The Truth

Roman POV ...

When I stepped into the study, Lauren was seated in one of the chairs across from the desk. She was slouched down in the chair with her legs crossed, tapping away at her phone screen. Probably updating social media. I closed the door behind me, and she glanced up at me, immediately sitting upright.

"Engaged?" Lauren asked me as I sat down in the seat beside her. "Seriously? How did you snag Hannah Macalester? And so quickly?"

I rubbed a hand over my face as Lauren asked rapid-fire questions.

"When is the wedding? Why didn't you just call last night and tell me?" Lauren slapped my knee as retribution. "Are you going to answer any of my questions, Roman?"

I sighed. "It's not as glamorous and elaborate as you may think," I said to her.

"Well Hannah is certainly a glamorous and elaborate woman," Lauren said with a smirk. "I was serious about what I said in the kitchen. Hannah is no empty-headed bimbo in a hot body like the girls you usually date."

I scoffed. "Hannah is..." I thought back to our not one, but two kisses in the kitchen. "She's pretty great." The thought of me standing between her legs as I kissed her nearly made me forget that Lauren was present.

Lauren laughed, pulling me from my memory. "You're f*cking enamored," she said. "I can literally see you thinking about Hannah right now, how adorable!"

I shook my head and leaned forward, placing my elbows on my thighs. "Lauren, I'm in trouble," I said.

Lauren frowned. "In trouble? What do you mean?" She waited for my response, and when I didn't immediately comply, she leaned down to meet my gaze. "What happened, Ro?"

"I f*cked up," I said. "I went to an auction house with Bernard Sullivan, and I bought Hannah for a hundred million." My stomach tightened when Lauren sat up straight, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, you did what?" she asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

"I bid for Hannah at an auction with Bernard-"

"You bid for Hannah at an auction?" she asked, repeating the words back to me. "Are you f*cking kidding me right now, Roman Thaddeus?" When I didn't respond, she threw her hands into the air. "This has to be the dumbest f*cking thing I've ever known you to do!" She was gripping the arms of her chair now as she berated me. "Besides, that sh*t is f*cking illegal, Roman."

"I know, Lauren - look, I had no idea where Bernard was taking me," I defended myself. "I swear I had no clue."

"Bernard f*cking Sullivan," Lauren said. "He's a f*cking prick, Roman, why do you hang out with him anyway? At a f*cking human auction, no less."

I balled my fists up on my thighs. "I don't need you to chastise me, Lauren, I need your help," I said. "I don't know what to f*cking do."

She sat silently seething as she glared at me. "So, Hannah is here right now against her free will because you decided to buy her at an auction," Lauren said.

"Lauren, I panicked," I told her. "I was trying to think of a way, any way, to save her, and buying her was my only option. Bernard would have bought her if I hadn't."

"I'm calling the f*cking cops," Lauren said, tapping her phone screen in pure anger.

"Do you know of any cops that can help?" I asked Lauren. "I'll call them myself. I just want to make sure Hannah is safe. I want to free her from the auction contract. She told me that her father sold her to The Auction House." Lauren glanced up at me, her anger replaced with confusion.

"What?" She asked. "You're telling me that Court Macalester sold his daughter to a human auction? That doesn't make any damn sense, Roman."

"Hannah said he was out of money and pawned her off to pay his bills," I said. Lauren just sat staring at me with her mouth agape. "The contract says we have to get married in three months, or she goes back to that place because her father gave them ownership of her."

"Let me see the contract," Lauren demanded. I stood and walked around the desk, unlocking one of the safes hidden by a mock desk drawer. I handed Lauren the contract, and she immediately began reading it. I returned to my seat beside her, bouncing my knee anxiously as she read.

A moment later her eyes grew wide, and she jerked her head up at me. "Roman, this says that if you go to the authorities, they're basically going to hunt you down and kill you and your entire family!"

"Lauren, listen," I begged her. "I'm sorry that I did what I did, I really am, but what would you have done in my place? I saw Hannah standing on that stage, just waiting to be sold to someone like Bernard Sullivan. What was I supposed to do?"

Lauren turned away from me to stare out the window behind the desk, her lips pressed together in thought. After a moment she turned back to me. "I wouldn't have let Bernard Sullivan have her either" she admitted. I exhaled a sigh of relief that she was finally coming around.

"What should I do, Lauren?" I asked her, raising my hand's palm up in defeat. "She told me not to tell you, not to tell anyone, because of the contract terms, but I trust you, Lauren, and I'll protect you."

"I know, Roman, I know," Lauren said quietly. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. "You have to marry her, Roman. You have to act like nothing illegal happened. When you marry her, the contract no longer exists. They won't own her anymore."

"That's exactly what Hannah advised," I said, leaning my elbows on my knees again. "But that place can't be allowed to continue. Hannah's father deserves to burn in hell, or at least rot in prison. All of those men do."

Lauren cursed under her breath as she tossed the contract onto the desk. "I'll talk to the guys that helped me with my stalker issue a few months ago. Their operation was shady as hell, but maybe they'll know of a contact who can help shut that place down."

There was a knock on the door, and after a glance at Lauren, I bid the person enter. It was Geoffrey.

"Sir, I just passed Ms. Macalester in the corridor and she seemed to be upset," Geoffrey said to me. "I thought it important for you to know."

I stood abruptly. "Upset?" I asked him. "What did she say?"

"She didn't say anything, but she was crying. I sent a maid up to her room to check on her with no response, and I thought it prudent for you to interfere, sir."

Sh*t, I thought. "Thank you, Geoffrey," I said, meeting Lauren's gaze as she stood.

"I need to leave," Lauren said to me.

"Geoffrey, can you let my driver know?"

"Certainly, ma'am," Geoffrey said before he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"I need to check on Hannah," I said, grabbing the contract and shoving it back into the safe before locking it away. "Thank you, Lauren, for not killing me."

"Whatever," Lauren said. "You're like a brother to me, Roman, you know that. Just go check on your woman. Take care of her."

"I will," I said, following Lauren out of the study. "I'll text you."

I bounded past Lauren and past the elevator, opting to use the stairs. Taking the stairs two at a time, I was at Hannah's door in seconds. I knocked gently.

"Hannah, are you in there?" I asked, waiting for her response. None came. "Hannah? Are you OK? I know you're upset about something." I resisted the urge to try opening the door. If I didn't handle this delicately, she would never trust me. I knocked again. "Hannah?"

Nothing. I pounded on the door more loudly this time.

"If you're in there, Hannah, please answer me. I need to know that you're OK."

"Go away," Hannah shouted from within.

I heaved a sigh of relief, resting my head against the door. She was upset, but she was in there. "I know you're upset about something, and I just want to help," I said.

"Can I come in?" There was no further response. I rubbed a hand over my face, urging myself to be patient with her. "I'm not leaving until you open the door, Hannah," I said as gently as I could manage. "I'll sit outside your door until you're ready to talk to me."

There was still no response. So this was how it was going to be. I crossed my arms and leaned against her doorframe.

"Remember what I said about trusting me to help you?" l asked her, not expecting a response. "I mean it, Hannah. If you're upset, then I'm upset, too." There was still nothing.

"Can you please talk to me, Hannah?"

"It's open," Hannah shouted. Glad that I hadn't forced my way in, I turned the handle and stepped inside Hannah's room.