We're Both Adults

"He arranged a family dinner for Friday, and he wants you there," Erin informed Roman, tucking the phone back into his pocket.

"Ask him to reschedule the dinner. I have an important meeting in Japan on Friday," Roman replied firmly.

"You'll need to reschedule that meeting yourself," Erin insisted, his expression completely serious.

Roman shot him a sharp look, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"And why exactly should I do that for a pointless dinner with the old man and his group of insatiable fools?" Roman questioned, his voice dripping with arrogance.

Erin sighed, shaking his head.

"Because if you miss it, he's going to arrange a marriage for you by the end of the week," he retorted.

"Does he really think a cheap threat like that would unsettle me?" Roman scoffed, a distinct tinge of mockery in his tone.

"It should faze you," Erin stated with utmost seriousness, leaning against the counter.

"Remember, there's a blank marriage certificate with your signature already on it," Erin reminded him, dropping his voice.

Roman scoffed contemptuously, his jaw tightening into stone.

"He wouldn't dare."

The chill in his voice was heavy enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

The marriage certificate was a component of the brutal agreement he had struck with Mr. Beaufort when he initially assumed total control of the business. It was ironic how something he had deemed entirely insignificant back then could now be wielded against him as a weapon.

"I believe it's a good chance to introduce Alana to him. It wouldn't hurt to spend a few hours with him and the rest of the family," Erin suggested, attempting to make him see the political logic in it.

After a brief moment of quiet contemplation, Roman eventually relented and agreed, realizing the necessity of the play.

"Fine. Postpone my trip to Japan," he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "This better be worth my time."

******

With her eyes fixed on her phone screen and her hand running through her slightly damp hair, Alana settled comfortably on the large couch. Her gaze was locked on a specific photo of Roman that she had just come across on the web.

Driven by a sudden curiosity to learn more about Roman, she had decided to search for information about him on the internet. To her surprise, she discovered that Roman was the current running heir of the massive Beaufort empire.

Her family and the Beauforts had been close friends for as long as she could remember. She recalled her father mentioning that her grandfather and the founder of Beaufort, Mr. Beaufort, were best friends even before they both started their respective companies, which had now grown into separate billion-dollar empires.

From what she knew, Mr. Beaufort had only one biological son who was at least in his late forties. So one lingering question remained in her mind. Why was Roman the one in charge of running the entire family business instead of Mr. Beaufort's actual son?

And why wasn't he answering to the family name? Could he have been adopted or something?

After trying to investigate the message boards for a bit, Alana decided to just give it up. The only thing she could find was that Roman was the son of one of Mr. Beaufort's distant relatives. It was all a massive mystery to Alana, including how he took complete control of the business at just the age of nineteen.

There were a few wild speculations online as to why Mr. Beaufort did not entrust his only son, or any of his other two daughters, with the family business. But most of them were only online gossip and nothing more, without any worthy facts to back up the theories.

Alana rubbed her tired eyes as she scrolled through the photos of Roman. She paused on a particular photo of him, where he was dressed in a dark navy tuxedo with his perfectly groomed hair brushed back.

His appearance was so breathtakingly handsome that Alana couldn't help but linger on the photo, her fingers freezing on the screen.

Yawning softly, a tired tear slipped from her eye down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away with the back of her hand. She settled down comfortably against the cushions, continuing to gaze at the photo with her weary eyes.

If only he had a nice personality, she was sure she would have fallen hard for him with those looks. But Roman was a total psycho from Alana's perspective, and she hated arrogant men to her core.

Her eyelids fluttered slowly, and as fatigue overcame her, her phone slipped from her loose grasp until her eyes closed, succumbing to sleep.

The door opened with a quiet click, and Roman entered the room. His eyes scanned the bed and then the closed bathroom door before settling on Alana, fast asleep on the couch.

Approaching her, he observed her peaceful slumber, his gaze lingering on her pale face and slightly pink, parted lips, then moving to her chest as it rose and fell with each steady breath.

His eyes involuntarily traveled down to her exposed white thighs, and he frowned, quickly averting his gaze as a muscle flexed in his jaw.

He stepped away from her and exited the room.

Shortly after, he returned with a heavy blanket and approached the couch where Alana lay sleeping. With surprisingly gentle hands, he covered her with the blanket, his expression still retaining its usual firmness.

A soft knock sounded on the wood, and Roman instructed the person to enter. A young woman dressed in a pristine maid's uniform promptly entered the room, carrying a tray.

"Good morning, Mr. Ashford," the woman greeted with a slight bow of respect.

Roman simply stared at her with a stoic expression, without reacting to her greeting. He walked past her without a word, only stopping when he reached the open door.

"Clean as quietly as possible. I don't want her waking up," he instructed sternly, his voice a low command.

"Yes, sir," the woman nodded in response, and Roman left the room.

As soon as he was gone, the woman's gaze fixed entirely on Alana's sleeping form. Her eyes narrowed into slits, a dark frown creasing her forehead.

One could easily discern the dangerous mix of rage and curiosity in the woman's intense gaze as she watched Alana breathe.

******

Stirring slightly, Alana's eyes opened slowly. As she sat up from the couch she had been lying on, she stretched her arms and yawned softly, shaking off the remnants of sleep.

Her gaze fell on the thick blanket draped over her with a puzzled expression. She couldn't remember using a blanket, so how on earth did it end up here?

Turning to her side, she noticed Roman sitting beside the bed, his gaze fixed intently on her. His hands were resting on his thighs, his back slightly arched, and his fingers intertwined tightly.

The sight of him instantly dispelled any lingering drowsiness in Alana's eyes.

She glanced down at herself only to see that the bottom part of her gown had shifted upward during her sleep, revealing her bare thighs. She immediately stood up, adjusted her dress properly with a quick tug, and then sat back down.

Alana did not need to glance at Roman again to know that he was still staring at her. It was impossible not to feel his hot gaze, considering how intense and predatory it was. A suffocating silence filled the room as neither of them spoke for some time.

Tired of the heavy silence and the intense stare, Alana glared questioningly at Roman, her chin lifting defiantly.

Roman rose from his seated position and began to approach Alana, his strides gentle and steady, like a lion approaching its prey. Alana watched as he moved toward her, a hint of curiosity in her brown eyes.

As he reached her, he leaned forward, causing his back to bend slightly.

Placing both hands on either side of her on the couch, he locked her in place, his eyes meeting hers as she raised her head to meet his gaze.

The tension in the room seemed to increase as their gazes met, each trying to decipher the true intentions behind the other's eyes.

"At first, I thought you were intentionally trying to seduce me," he said, his voice tinged with a mixture of amusement and danger as he studied her eyes, as if searching for some hidden answer in them. "But it looks like you're just a careless, silly girl."

"Seduce you?" Alana blinked, her eyes reflecting her confusion at his absurd words.

Feeling slightly disoriented by his words and their sudden proximity, she didn't notice when he reached down for her phone before swiftly pulling his hand back. He stood straight and shoved his left hand deep into his pocket, as he began to tap lazily on the screen.

Alana glanced at the phone in his hand before looking around the couch where she frantically searched for her own device. She shot a furious glare at Roman when she realized that the phone in his hand belonged to her.

Feeling slightly irritated, she was about to demand her phone back when Roman spoke, his voice completely flat.

"Were you pleasuring yourself while staring at my pictures?" Roman inquired, his gaze moving slowly from the phone to her burning face.