Page 13 of Tangled Roses
If I thought the swimming pool was luxury, it didn’t prepare me for the tub and I spend way too long relaxing in the decadent water, inhaling the floral scent of the oil I added. This is a luxury I never imagined was real and will be difficult to surrender when reality bites.
As soon as I reluctantly haul my ass from the tub, my phone rings and I stare at it in surprise.
My phone never rings.
I don’t recognize the number and decide it’s best not to answer and so I ignore it and set about drying myself with one of the gorgeous fluffy white towels.
I note a text come through and my heart quickens when I read it.
Anonymous
Answer the phone. It’s Arman.
It rings again and as I press it to my ear, I whisper, “Hello.”
“You have broken the rules.”
His husky voice is unexpected and I gasp, “I don’t know what you mean?”
“You dripped chlorinated water through my house.”
My eyes widen and I gasp, “You were watching me.”
“Yes, malysh, I was, along with half of my security team.”
I drop the phone and squeal, wrapping the towel around my body as I back away from the phone. I can still hear his voice though, and he sounds as if he’s raging.
“Rules are there for a reason and you have broken one already. If you want to parade your body around like a common whore, be my guest, but don’t be shocked when you get treated like one.”
His words hit home and I sense the fire building inside me and grab the phone and yell, “There are laws against peeping toms and perverts like you. How dare you spy on me without my knowledge and if I want to run around this house fucking naked, screaming your fucking name, I will. I didn’t ask to be here. I didn’t beg you to drug me and spirit me away to a soulless house with no personality, much like its owner, I’m guessing. So, you fucking asshole, if you don’t like it, then tough shit because you’re the bastard who put me here.”
I end the call and attempt to regain my composure because I have never been so angry in my life. What the actual hell was that? They are watching me. It’s as if I’m a project, an animal in a glass cage so they can observe me at their pleasure. Far from being embarrassed about that, I’m angry and so I drop the towel and raise my middle finger.
“Fuck you, Arman Romanov and your emotionless prick of an employee.”
I stomp out of the bathroom and head to the closet and drag out a sweater and jeans and pull them over my body, forgetting the underwear in my haste. Then I make sure to toss my wet towel on the bed and head to the kitchen, pulling stuff out of every cupboard and drawer, making a chaotic meal, purely to prove his rules mean shit.
Then I pour myself a glass of wine and raising my middle finger again, I swig from the bottle and as the alcohol hits my system, it is exactly what I need right now.
I work fast and soon have a salad and some cold meats that I place on a tray and, clutching the bottle in one hand, I balance the tray in the other and head toward the cinema room.
“Fucking rules. How dare he lecture me.” I mumble under my breath as I push through the door angrily and place the tray on one of the seats.
As I settle into the neighboring one, I flick the remote and turn the volume up high and swig another drag from the bottle as I settle down to enjoy The Big Bang Theory because as sure as I am beyond mortified that I gave them an x-rated floor show, I need the distraction from all the problems that just keep on coming.
CHAPTER 8
ARMAN
Icould stare at this woman all night. I’m aware that I should put the phone down and give her some privacy, but she is so cute when she’s angry.
It’s as if I’m there with her as she settles down to watch the television program and I observe her with all the fascination of a man studying animals in the wild.
Now she is dressed it doesn’t seem so bad and I love her pleasure as she laughs along with the show, while growing steadily drunk from the bottle of expensive wine that she probably isn’t used to.
I note the brightness in her eyes and the flush to her cheeks. The way she chews her bottom lip and runs her fingers through her hair.
Her eyes are half closed and she is struggling to stay awake and even when she loosens her grip on the bottle and the contents spill to the ground, it doesn’t matter.