The Sin of Him

20

It gets a littleeeee steamy here....

I stare at Julien and concern for Roman falls over me. I can see the visible stillness of Roman as his jaw works and his body stiffens. I grip Roman's hand tighter.

"I see you are ready for the fight?" Julien asks. His stature makes him seem like a rich, established man. But his tone is is filled with secrets and lies. I watch Roman nod stiffly. His hazel eyes illuminated by the neon lights in the dark room. "This is big for you Roman, don't let me down now." He says and it makes me frown.

Roman gives a dark chuckle. "Of course this is about you," Roman says, sarcasm filling his rasp.

Julien doesn't look impressed. He gets closer to Roman, his body angled to whisper in his ear. "You loss this fight, and I'll make sure you regret it." Julien's eyes trail to me. "And your pretty little girl too,"

Romans glare goes venomous. Roman lunges toward him but Julien walks away before Roman can make a move, smirking as he disappears into the crowd.

I sadly look back up at Roman who has a tortured expression on his face. He meets my eyes and none of the tension goes away. "You have to stop fighting," I say, moving my hand across his shoulder.

Roman makes a frustrated sigh. "It's not that easy, Brooke," He snaps. "Nothing is. And it's exactly why I didn't want to drag you into the shit show I call life, in the first place," He says, clearly angry.

I sigh. "Roman, it doesn't have to be that way. Nothing is impossible."

Roman rolls his eyes. "Brooke, this isn't some job I can just quit. I could be killed." He says flatly, making me shiver. "You, could be killed. I will never let that happen."

His eyes search mine, waiting for me to see what he does. I shake my head. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen, I-"

"Brooke," He grunts harshly. "You don't understand, this," He points out to the insane crowd. "This, is my life. My mom is a fucking drug addict, alcoholic, probably dead on the street somewhere. My dad didn't even know I existed until I was 18, and lives with his new perfect family that makes me want to throw my fist through a wall." He's even angrier now, he's revealing more stuff to me than he ever has. "I didn't grow up in the suburbs or have a family who truly loved me like you did. This is how I've been forced to live, Brooke. And I can't keep risking you."

Tears fill my eyes as I watch him crack in front of me. I now realize how all of my realizations about him connect. He's never had anything stick. His whole life has been lies. He thinks he's a lie.

"Me having you is almost like some sick joke from the universe," He says, making me want to cry even more. "I think you should leave,"

My eyes widen. "What? No. I'm not leaving you here." I say sternly.

His face is emotionless. "I'll have Natasha take you back."

He turns his body away from me but I yank his arm to turn toward me, tears falling free from my eyes. "Roman, I'm not a joke. I'm here. For you. I'll never, ever lie to you. I'm standing right here because..."

He waits for me to answer. "Because what Brooke?" He yells.

The tears falling from my eyes and the emotions I feel right now are the exact reason why I love him. "Because I love you," I say back and Roman's face twists with disbelief.

He looks so taken aback the he looks like he could fall over. He bumps into someone behind him and then he rushes away.

"Roman!" I yell. Telling him was the worst idea I could come up with. I run after him and get to the door to see him pacing out in the rain, his suit and hair slick with the rain drops.