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Roman
Parking the car at an available spot in front of the apartment building in the Bronx, I turn off my car and just sit there looking around. I've never been up here, but I felt the need inside of me to come up here. The neighborhood was quiet. There were several apartment buildings in the area and private houses. A school that I assumed was an elementary school and a deli in the corner. There was a parking lot that seemed to belong to two buildings and right next to it was a small park, that was empty, probably due to the cold. Getting out of the car, I locked it and walked to the entrance of one of the buildings that the parking lot belonged to. Someone was coming out as I was getting to the door and so I sped up to get inside, seeing as I didn't have a key to get in. The lobby looked a lot nicer than the red brick that made up the 14 floor building. There was a desk for a security guard a few feet away from the door and mailboxes to another side with a door leading to the stairs nearby. Around the corner were two elevators and what looked like a laundry room further in. Pressing the button for the elevators, I get in when one finally reaches the lobby and press for the third floor. When I get off, I look at the wall in front of it that shows what apartments are on which side and go to the one I'm looking for. Knocking, I hear a dog bark a few times and then the lock. On the other side, I see those blue eyes and dark hair that I remember seeing a couple of nights ago that accompanied killer curves and those full, kissable lips.
"Mr. Reigns, what are you doing here?" Asks Giselle, surprised. "How did you know I live here? Did your driver give you my address?"
"Can I come in? Maybe we can talk better?" I ask in response and I see the hesitation in her eyes.
"Are you good with dogs?" She asks, not opening the door any further.
I chuckle lightly and nod. "Yes I am. And you can call me Roman."
She gives me a curious look and opens the door, showing the navy blue tank top she was wearing, along with grey sweats. Her long hair was up in a bun, showing more of her face and hide eyes. I could see the swell of her breasts when I looked at her tank top and a bit of skin between her shirt and pants. When she notices, her cheeks grow pink and she quickly closes the door behind me.
Right next to the door, there's a closet where she offered to hang up my coat. A few feet ahead is a small kitchen, with what looked like new appliances and the aroma of food. To the left, is a small table big enough for about four people and a living room with a sectional and a table in between it and the flat screen television. The door to the balcony had a long curtain, giving her privacy from the outside. The floor was tile and there was a large pillow nearby that was used for pets. A couple of more barks and I turned around to see a large German Shepard standing a few feet away from me, on all four legs. He had brown and black fur, with honey colored eyes.
"Jackson, stay." Giselle calmly says, though in a stern voice.
The dog barks two more times, but doesn't move until she walks over to him and scratches his head. He sits at her feet while she offers me something to drink and follows her to the living room where she sits down and watches closely as the dog comes up to me and sniffs around at my hand before letting me pet him. He lays down at her feet, and looks content being with her.
"How long have you had him?" I ask.
"Since he was four months old." She replies. "He's almost two now, so I've had him for a while. But back to my questions. How did you know where I live and did your driver give you my address? And why are you here?"
I look at her and smile at the bit of curiosity that I see in her. "Maybe I asked him for your address when he came back. Maybe I followed you that night, when he took you home and maybe I've driven by a couple of times since, thinking that I might see you."
"Why?" She whispers.
"To see for myself that you were okay." I reply. "I don't know why, but I just really wanted to make sure that you were."
Giselle showed a half smile as she looked down. "I appreciate it, you making sure I was okay. Creepy since you came here unannounced and without me knowing that you know I live here, but I guess?"
I laughed softly as she gets up and makes her way to the kitchen. Jackson stays behind and sits up, before looking over at me. He yawns and turns his attention elsewhere as the aroma of food fills my nose again.
"Hey buddy. What's she cooking, do you know?" I ask, putting my hand out.
Jackson leans up and sniffs my hand again before letting me touch him. Suddenly that feeling again of wanting to own her, came over me again. I thought it had gone away, but actually coming up to her apartment and seeing her again, made it come back up. The bruise on her arm is still there, but it seemed to be fading. I wanted to rip Tim's head off for putting his hands anywhere on her and with the purpose of harming her. Giselle comes back and takes her seat again with Jackson happily staying by her side.
