Kazza’s Reviews > Roman > Status Update

No, no, no, no to this ending. not happy!!

Finally he said "I will never leave you because you carry all the pieces of me in your heart. You are mine, and mine alone, and I will love you 'til the end of my days."

That he wanted her was not the issue, rather the question was...did he want her enough?
He answered her questioon before she had a chance to ask it, his lips hot and angry and primal, driving her back to the edge of the cot, forcing her down as he covered her with silk and sin.

We're going on a date. Our first date....
Oh Roman, what did you do.

Roman had gouged out that emptiness in her heart, filling it with such desire that she'd nearly drowned in his hunger, and hers.
I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to be his angel.
He's right. I need to stay away, far away, because he'll consume me and spit me out and leave me bleeding.

You have to pick one, sweetheart.
Mommy?
At five she'd chosen purgatory without ever understanding the how or what or why.

For the briefest instant, he covered her left hand with his, moving both higher, closer to his heart, pressing down until she felt the steady beat beat beat.
Pressing even harder, it seemed he wanted to push her hand through flesh and bone, to contact with the pulsing muscle, driving it through into her own until she felt just one, only one heartbeat. No longer hers, no longer his.
Theirs

The sight of Roman walking away from the house, like some kind of jungle cat fresh off a kill, gorged and satiated, pleased with himself, told her... he's a predator. Top of the food chain. And very dangerous.

But then her mother's cancer had changed everything: summer camps, coaching, mentoring younger players, all of it taking a back seat to endless days in the ward, then in ICU listening to the machines bleed life and hope amd all their futures away.

Out of the blue she asked, "Who is he?"
He, Roman. Good question. he had no answer that would suffice and too little time to explore all the reasons why neither of them might want to know the particulars.
The truth lay in 'I don't know'. The lie was easier. "He's here on probation. Dad's cousin, Father Marcus, arranged for the kid to stay here."