?”
"Please," Roman scoffed. "Like I need a mob to finish you off."
"Right. So it's not like your twisted plan to run me out of school hadn't failed or anything," I retorted sweetly. I almost flinched when the words left my mouth. I was playing with fire here, but I couldn't help it. There was something about him that just makes me blurt things out without thinking.
Roman's suspiciously (and unusually) calm demeanor cracked a bit and I could see anger flare up in that chiseled face of his again.
Such a shame, really, that someone so good-looking could be such a monster…
Wait, what the heck? Why was I even thinking that? I should not be focusing on his looks right now! It’s not like I was one of his mindless groupies.
Get it together, Lindberg.
"The game isn't over yet," he snarled, before getting a hold of himself. Calming down once again, he eyed me speculatively. "But since you want to know so bad, I brought you here to offer you a means of surrender."
"A means of surrender…" I repeated slowly. This was going to be good.
"Yes." Roman straightened up and studied me the way a lab assistant would study a research subject under a microscope. "If you surrender and publicly apologize for the rude way you spoke to me at the party, promising to stay out of my way and never cross me again, I will see to it that all the…inconveniences you've been experiencing lately will cease."
"Inconveniences."