"What are you making? It smells good." I say.
"Thanks. It's macaroni and stewed chicken and potatoes." She replies. "Do you live up this way?"
I shake my head. "No, I live in Manhattan. But about the other night, what were you doing with Tim? I'm sure you get a lot of that."
"It's quite a story." Giselle says, not going on any further.
"Is it something that you can't get out of?" I ask.
She opens her mouth, as if to answer, but then closes it again. "Just when I thought that bad dream was over, I'm not sure it is now. I'll get out of it, though. I'm almost there."
"Did he hurt you more than what he did, that night at the party?" I ask, keeping myself and my emotions in control.
"No." She softly replies. "And that was the first time he's hurt me in anyway. Physically, anyway."
Sensing some resistance as to what her reason was, I was about to apologize in case I was being to persistent. Though a part of me had to know what she was doing with that guy. He had a bad reputation for how he treated women and something tells me that Giselle is too smart to know before getting with him, what that reputation was.
"A couple of years ago, my sister was sick with breast cancer." Giselle quietly says. "Stage three, but with treatment, Brittany went into remission. The following year, it came back but this time, it was more advanced and more aggressive. It had spread to other parts of her body, like her bones and eventually her liver. They started giving her treatment as soon as possible. But the problem was, that she had a crappy health insurance and the insurance was only paying for half of the costs. Because she had gotten so sick, she wasn't able to keep working, and eventually she wasn't able to keep affording her half. Our brother and I offered to help, and so we did. Eventually, Michael and I had to take out loans to help make the payments."
My throat went dry and I couldn't help but wonder what happened. "Did she make it?"
Her hesitation was an answer. "Eventually, the treatments stopped working and the cancer was too advanced and so spread out through her body for anything else to work. They gave her two months. Brittany lasted four months before she died. Never thought I'd outlive my little sister."
Jackson whines and sits up, putting his head on Giselle's lap, as if he knew that something was bothering her, even though her face didn't really show it. She scratches his head and whispers something to him, and I watched as he follows her to the kitchen. I make my way there and see him sitting by the entrance to the kitchen and I stand near by. I watched as she turned off the chicken and went to drain the macaroni.
"I'm sorry for your loss. I know what it feels like to lose a sibling." I say, not speaking further on it, especially when she didn't ask.
"To answer your question about Tim, when I first met him, I didn't know who he was." Giselle says. "I didn't know about what he did, nor his reputation. I was still having a bit of trouble paying of what was left of my loans. I didn't want to tell my brother because I didn't want him to know that I was having trouble with paying it and I just didn't want him to worry about me. So I went looking for help elsewhere and found myself with Tim. We were never in a relationship. It was simply me looking for someone to help me out. But what does it matter now, anyways? I made my bed with him and now I'm dealing with it."
It quickly frustrated me, because I can see in those eyes that she's a fighter. "Maybe I can help you get out of whatever situation you have with him."
"Why do you want to help?" She asks. "I appreciate you providing me with a way of getting home a couple of nights ago, and I appreciate you checking up on me. Thinking he could help me is what got me in this mess to begin with."
"Because no female to my knowledge did what you did that night." I say, walking up to her until I'm standing right in front of her, catching the soft scent of lavender. "You talked back to him and tried to stand up to him with all the courage in the world, and you didn't need liquid courage or anybody else to do it. That was all you, Giselle. That fight, that need to fight against him...that is what's making me want to help you. Besides, you didn't deserve that from him. Or from any other guy. Knowing Tim's reputation, he will feel embarrassed by what you did and will blame you for what happened to him because of it. No matter how at fault he is for it. If he has anything to hold against you, he will use it and if you don't have any ammunition to use against him, he will try to find a way to eat you up before you get the chance to respond. It's not you to back down, is it? The way your eyes spark at the mention of it, tells me I'm right. Like the way a match sparks up when it strikes and you don't know how much I want to see that look in your eyes again and again.
I kept my hands at my side to keep from touching her and doing what I want to do to her, balling up into fists and releasing again. Just looking at her lips, reminds me of all the things I wanted to do to her that first night I saw her. Feeling something against my legs, I look down to see her German Shepard circling around.
