Rome for Always (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (17 page)

It was not a good sign but he pressed on. “If you could
just tell Arie the truth it would clear the air once and for all. Please. Tell
her your position because she won’t believe me.”

Iyana lifted an eyebrow as she shifted her attention to
him. “My position?”

“Yes, tell Arie exactly how you feel about me.” Rome had
to fight to keep the impatience out of his voice. “That’s all I ask and then I
won’t bother you ever again.”

For several seconds Iyana just stared back at him, her
eyes bleak. When she finally spoke her voice was low. “I’m not sure you want me
to do that,” she said.

Losing the battle to his annoyance, Rome glared at her. “Why
the hell not?”

“Because,” she said, as she looked him straight in the
eyes, “I’m in love with you.” 

***

“What the…” Rome felt the blood drain from his face. “What
did you say?”

Iyana did not repeat herself. She just sat there,
staring back at him, her eyes defiant.

“I knew it. How could you? Have you been cheating on me?"
With those words, the first she had spoken since Iyana’s arrival, Arie exploded.
But the target of her tirade was not Iyana but Rome.

And Rome was floored. His world was crumbling around his
ears and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Arie was bristling beside
him but his eyes were fixed on Iyana. “Why the devil would you say something
like that?” he demanded, the anger mounting inside him.

“Because it’s true.” And those words, so simply but so
clearly expressed, were what finally damned him.

As soon as the words left Iyana’s lips Arie tore into
him. “So this woman has been working for you, how long? Almost two years?
Working with you every day, in love with you, and you had no idea? Do you
expect me to believe that?” Suddenly, she switched from Rome to the other woman.
“Were you involved with Rome?”

Iyana was beginning to look sullen but she answered
nonetheless. “Not physically, no.” Emphasis on the word ‘physically’. And the
way she said it, soft and seductive, made it seem like, physical or not,
there’d been a whole lot going on.

And if Rome hadn’t known it before, he knew it now – he
was in big trouble.

“Okay, I’ve answered your question,” Iyana said, rising.
“I’ve got to go.” And just like that, after dropping her bombshell, she walked
away, leaving Rome in the deepest mess he’d been in, in his life.

“So there was nothing going on between the two of you,
right?” Arie’s tone was so sarcastic it was clear she meant the exact opposite.
“You had an emotional thing going and yet you said there was nothing between
the two of you.” Her eyes flashing, she clenched her teeth as she bit out the
words. “What did you guys do all day? Flirt with each other?” And then, as if a
thought suddenly struck her, she gasped. “You took her on that trip with you,
that trip to Italy. You told me it was just business but it was a lot more than
that.” She gave him a look so full of hurt that his heart quaked. For the
second time that night she cried, “How could you?”

Arie shot up from her chair and grabbed her purse. “I’m
leaving.”

Her movement shocked Rome out of his stupor and he
reached out to grab her hand. “No, wait. We have to talk. It’s not what you
think.”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at him. “Isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not. Sit down Arie. You can’t leave in the
heat of the moment like this, not until we talk.” Rome kept his voice low and
even but inside he was in turmoil. Would she think of leaving him over
something as petty as this? He would never let that happen. He had to make her
see the truth.

But Arie would not budge. “No,” she said, pulling her
hand from his grasp. “I can’t bear to sit here with you a minute longer. I
need…” She put a hand to her forehead, looking bewildered. “I need some time…to
think about this.” Then she shook her head. "I…we need to take a break for
a while. I can’t deal with this.” With a sob, she turned and hurried away,
practically running out the door.

And Rome sat there watching her flight, wanting to run
after her but knowing that right now she needed her space.

He could only hope that when he reached out to her, her
emotions would have settled enough so that he could tell her his side of the
story.

***

“Good morning, Mrs. Mullings.” Rome gave his temp what
he hoped was a pleasant smile even though he felt like his heart had died
inside. It had been four days since he’d last seen his fiancee and with each
day that passed he was falling deeper and deeper into despair. Would he ever regain
the love and respect of his beloved Arie?

He walked into his office and closed the door behind him
then dropped his laptop bag on the desk and sank down into his chair. He was
definitely in no mood to work today. Deep in thought, he tilted back in his
chair and raised his feet to prop them, ankles crossed, on the edge of his
desk.

He’d called Arie the same evening of the incident but
she’d refused to pick up the phone. He hadn’t persisted, wanting to give her
time to calm down. Next day he called three times before she picked up the call
and when they spoke, her side of the conversation had been terse. He called
every day after that, asking to see her, and each time she’d refused. He’d
thought she would come around by now but things were ending up being just the
opposite. It was like, with each passing day, her resolve to stay away from him
was hardening into stone.

Lost in his dismal thoughts, he jumped when there was a
tap at his door. Quickly, he slid his feet to the floor and straightened up in
his chair. It wouldn’t do to have Mrs. Mullings, the matron he’d chosen as his
temp, walking in to find her boss lounging like he was in his sofa at home. Despite
his depressed mood, the least he could do was act like a professional while in
office.

“Come in,” he called out and Mrs. Mullings walked in,
looking apologetic.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr. Milano,” she said in her
gentle voice. “There’s a young lady here to see you. She doesn’t have an
appointment but she insists that it’s urgent.”

Rome’s heart leaped inside his chest. “Is it Arie?” he
asked and when his assistant gave him a puzzled look he shook his head. Of
course Mrs. Mullings wouldn’t know who he was talking about. She’d never met
his fiancée. “Miss Angelis, I meant. Did she say her name is Arie Angelis?”

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “This lady’s
name is Iyana Jackson.”

