We might not have ever been more than physical, but I did care for her in my own way.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said after she picked up on the second ring.

“Jesus, where have you been? I’ve been calling all day.” She sounded edgy and stressed, the very opposite of her normal disposition.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I immediately thought of her and her child, all alone.

“I’m fine. We’re both fine. It’s you I’m calling about.”

“Me? Why me?” I said, astonished.

“Do you know a woman named Lauren?” she asked.

My heart skidded to a halt in that moment, and I sank down to the soft mattress of the bed.

“Yes. Why?” I asked in hesitation.

“She was here—in the club, asking about you.”

“Lauren was?” My hands started to shake for no apparent reason. But I knew the reason. My body knew it before my brain could even register the idea of it.

Lauren… Jo… Tyler…

All roads led to Cara.

“What did she ask you?” I asked, not really caring. I knew it was only a matter of time now.

“She wanted to know how I knew you. Wanted to know why I was here the night Tyler’s company was here. I didn’t tell her anything, Roman, I swear. But, Christ… she knows. I don’t know how, but she knows.”

“Thanks, Jo,” I said,

“You okay, Roman?” she asked.

“No,” I answered. “I think my self-destruct button just initiated.”

“What?”

“I’ve gotta go.” I hung up.

I guessed my little brother was right after all.

Turned out I could sabotage my life… even when I wasn’t trying.

“You’ve seriously outdone yourself,” Cara said, looking around at our private dining room.

The staff had been the ones to really outshine themselves, adorning the room in tiny twinkling lights and lavish flower arrangements. It was the kind of dinner a man would arrange for a proposal or a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

When the manager had asked what we were celebrating, I’d laughed, saying one beautiful month together. I’d thought he might call me crazy.

Instead, he’d said, “Perfect. Don’t hold back.”

And I hadn’t.

Looking at her now, dressed in a beautiful satin gown that was both classy and downright sexy all at the same time, it nearly made my heart ache.

Would this be the last celebration?

I’d tried to put it out of my memory, but Lauren was clearly out for blood, and I was her target. Why? I didn’t know. Maybe she was still upset that I’d passed up her offer all those months ago.

She seemed like the type who got her way most of the time.

I should know.

But not everything went my way… no matter how much I wanted it to.