"Jackson, out of the kitchen." Giselle tells him.
A few seconds pass before he walks out and goes back in the direction of the living room. Silence passes between us as she finishes up the food and turns everything off.
"What do you want from me in return for your 'help', however that is?" She asks, not looking at me.
"What makes you think I want anything from you in return?" I answer.
Giselle turned to face me as she showed me that smirk on her face as her blue eyes pierced through me. "You're a successful businessman, Roman, with billions of dollars to your name and fortune. What would make me think that a man like you wouldn't want anything in return? I'm not giving you money and I'm not a prostitute or a whore. Whatever you want to call them."
"Are you finished paying your loans?" I ask.
"Yes and without his help. He wasted my time." She quickly says. "I just want to be done with him, for good. It's all I want. I just want peace to return to my life. I've been through enough."
In that moment, Giselle looked so innocent yet so full of life all at the same time. I wanted to put a smile back on her face. I don't know what all she's been through other than what she's told me tonight, but something tells me that I won't like it, too much.
"Where's your phone?" I simply ask.
"What do you want it for?" She asks.
I put my hands in my pockets and walk out of the kitchen. Going into the living room, Jackson gets up and starts walking around when he sees me. Looking around, I see her phone on the table in front of the couch and grab it.
"Unlock it." I say, when I go back to the kitchen with her phone in my hand.
"Now he's telling me what to do. How nice." She mumbles.
I try to hide my smile as she takes her phone and puts her passcode in, before giving it back to me. I call my phone and watch her number appear on my phone. I end the call and give Giselle her phone back.
"Now we have each other's number." I say. "I'll get going now. If you decide that you need me for anything, just let me know."
"You'll be my superman?" She asks.
Shrugging, I back up out of the kitchen and grab my coat. "I'll see you around, Giselle. Take good care of her, Jackson."
He goes up to her when she comes out of the kitchen. I wanted nothing more than to walk back to her and have my way with her. But she doesn't need that right now, nor does she want that. I open the door as she walks up to me and before I do something crazy, I said goodnight and walked away without looking back. I had to make sure I left with some level of self control inside of me.
Giselle
It's been almost two weeks since I've seen or spoken to Roman. Something about that man infuriates me at the moment, but at the same time, I couldn't help but think about him. The way he made me feel and then when he got close to me, close enough to touch him I might add, I tried to convince myself to keep my hands all to myself. I wanted to see what he felt like under my hands, but I quickly threw those thoughts out of my head. Why does he want to help me? Why does he care so much about me when we don't know about each other? I stepped out of the building that I worked in, and was about to make my way to the train station when I see a familiar face, standing by a large SUV.
"Mr. Kelani?" I asked, walking up the gentle man who gave me a warm smile when he saw me.
"Good evening, Ms. Pena." He says. "I'll be taking you to Mr. Reigns' office."
I looked at him, curiously. "How does he know that I was going to be here? I'd never told him that I'd be here."
"Don't underestimate what Mr. Reigns knows." The man simply says. "He's a very smart man."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kelani. But I just want to go home. I've had a very long day and it's going to take me a while to get home." I say.
"I understand, Ms. Pena. But I'm just doing what I was told." He responds.
"Why?" I ask.
I seem to be asking that question a lot lately since meeting Roman Reigns and yet I can't seem to want to stay away. The amount of times that I've thought about calling him, simply because I wanted to hear his voice. At times, I wanted to convince him of something so that I can see him again. Anything to have that feeling inside of me again that I only seem to get with him.
"I don't know, I was simply told to bring you to him, this evening." The man says.
Letting out a sigh, I realized that this was my only chance at the moment to get to see him again. Agreeing, I get into the back seat and put on my seatbelt, happy to be out of the cold. I unzip my black coat, slightly to not get so hot. When Mr. Kelani gets in, it doesn't take long before he gets out of the parking and drives off.
"Where are you from?" I ask.
"Hawaii." He replies. "O'ahu. How about you?"
