FORBIDDEN (#1)

Chapter 19

"This picture of us is circling the internet? Why?" I asked, not understanding. It was just an innocent picture of us basically having a staring contest. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, messing up the neat style it was in.

"My family is known around the world. Everything we do is scrutinized and paparazzi are everywhere, hoping to document every little thing going on in my life."

I digested his words. "So, you're really that famous?" I knew he was known, but not to the point of paparazzi trying to capture every moment of his life. He nodded. I sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "The picture is harmless though, so why is your father making a big deal out of it?"

"Because of what the tabloids are saying. They think I'm cheating on Lisa with you, and he's worried about other people's opinions. I couldn't care less." He explained to me as he sank back into his chair. Oh. I guess that would look bad for him.

"Well, there's not much you could do about it since it's out there now, so I guess the only thing is to wait it out and wait for the next big story." I shrugged and stood up, thinking about what I had to do next. This tabloid thing wasn't a big deal to me. At least I looked decent in the picture.

"Yeah," Roman mumbled and I glanced at him to see that he still had that worried look on his face. I decided to give him some space and look for the file that I noticed was missing from his cabinet in his office. I made my way to the file room and noticed that some of the stares from my coworkers were lingering a little too long. I brushed it off as me being paranoid and reached the elevator to take me to the file room.

"Violett."

I looked around to see who called my name and my eyes landed on Mason who was walking my way with a frown on his face.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, stepping into the empty elevator when the doors opened. He joined me and shook his head when we locked eyes. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Whatever is happening between you and Drakos needs to stop immediately. He's in a relationship, Violett. This doesn't look good for either of you, but especially you." His tone was serious, and his face showed no hint of humor. I scoffed, pressing the button to take me to the file room.

"So, you actually believe the tabloids like that? You didn't even come to me with the benefit of the doubt and ask if anything was actually going on or not. Wow, nice to know you think highly of me, brother." I moved to the other side of the elevator, suddenly pissed. I would've thought my own brother out of everyone would come to me with questions rather than accusations. He paced in the elevator, placing his hands on his hips, and sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? The picture just really looks incriminating, and the tabloids are having a field day with this. We need to give them another story to talk about, shut down these rumors. Is anything happening between you and Drakos?" he asked me, genuine worry on his face.

"No, Mason. Nothing is happening between me and Roman. He was just taking me home one night because I was a little drunk. He drove me home and that was it." I told him, grateful for the elevator doors opening. I was getting tired of being interrogated and accused. Mason followed me to the file room.

"Okay, I believe you, but you'll need to convince others of that. Because everyone thinks you're sleeping with him."

I rolled my eyes at his words and turned to face him. "I don't need to convince anyone of anything. Let people believe what they want, I don't care."

Mason chuckled, shaking his head. "You really have no idea how famous this family and company is, do you? Something like this is a big deal to them. This can't stand, especially with their conservative investors. They're having a meeting about this after your shift, so meet in the meeting room when you're done, okay?"

A meeting? About a harmless picture? What the hell. I sighed. "Fine." I dismissed him with a wave of my hand, and I could see the disappointment in his eyes. It was as if he didn't really believe me that there was nothing going on despite him saying he did. He left and I turned my attention to the files, slowly looking for the missing one. I didn't want to continue to think about the situation, but Roman's father yelling at him and calling me a whore stayed on my mind. Was that really the first thing that came to his mind after seeing me in a picture with his son? Is that what other people thought about me? Maybe I was actually getting those lingering stares because of this situation. 

My stomach turned in knots at the thought of being in a room full of people thinking of me like that because of a harmless picture. What could even be done to stop the media from continuing this narrative? Wouldn't a simple statement be enough? There was no need for an entire meeting about it. 

I spend the next twenty minutes dwelling on the situation while looking for the file, and when I still couldn't find it, I went back to Roman's office. He was on the phone, pacing around the room by the windows, so I went over my notes I took for the day and organized them. The rest of my day was spent jotting down small notes from his phone conversations and then reorganizing his files because the system was a mess. I tried my best not to think about the meeting that was going to take place soon, but it was hard, and I felt like I was going to puke by the time my shift was over.

"Were you told about the meeting?" Roman's voice interrupted my thoughts, and I almost dropped the files in my hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He apologized, reaching a hand out, but then dropped it back to his side. He had a tight expression on his face that was unreadable, and his eyes were filled with so many emotions at once, I couldn't figure out how he was feeling.

"It's okay. Yes, my brother told me. Were you told to be there as well?" I asked, filing away the folders in my hand. He nodded.

"Yes. It's about to start, so we should probably go."

My brows scrunched at his tone, but I didn't want to question him. He sounded...defeated? There was something about his expression and tone that made me nervous. I'd never seen him this serious before. I nodded at him and let him lead the way to the meeting room. It wasn't a far walk and when we made it to the room, Roman paused, hand hovering over the knob.

"I'm sorry about this." He murmured, making my brows scrunch.

"For what? You didn't do anything." I placed a hand on his arm, and he froze. I dropped my hand.

"For what's about to happen."

He opened the door before I could question him and I entered the room after him, stopping when all eyes turned to me. My brother was here, sitting on one side of the table, and next to him was Colton, which confused me because he had nothing to do with the situation. Lisa was sitting on the other side of the long table, green eyes hard as steel and narrowed at me. And at the head of the table sat the bearer of bad news himself, Roman's father.