She stretched her body and yawned a little before hitting the save button on the text program on her computer. It was a little over noon and she had been working non stop after getting up that morning. She had skipped breakfast and her stomach was starting to growl more and more.

She heard Kevin's voice from the kitchen as she was walking down the stairs. She wondered who was out there with him and her eyes quickly widened as she stepped out to join them and saw Roman sitting there.

"Look who finally decided to get out of bed. Nice of you to join us, Claire," Kevin said sarcastically.
"I've actually been up for many hours. I've been working," she tried but as always he wasn't listening.
"Roman's staying for dinner. Make chicken," he ordered.

With a sigh she turned around and started walking out of the kitchen again, completely aware of Roman's eyes burning a hole into her back. Apparently breakfast/lunch had to wait until she had been to the store to shop to make the god damn chicken Kevin demanded.

"I swear it's the only thing she knows how to cook without screwing it up completely," she heard his mocking tone.

She dropped her shoulders low as she continued walking out of the house.

She heard their voices coming from outside when she came back and walked through the livingroom. A quick look towards the windows and the open patio door let her know they were sitting next to the pool. Kevin's back was turned against her but Roman was staring right at her again. She got goosebumbs and hurried out in the kitchen. She took a look at the clock and sighed. Better get dinner started and forget all about eating anything till then. She had lost her appetite anyway.

With the chicken finally in the oven, she grabbed a knife and started cutting bell peppers.

"Damn, it smells good in here." She jumped by the sound of Roman's voice.
She put the knife down and turned around to see him standing in the doorway with a childish grin on his face.
"Did I frighten you?" He asked, well knowing he did.

He slowly started walking towards her.

"I thought I told you yesterday I'm not the one to fear," he said.

She pressed herself against the counter as he stopped right in front of her. With a teasing look in his eyes he leaned in while reaching behind her. She held her breath, scared of this man who had her locked in again. His hand came back out from behind her with a piece of bell pepper in it. He put it in his mouth and slowly chewed it.

"Delicious," he said, his eyes still firmly locked on hers, and suddenly she wasn't so sure it was the bell pepper he was talking about.

He smirked and she realized she must have sent some sort of signal towards him with the look on her face. He reached behind her again and two seconds later his hand came up to her lips with another piece of bell pepper. Without a word from neither of them, she allowed him to put it in her mouth.

Satisfied he took a step backwards.

"You really should eat. It's not healthy to starve yourself," he said.

"I haven't..." He waved his hand in the air and cut her off before she finished the sentence.
"Please! It's not hard to figure out. If Kevin thinks you've been sleeping all day then you haven't been down here since you got up, meaning you haven't eaten. I bet you were coming down to eat when he sent you shopping," he said.

She didn't answer. How could she? He was right. Her silence gave her away and with a small nod more to himself than her, he turned and walked to the fridge and grabbed two beers.

"Better get back out there with these before he starts wondering where I went to," he said and walked out of the kitchen again, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She felt like a nervous wreck when they finally sat down for dinner. Although Roman had been coming in their house for six months now, he had never actually eaten there before. She knew Kevin would diss her food no matter what but she was scared what Roman might think about it. Somehow his opinion mattered to her.

"Roman's staying here for some time," Kevin suddenly said casually.
"No." Instantly she got scared when she realized she had said it out loud instead of thinking it.
"No? Since when do you get a saying in anything around here?" He asked coldly.

She knew she had messed up and she would have to pay for that later. Too afraid to look over the table and meet Roman's eyes to see if he too was judging her, she tried to smooth things out while looking down at her hands.

"I didn't mean to say no. What I meant was to ask how come?" She felt pathetic.
"None of your business," he answered.
"I just bought a new house and it needs some work so I got workers running all around," Roman said.
"Dude, you don't have to explain it to her. She just has to accept you're here," Kevin cut in.

She quickly looked up and met Roman's eyes. There was something in them she couldn't explain, some sort of protecting look, and she quickly sent a thankful look his way before looking down again. She wouldn't want Kevin to catch on even though she had only been looking at him.

"Dinner was absolutely amazing," Roman switched the subject completely. "I do hope you'll be cooking everyday while I'm here."
"Don't get your hopes up. I told you she only knows how to make chicken," Kevin shut her down before she could even thank Roman for the compliment.

Instead of saying anything, she just stood up and started clearing the table for plates while the two men went inside the livingroom.

"Remember to get the guest room ready for Roman," Kevin shouted out to her.

"What the fuck was that?" Kevin sneered later that evening once they were alone in the bedroom.
"What was what?" She asked confused.
"At dinner. No? How dare you talk back to me like that?" He was all up in her face.
"I didn't. I said the wrong word by accident. I would never..." She tried.
"You damn right, you would never! This is my house! My rules! You do whatever the fuck I tell you to!" He yelled.

Roman came walking out of the bathroom to the sound of something going down inside their bedroom. He wasn't sure what exactly had just happened but something sure wasn't right by the sound of her cries. He hurried over to the door and knocked on it.

"Is everything alright in there?" He asked.
"Everything's fine. Claire just tripped over her slippers," Kevin answered.

Roman bit his tongue and swallowed back the words of asking her directly if she was okay. He knew now was not the time to show her he was concerned. Not if he wanted to stay in the house near her instead of being kicked out by Kevin.

"Alright then. Goodnight," he called.
"Goodnight." Only Kevin's voice reached him.