Page 74 of After The Storm
“She’s up and around again, so feel free to stop over,” Roman said with a chuckle. “We’d love to have you and Persephone over for dinner some night.”
His eyes lit up at the offer. “Sounds good! Persephone and I never go out much anymore. I should be able to pry her away from her desk to at least get her to cross the grounds to do dinner with friends.”
Roman contained his surprise at Nick’s use of the word friends since he’d always kept so much to himself that he didn’t think he had any real friends at the estate. Acquaintances, sure. But not friends.
“You know, Roman, we do think of you as a friend. I know you’ve been an employee, but Persephone and I consider each and every one of you more than that. You signed on to something that had never existed in this form before. You took a chance and believed in what we were trying to do here. We’ve never forgotten that.”
“Thanks, Nick. That means a lot to me. You guys have been incredible letting Kate and me stay out at the carriage house. We really appreciate it.”
Just then, Persephone walked into the room. Nick patted Roman on the shoulder and smiled. “Time to get to work. I think she has some announcement to make today.”
He walked away, and Roman moved a step into the center of the room to hear what she had to say. The rest of the men stopped talking and turned their attention to the lone woman who stood behind the chair at the opposite side of the room.
“Today’s meeting will be short and sweet. When you all started with Project Artemis, you signed an agreement saying you would be retired from the company if at any point you were no longer unattached. Nick and I initially thought that was for the best, but I’ve had second thoughts about that recently. So from today onward, you may choose to remain with us even if you find yourself personally involved. Each situation will be handled on a case by case basis, so it might mean your position in the company changes, but you will no longer be retired because of personal issues. Thank you.”
Xavier raised his hand and waited for Persephone to call on him. “This isn’t school, X. You can just ask me whatever you need to.”
Grinning, he looked over at Roman and then back at her. “Yeah. Is this because Roman finally decided being alone sucked and now has a girlfriend? Inquiring minds want to know.”
The rest of the group laughed and glanced at Roman as Persephone rolled her eyes and Nick stifled his own chuckle at Xavier’s complete lack of tact. As much as Roman wanted to slug him, he had helped solve his case, so he hung back. He’d get him later.
“At least we’ll never have to worry about losing you, X,” Persephone said with a wink. “Roman, when you can, please come see me,” she added before turning on her heels and walking out.
As Xavier tried to convince everyone in the room that he did fine with the ladies and any woman would be happy to be with him, Roman followed Nick to the office he shared with her and sat down in front of her desk.
“You wanted to see me?”
She smiled as she sat down in her chair and nudged it up to her desk. “I didn’t expect you to come see me now. I figured you’d want to get back to Kate. She’s still improving?”
He nodded, happy to report the good news. “Yeah, she’s doing great. She’s already fighting me on everything I suggest, which is typical Kate.”
“Good. Well, you heard my announcement. As much as X likes to be a joker, it was in response to your situation with Kate. Nick and I have talked about your position here, and we don’t want to lose you.”
Roman looked across the desk at her in confusion. “I’m not sure I can still do the job you hired me for, Persephone. I wouldn’t feel right leaving Kate to go protect other women.”
“I understand. I wouldn’t be comfortable with Nick doing that for another woman. That’s why we’d like you to stay on and work with us here. You wouldn’t have to leave on assignments, and if you chose to, you could continue living in the carriage house. Project Artemis means the world to me, and I want the best people working on what we do for women who need our help. You’ve been committed from the day you signed on with us. I just want to give you the chance to keep working on a cause you believe in.”
Roman couldn’t deny he cared about what they did at Project Artemis. His life had been dedicated to protecting people, and the women he and his fellow members of the group helped in each case needed them. He didn’t know if he was ready to walk away from that, even though he now had someone he loved and cared for at home for the first time.
“Can I think about it? I want to speak to Kate about this before I make any decisions.”
Persephone smiled. “I thought you would, so take your time and talk it over with her. When you’re ready to make a decision, let us know. We’ll be here.”
Roman found Katemaking the bed one handed, her other arm still in a sling after her surgery weeks before. Sneaking up on her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his lips against her neck.
“I got some interesting news at the meeting today.”
She giggled from the feel of his new beard growth against her skin and turned in his hold. Smiling up at him, she kissed him on the lips.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
As soon as she finished saying that, the smile slid from her face. “Wait, did they fire you because of me?”
“No, no. The opposite actually. They offered to let me stay on and keep working for Project Artemis but not in my old job. I’d be working with Nick and Persephone here on the estate.”
Kate’s eyes opened wide. “Really? Are you going to do it?”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her long and deep, loving the feel of her body against his. For so long, he’d been alone and thought he’d been happy that way. Now he had Kate in his life, and he couldn’t imagine a day without her.