A hurricane of emotions that came over me at the sight of my husband, Roman Thaddeus, kissing another woman.

Jessica Sullivan—the girl that had been occasionally sighted with him by tabloids, which had speculated on a potential relationship, before Roman and I properly met. Before he bought me at auction.

It was likely an image that would stay burned into my mind for the rest of my life, that would always cause me to cringe in pain when it flashed across my mind. I just knew it would be the case, no matter how much I didn’t want it to be so.

She was gorgeous, looking like a real-life version of a photoshopped model, somehow—and she was wrapped around my husband like ivy clinging to a house.

Anger, dismay, horror, jealousy, and emotions I wasn’t even sure I had words for all twisted together in one massive reaction to the sight of them. They left me just standing there, frozen like a deer in headlights.

The only emotion that touched my face, at first, was shock.

Roman pulled away from Jessica and shook his head before he ever glanced over in my direction. "I’ve had enough, Jessica. You’ve crossed a line."

Jessica’s eyes darted between me and Roman before resting on mine. She scoffed at me, as though I had been so rude to interrupt what I had walked in on.

"What’s that look for? Don’t act so surprised. Everyone knows that Roman and I were mere moments away from a relationship before you came into the picture. We would be as happy as clams if it weren’t for you and your pathetic family."

I didn’t respond, I couldn’t respond. I felt so weak.

I should have snapped back at her and defended myself and my family. Granted, my family besides Lori was as good as dead to me. But Jessica, the sister of the disgusting Bernard, was in no position to talk to me in such a way.

Yet there I remained, only gaping and shaking gently.

In that moment, I was disgusted with myself. I should have sprung into action but I just couldn’t. Everything that had been happening lately had finally beaten me down. I wasn’t sure I had any fight left, and I didn’t know what that said about me—that I wouldn’t jump to the defense of my marriage or my family.

"Do you understand the empire in the making that you interrupted? Do you know how unstoppable he and I would have been together? Our collective wealth, power, and status would have been enough to open any door we ever could have wanted. We would have been stars, with the world eating out of the palm of our hands."

"Enough," Roman barked at her suddenly.

He continued, "You’ve caused enough trouble for a lifetime, don’t you think?"

Jessica only had enough time to cross her arms and laugh before Roman pulled out his phone and called for one of the guards to come escort her out.

"You’re all pathetic," she remarked snidely.

"I recall you being the the one to come here to grovel," he retorted.

I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but I didn’t care. I just wanted Jessica Sullivan out of my sight so that I could hopefully begin the impossible process of deleting her from my mind. I knew I couldn’t, but I would have given anything to wipe that morning from my head.

Soon enough, one of the bodyguards appeared in the doorway. He took Jessica by the arm and began to guide her away.

"You’ll regret this," she called back without turning around.

I didn’t know who that was directed at, but honestly, I didn’t much care. Still rooted to my spot, I watched as Roman paced across the floor. He wiped at his mouth nervously as he approached. His hands glided up and down my arms before he planted them on my shoulders.

"I hope I don’t insult you by clarifying what just happened, as I believe in my heart you know I would never do anything to deceive you," he began, but then took a little pause.

Finally, he began to speak again. "She came here to try and convince me to help Bernard get out of jail, and I refused, but I saw an opportunity because I knew of her infatuation with me. I know it was stupid and I know it was shortsighted, but I thought, if I got her talking, I could get some more information. I didn’t think about her making such a horrible and brutish attempt at getting to me."

I watched as his lip began to tremble. "I am so sorry, Hannah. I swear to you this is the truth."

I was stunned for a moment, not having expected him to get so emotional over such a thing. It made my heart melt from its state of shock to know that he was that deeply concerned about upsetting me.

My arms folded around him and pulled him in for a hug. "It’s okay," I breathed. "I mean, it’s not, but I believe you. You didn’t do anything wrong."

"I did by not seeing that coming," he murmured. "I know I’m a married man, she knows I’m a married man. I also just happen to know she doesn’t care that I am. I should have taken precautions, or at least kept a physical distance."

I knew that mere words would go in one ear and out the other. Guiding him over to the couch in his office, I sat down and pulled him into my arms. As he breathed out to compose himself, I ran my fingers through his hair and did my best to sort through my own thoughts.

Everything that just took place had happened so fast that I hadn’t really processed it at all. I had felt things in response to seeing it, but I hadn’t formed a coherent reaction.

How was I supposed to react? I had never been in a situation even remotely close to this one.

I thought about shows I had seen before and knew that the characters would have been slapping their men, even if they were innocent. That wasn’t something I had any desire to do. I didn’t want to yell at him either; after all, I already knew he felt terrible about it.

So I wasn’t angry, that was clear to me. Maybe I was angry at Jessica, but I hoped that I would never have to see her face again. And, with the shock worn off, that left only one core emotion.

Jealousy. Even thinking about it stung my thoughts. Yeah, that was how I was feeling. It was such an uncomfortable emotion for me that I had to fight the urge to squirm externally.

My mind thought back over all the stories I had heard and articles I had seen speculating about Roman. Most of them were glorified retellings of his well-known career as a playboy. It was rare that there were ever photographs snapped of him that didn’t show a woman on his arm. And the woman was never a repeat.

His sudden words ripped me momentarily from my thoughts. "I love you, Hannah. I’m so sorry for all this," he whispered to me as he pulled me into his neck. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

I gripped him tightly and took in a long and deep breath. "It’s not your fault. Don’t keep apologizing," I whispered to him in the most comforting voice I could muster.

He shook his head and kissed the top of my hair. "I’m going to find a way to make this up to you. I know it’s not my fault, but I could have prevented it and it didn’t. I can tell it hurt you."

"Really, it’s alright. Don’t make such a fuss about it," I murmured.

Only, I had to squeeze him harder. As if my body needed a reminder that he was that close. That he was mine and no one else’s. And just as a little bit of ease came over me, my mind played awful games with me by making me think things I didn’t want to.

What if he got bored of me? Roman had always had flings, but never anything lasting. What if he discarded me like the rest?

I knew that what we had had been the longest relationship that he had been in, but what did that matter? What if my sister was right, and I was just experiencing white knight syndrome—and he, the inverse of it?

My heart thumped painfully at the realization, or fear, that by the end of the Auction House case, Roman could become tired of me.

I buried my face in his neck. What if I only had him for a couple years, or months? Was he already bored? Is that why he had dropped his guard with Jessica?

Tears brimmed my eyes and I could only hope that would never, ever be the case... but the feeling didn’t fade.