Page 142 of Ruthless Contract
By the time I reached the last page, my hands were shaking with rage. I slammed the folder shut.
“Have you completely lost your damn mind?” I asked. “There’s no way I’m signing this shit.”
Rome didn’t flinch. He didn’t yell at me. Nor did he look surprised at my refusal to sign. That pissed me off even more for some reason. I threw the folder at him, hitting him squarely in his chest.
“I’m not signing that,” I insisted. “If you want my life in exchange for what happened, take it. But I’m not signing that contract.”
For a moment, silence stretched between us. Then he set his glass down and pressed a button on his laptop. My heart stopped.
“Camera Four,” he started.
My eyes widened. The man’s voice came through the speaker.
“Yeah, boss?”
Rome’s gaze never left mine. “Move in.”
“Wait!” The word tore out of me, and it was laced with pure anguish.
“On it, boss,” the man said.
“No! Rome, wait,” I said, panicking. “I’ll sign it. I’ll sign the contract.”
I despised the way my voice trembled, revealing how weak I was. My gaze moved to the screen. There was movement on camera four. One of Rome's men was approaching Dayana's house.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Rome, I’ll sign,” I rushed to say. “Give it back to me. I’ll sign it.”
I chanced a glance at the camera feed. The guy was almost to Dayana’s door. Her motion detector lights should be coming on right now. None of that was happening. She had no idea death was approaching her house.
“I’ll sign, Rome,” I cried, a fucking tear trailing down my cheek. “I want to sign it.”
Another tear crept down my face as Rome pushed a button on the laptop again.
“Camera four,” he said. “Fall back.”
“Yes, boss.”
Relief surged through me as the man started backing away from Dayana’s home. A sob rose in my throat, and it took all my strength to keep from falling apart right here, right now. He was not bluffing.
Yeah, some part of me had wanted to believe he wouldn’t actually do it. I’d wanted to believe in our love, and I’d hoped there was a way forward from this somehow. I’d wanted to believe my Romeo was still in there somewhere.
Looking at the man sitting across from me, I realized Romeo was gone. He knew he’d won. He knew he’d defeated me, broken me. And I hated him for this. I loathed him almost as much as I loved him.
“Give me the damn contract,” I demanded, trying to make myself sound and feel more in control than I was.
Unbothered by my attitude, he picked the folder up from his lap and opened it.
“You read it carefully?” he asked.
“Carefully enough,” I countered.
“Do you understand what I expect from you?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Do you understand why I’m doing this?” he added.
