They didn’t say another word until they reached the car. Not a single one.
The second the doors closed and the tinted glass sealed them inside, Blair finally exhaled, slumping back in her seat like the tension had been the only thing holding her upright the entire time.
Roman slid in beside her and didn’t speak right away. He just looked at her, his expression unreadable. Half awe. Half… something else. Something darker, heavier, and far more dangerous.
“That was…” he finally said, voice low, “…unexpectedly savage.”
Blair let out a breathy laugh, rubbing a hand over her face. “I think I blacked out somewhere between the unicorns and the dick size.”
Keira, from the back seat, hooted. “You murdered him. Like, socially. He might never get hard again. Blair, I feel like kneeling at your feet. It took everything in me not to start cheering.”
“I’m proud of you,” Sutton added. “Also slightly afraid.”
“I don’t even know what came over me,” Blair muttered. Normally, it would’ve been Keira who couldn’t control her tongue, not her. That had always been Keira’s role–until Blair got drunk in Roman’s office. That had seemed to change everything.
Roman leaned in, brushing a kiss against her temple, his voice like velvet. “Whatever it was… I liked it.”
He made sure the second SUV was ready to follow before finally buckling his seatbelt and pulling away from the house.
Which reminded Blair of something she’d meant to ask. “I forgot to ask–last time we were here, you looked at a house. Did you end up buying it?”
Roman shot her a glance before returning his attention to the road. “I’m still thinking about it.”
Blair stared out the window, her hand still laced tightly with his. Her pulse hadn’t quite settled. How would she feel about living here–so close to all this history–after everything that had happened? Dan and Laura. The confrontation. The entire town now buzzing with her name.
But what did she have to be embarrassed about?
Roman was the better man in every way that mattered. So if this place became their home one day–so be it.
Aunt Viv would be absolutely fuming by now. And for once, Blair realized she didn’t care. Sutton and Keira probably didn’t either.
She wasn’t trembling anymore. Not exactly. But the buzz under her skin hadn’t stopped.
Keira radiated smug energy from the backseat, like she’d just witnessed a live–action revenge fantasy come to life. Sutton sat in silence, quiet but thoughtful. They had just burned whatever was left of the bridges with their extended family–but they still had each other. That was all that mattered now.
Roman drove one–handed, the other wrapped firmly around Blair’s fingers. His thumb stroked hers in slow, grounding movements, anchoring her in a way that nothing else could. He hadn’t said a word the entire ride while she silently replayed everything in her mind.
Finally, ten minutes out from the estate, he broke the silence.
“You all good now? Thought everything through?”
Blair turned toward him slightly, blinking. He knew her so well. Knew she needed to mentally sort things out before she
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16:16 Wed, 18 Jun
Chapter 60
could let go. “I didn’t… Yeah. I am.”
His mouth twitched. “I have to say again, that was the most satisfying public execution I’ve ever witnessed.”
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Keira snorted from the back. “I mean, you told him his balls were so small Laura had to carry them for him. That was art. Like… gallery–worthy art. You deserve a goddamn medal.”
Sutton muttered, “Honestly? I think Mum and Dad just rolled graves and slow–clapped.”
Com folled
Scr in their
NEW MEETOWN actually say all that?”
Blair exhaled–part laugh, part breathless disbelief. “God.
“All of it,” Roman confirmed, glancing over at her. His eyes softened. “And you meant it.”
She nodded, but a strange tightness still sat in her chest. none of it mattered. Like I was the one who should
“You weren’t,” Roman said simply. “You’re the
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I couldn’t hold it in anymore. She acted like she’d won. Like
”
walked away.”
Keira leaned forward, voice bright. “And seriously? The way Laura looked when you said she settled for a cheater? I nearly pissed myself. Her face? Peak horror show.”
“She’ll spin it,” Blair muttered. “They all will. Probably already posting some bullshit about ungrateful cousins and dramatic exits.”
Roman’s grip around her hand tightened. “Let them.”
They didn’t speak again until they pulled up to the estate. Ethan was already stepping out of the second SUV, doing a sweep of the area. The moment Roman climbed out, he was at Blair’s door, helping her down.
Sutton and Keira didn’t linger–they each kissed Blair goodbye before heading off, giving her space.
Inside, Blair kicked off her heels a
dropped her bag onto the entry table. All she wanted was to disappear upstairs and
melt under the hottest shower she could handle. Melt the leftover rage out of her bones.
But Roman’s voice stopped her.
“Blair.”
She turned. Caught the sharpness in his eyes.
“Yeah?”
He stepped in closer, gaze locked to hers. “Are you okay? It’s just us now.”
That simple question cracked something wide open inside her. Not a break–just a clean, sharp splinter. Her throat tightened and she nodded too fast.
“I’m fine. I just need-” Her voice wavered. “I don’t know. I just need a minute.”
Roman didn’t press. He just held out his hand. “Come on.”
She followed him upstairs in silence, into the master bedroom. They passed the bed and continued on until he pushed open the door to the bathroom. She blinked at him, startled.
Roman stepped forward, turned on the taps, and tested the water. Steam curled instantly from the spout.
“You’re getting in the bath,” he said firmly. “I’m not arguing.”
Blair didn’t have the energy to push back. Not when the heat was already seeping into her skin just from being near it.
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He moved behind her, hands gentle as he slid her zipper down. “Let me do this for you,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck.
She didn’t protest. She let him.
And when she slipped into the water, the warmth wrapped around her body like silk. Her muscles released, her breathing steadied, and the weight that had settled on her since the moment she saw Laura at that party… finally started to ease.
Roman knelt beside the tub, his sleeves rolled up, one hand resting lightly on the edge as he watched her.
“I meant what I said,” he murmured after a long pause. “Everything you said out there… that took guts.”
“It didn’t feel like guts,” she whispered. “It felt like rage.”
“Sometimes,” he said, “they’re the same thing.”
Her eyes burned. Hot. Sharp. “I let him make me feel like I was the problem for so long.”
Roman leaned in and brushed a kiss against her temple. “Not anymore.”
She turned her face into his, breathing him in.
“Join me,” she said, the words leaving her mouth before she could second–guess them.
He stilled for only a beat, then stood–his hands already going to the buttons of his shirt.
