“My plans changed. I could have been here a lot sooner if you would have called me, though. I didn’t find out until I ran into Joe back at the house.”
Roman’s eyebrows cinch together. “Wait, you were flying home in the middle of the night for some other reason? I told Joe not to call you, but when you walked in, I figured he must have, but it was something else?”
“That’s not important right now.” I suck in a sharp breath. “Tell me what happened.”
Roman looks like he wants to press me for more, but he doesn’t. At least for now.
“It’s not a big deal, Maddie. I’m fine, I told you. It’s barely a flesh wound.” As tough as he wants to seem, his face is pale and his eyes are sunken in. He looks completely worn out.
“Not a big deal?” I laugh sharply. “Roman, you were stabbed in your house while your son slept upstairs. By a man who has been hunting you down for months. And you lost so much blood you lost consciousness.”
He rolls his eyes, raking his fingers through his hair. “Lost consciousness is kind of dramatic. I was just dizzy and a little out of it.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” I bite my lip.
“Because I figured I’d tell you when you got home tomorrow. I knew you were busy, and you didn’t really want to talk to me.”
“Jesus, Roman!” Part of me wants to reach out and slap him, and if he wasn’t lying in a hospital bed, I might have. “Even if we’re fighting, it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t want to know that you got hurt—attacked! Do you have any idea how scared I was when Joe told me? Imagine if that was me and I didn’t tell you. You wouldn’t take that well.”
“You’re right.” He swallows. “I wouldn’t. I’d be fucking pissed.”
“Yeah, well, the feeling is mutual.” I glare, folding my arms over my chest. “Sometimes you can be so impossible. It’s stupid and immature to not tell me about your near death experience because we had a little argument.”
“Hey…” Roman props himself up, brushing a strand of hair off of my cheek. “You’re a hundred percent right. It was dumb. And I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again. Next time, you’re my first call. I promise.”
Next time.Two words have never felt heavier.
Tears threaten to fall again. “I don’t want you to say that just to placate me. I want you to say it because you mean it.”
“I do mean it, baby. I swear.” His hand slips to the back of my neck and he pulls me forward. His kiss is different. It’s emotional and raw and passionate in the softest of ways. When he rests his forehead against mine, our noses brush. “I’m sorry, Maddie. I should have called. But you know what? This might have been a blessing in disguise. Dante was able to pull a clear picture of the guy off of my security camera and they’re going after him now. We’re that much closer to catching him.”
“But at what expense?” I appreciate the way Roman can find the silver lining, because I just can’t see it right now.
“Maddie, baby, you’ve got to relax.” A small smile is on his lips. “It barely even hurts. I got a couple stitches, and the only reason I’m still here is for observation to be sure there’s no infection.”
“Can I see it?”
“Of course.” Roman lifts his shirt, exposing a long wound on his abdomen. I gently run my fingers along it, counting each individual stitch. Twenty-five, which is way more than a couple like he tried to convince me of.
“Does that hurt?” I ask.
“Not at all.” He grins. “In fact, the way you’re rubbing my chest…that’s the best I’ve felt in days.”
“Very funny. You know, three centimeters to the right and he would have nicked your abdominal aorta, and we’d be in a much different situation.” It’s actually amazing he didn’t. That artery goes directly to the heart. Roman would have bled out before he could have even made a phone call to get help.
“God, you are so sexy when you use medical words like that.” Roman certainly hasn’t lost any of his spitfire and that’s a comfort. His banter is starting to calm me down a little, too, and I can almost feel my heart rate slowing. “Now, can we talk about something else? Like, why you came home early?”
“No, we can’t talk about that,” I say definitively. I’m still processing everything, and I’m not ready to tell the story.
Roman gives me a sympathetic smile. “That bad, huh?”
“I said, I don’t want to talk about it, Roman.” I try to stand, but he catches my wrist and pulls me back.
“Fine. You don’t have to talk at all, because I have plenty I want to say.” His face falls a bit. “Starting with congratulations.”
“Congratulations?”
“Yes. Congratulations on the offer to join the program in LA. It’s incredible, and I know how hard you’ve worked for it, and I am so fucking proud of you. I should have told you that the other night.”