The words hit Rome hard. His hopes had shot through the
roof with the announcement but his visitor was not Arie. Worse, it was the
woman who had destroyed his life.

“What does she want?” he bit out, but the shocked look
on Mrs. Mullings’ face made him tone it down fast. “Did she say?”

“No, just that it was urgent.”

“Send her in, please.”

The woman nodded and went back to the main office. When
she returned, the unexpected guest in tow, it was a subdued Iyana who came into
the room.

When Mrs. Mullings left, closing the door behind her,
Rome waved Iyana to the vacant chair but his demeanor was far from welcoming. “I
can’t say this is a pleasant surprise,” he said, regarding her with a look just
shy of contempt.

She sank into the chair, holding her purse on her lap
like it was some kind of shield. “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this,” she
said, her voice surprisingly quiet, “but I had to talk to you.”

“About what? Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” Rome
sat forward in his chair and rested his folded arms on his desk as he glared at
the woman sitting across from him. “In fact, the last time you agreed to talk
you did a damn good job of sabotaging my future with the woman I love.”

She had the grace to look ashamed. “I know,” she said
and dropped her gaze to her hands clutching her purse. “I’m so sorry.” There
was a pause and then she looked up at him and the tears he saw glistening in
her eyes made him frown in surprise. “I know I did a terrible thing,” she said,
her voice trembling. “I know you’ll never be able to forgive me but I had to
see you to explain why I did it.” She drew in a shaky breath then continued. “You
didn’t know it but I was in love with you. I’ve felt that way for a long time.”
She shook her head. “When you hit me with the news that you were engaged I was
devastated. I knew all along that my love for you was an impossible dream, but
still…” her voice trailed off and she dropped her gaze again, “you can’t stop a
girl from dreaming, can you?”

He didn’t answer. What the hell could he say? According
to what Iyana was saying she’d been in love with him all this time and he’d
been too daft to realize it. And the irony of it all was that her feelings for
him, now coming to the surface, was what had sunk him like a stone.

“I was jealous,” Iyana was saying. “So jealous I
couldn’t see straight. That’s why I quit and that’s why I did what I did.”

Iyana shook her head again, as if trying to free her
mind of the memory. “There’s absolutely no excuse for my behavior. All I can
say is, I’m sorry.” She gave him an earnest look. “I hope you don’t think I
came in here to ask for my job back. I think we agree that would be impossible.
I loved you from a distance but as an employee I should never have overstepped
my bounds, not even emotionally. The problem was all on my end.” She sighed. "And
now it’s time for me to accept reality and move on.”

When Rome still said nothing she tilted her head to one
side and on her face was a look of regret. “Is there anything I can do to make
things right?”

Rome didn’t have to think twice before he gave her his
answer. After the stunt she’d pulled when he’d invited her to speak with Arie
he would never trust her again. Maybe he could forgive but he would never
forget.

If there was any hope of salvaging his relationship with
Arie he would have to do it himself.

“No,” he said, his voice firm. “There’s nothing you can
do. Absolutely nothing.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Five days and counting. Arie knew she was probably being
an idiot, refusing to see Rome, but she couldn’t help herself. The truth was,
she was scared.

She loved him so much that it was easy for him to hurt
her and with Iyana that was exactly what he’d done. How could she trust him to
get close again?  But despite her fear she was suffering terribly. She was
dying to see him.

She'd come into office early that morning, intent on
losing herself in her work. That plan ended up being a joke. Instead of working,
she’d stared at the computer screen then at the papers on her desk then at the
telephone then at the closed office door. She’d got up and paced the floor. She’d
gone to stand by the window where she’d stared out at the parking lot for
several minutes at a time. After that she’d gone and flopped back down in her
chair. She’d gotten up and then she'd done everything all over again, and it
was all in an attempt to keep her itching fingers from grabbing the phone and
dialing Rome’s number.

Thank God she’d planned to swing by a banquet hall where
she would be catering a wedding in the next two weeks. At least that would take
her out of the office and provide her with some distraction that would
hopefully take her mind off the man she loved…the same man who made her clench
her fists every time she thought about his betrayal.

She hopped up from her chair for the third time but this
time it was to grab her purse. She would not linger a moment longer. Time to
get some air.

She was halfway to the door when the phone on her desk
began to ring. She hesitated, feeling like she should ignore it, but then the
dutiful side of her won out and she dashed back to her desk and picked up the
receiver. It was Marilyn, the receptionist.

“Miss Jackson is here to see you, Arie.”

Arie frowned. “Miss…Jackson?” She couldn’t recall an
appointment scheduled for this time. She didn’t even know who this ‘Miss
Jackson’ was. “From?” she asked, hoping the company name would jog her memory.

“She didn’t say. All she said was, she needs to see you
urgently.”

That made Arie raise her eyebrows. Weird. “Well…okay,”
she said, her voice hesitant, but she hung up the phone and went to hook the
strap of her handbag on the back of her chair then sat, making ready to greet
her visitor.

But when the door opened it wasn’t a potential client
who walked through the door but the woman who had turned her life upside down. Miss
Jackson was none other than Iyana.

Arie stood and as soon as Marilyn had closed the door
the words flew out of her mouth. “Why did you come here? What’s this about?
Have you come to finish the job?”

Iyana looked startled by her vehemence. She stayed right
where she was by the door and put up her hands, palms facing forward. “Please,
I’m not here to cause any trouble. If you’ll just hear me out, just for a
minute, I’ll be out of here and out of your life for good.”

Arie stared at her, the suspicion rising within. She
didn’t trust this woman as far as she could throw her. “Go ahead,” she said,
folding her arms in front of her. “Say your piece and then go.”