Beneath Her Bastard Boss

Chapter 81

The car ride home felt like she was suffocating slowly.

Every red light stretched out what she knew was coming. Roman was like a dog with a bone.

Blair could feel his eyes on her. It made her hands clenched in her lap. She felt the need to fill the silence.

“That was a nice evening,” she said, tight and way too casual.

“Was it?” Roman didn’t turn and look at her but kept his eyes on the road. He sounded chill, but she knew that voice. “Because you looked like you wanted to kill someone the last two hours.”

Her stomach twisted. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t you?”

It wasn’t the words–it was how he said them. It made her skin crawl in a way she hated, like he already knew the answer and was just waiting for her to admit it.

Roman pulled into the driveway and shut the car off, but neither of them moved. The silence was thick, stretching long enough to feel like it might snap.

“Blair.” His voice was quiet, low, but not soft. It carried that dangerous calm he got when he was just barely holding it together. “Look at me.”

She didn’t want to. But she did. Slowly.

His eyes were dark and steady, and she felt that look straight in her chest.

“We’re going inside,” he said, like it was a decision he’d already made for both of them. “And you’re going to tell me what the hell happened tonight?”

“Nothing happened-”

“Don’t.” That one word was sharp. Final. “Don’t lie to me. Not now. Not after everything.”

Blair opened the door and got out before she could think twice. Her legs felt shaky, and she didn’t need to look behind her to know he was following. He always followed.

Her hands fumbled with the keys at the front door.

“Having trouble?” His breath was warm against her neck.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” His hands closed over hers, steady and grounding in a way that just made it worse. “You’re wound so tight I can feel it from here. The question is why.”

She didn’t answer. Just pushed the door open and walked inside, kicking off her heels like that would somehow help her feel normal again.

Roman shut the door behind them with a quiet click. The sound felt way too loud in the silence.

“Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

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Chapter 81

“You changed after you came back inside. Cold. Pulled back. Like someone flipped a

at him. At his hands, mostly–how they moved, how tense he looked even doing something

“Maybe I’m just tired.”

laughed once, no humor in

“Roman-”

way too close, backing her against the wall. “I think something happened tonight. And now

either side of her head. She was

you out. No

inches from hers now. “Then tell me

Her stomach dropped. “What?”

tell me? Then there was the way you

panic start to rise. Of course

she said, but her

clenched. His thumb brushed her jaw, gentle and careful even now. “From where

was so fast it hurt. She had to end this. Had to distract him. Had

So she kissed him.

wasn’t romantic. It was desperate and rough, meant to shut him up and shut everything

half a second.

hair, and his mouth was on hers like he was starving. Like he was furious. Like kissing her might fix

to work,” he said against

“What isn’t?”

to

her body, sliding down

started, but he found that spot at her neck that turned

teeth grazing her skin. “You’re trying to make me

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Chapter 81

his fingers found the zipper on

“Maybe,” she admitted.

congratulations,” he said, sliding it down achingly slow. “It’s

lace and heels. Roman looked at her like he might lose it, like if he touched her, he wasn’t

going to

you’ll die happy,” she whispered,

wrists and pinned them above her head,

here,” he growled. “Upstairs.

scooped her up without warning, carried her up like she weighed nothing. Her arms looped around his neck,

love you,”

love you

“Yeah?”

isn’t over. You didn’t win. This

aside. Morning could wait. Right now,

at the edge of the

he said.

one button at a time. The air between them thickened with every second.

came undone with that sharp sound that made her thighs