"Born and raised here." I softly say. "Do have any family?"
He gives a warm smile. "A wife and four kids. All girls and they're here in New York with me. The rest of my family is in Hawaii, Las Vegas and California."
"Do you ever miss them?" I ask.
"Yes, I do. But I go visit when I get the chance." He says. "How about you?"
I look out the window and watch as we go about New York City traffic, heading up towards 42nd street. "Just a brother. He's the only family I have left."
I didn't want to see the look in his eyes that I was sure, would be him feeling sorry for me that I didn't have any other family around. I didn't want people to keep feeling bad for me, so I stop talking about things that would get that reaction. I've gotten this far, doing so. I'll be okay, doing it a little bit longer.
When we got to 43rd street, Mr. Kelani parked in front of a large building. It was about 15 floors, at least and looked like it was just all metal and glass. It looked like someone could throw a rock at it and cause something to break. People in business suits were walking around and I didn't notice when the man walked up beside me.
"He's on the 14th floor. His secretary is expecting you." He says.
"Did he assume that I'd come?" I ask.
"Curious little thing, aren't you?" Mr. Kelani asks with a smile. "Don't lose that curiosity, dear. Go in."
The sun had already set early today, like it usually did here during the winter. The temperatures were clearly dropping and it was supposed to go down to the single digits overnight. Walking into the tall building, I get stopped by security and let them know that I who I was there for. They make a call and then let me pass, and I make my way to the elevator. I press the 14th floor when I get in and make the ride up. The doors open when the elevator finally gets up to 14 and I step out. The few people that were there, looked over at me and quickly saw that I didn't belong there and didn't fit in. Looking around, there were offices that filled up almost the entire floor. Some of the offices had their lights off and there was somebody going around, starting to clean up. There was, what looked like a large boardroom down the hall and a bathroom nearby. Rugs that muffled the sound of your footsteps. Top of the line computers. Top of the line everything, it seems.
"I'm here for Mr. Reigns." I tell the blonde secretary who looks like she gets highlights every few weeks. Her desk was large and her pink nails were clicking their way on the keyboard. She was wearing a black shirt and though I couldn't see what she was wearing from the waist down, I could tell she was the type of person who liked to show off her figure.
She looks up at me with her green eyes and waits a beat before replying. "Are you sure it's for this time?"
"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now." I said, not thinking about how it would come out.
She arches an eyebrow and picks up the phone when I hear that voice. "She can come in, Aly. I'm expecting her."
Looking over at the direction of the voice, I see him standing by the door with his hands in his pant pockets. He wore grey slacks with black dress shoes and a white button up shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves, showing his muscular forearms and a tattoo on his right forearm. His hair was up in a bun and his beard was still there, though it looked trimmed.
"You can come in." Says Roman as he looks at me with those blue eyes of his, in a way that nobody has looked at me before.
I make my way to him and take in his cologne when I get close enough. He stepped aside and let me in, closing the door behind us. Again, rugs that muffled the sound of your footsteps. It looked masculine with grey walls and black furniture. A black desk with a computer and a large black chair. A black sofa on the side and black bookshelves that were filled with books. Floor to ceiling windows that gave you some amazing views of the city.
"Can I take your coat?" He asks, behind me. "Offer you some water?"
I take off my coat and my sweater, showing my white button up shirt that was tucked into a pencil skirt that clung to my curves with heels that showed off my legs. I noticed his eyes linger on every part of me before reaching my curly hair and my face.
"How was your day?" He asks, hanging up my coat and sweater.
"Um, it was long." I reply. "Yours?"
He turns to face me and stays where he's standing. "Just came back from a business trip earlier today and I've been here since. So it's been a long day."
I nod and stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say. "Do people here always stare when you have someone in your office?"
Roman breaks his gaze from me and sees what I'm talking about. People getting a look as they pass by. Walking up to his desk, he presses something on it that causes blinders to close up, giving us privacy.
"How do you know where I work?" I ask, walking up to him. "And why am I here?"
"I have my ways of finding things out." He replies. "Maybe I wanted to see you because maybe two weeks was too long for me."
"You and your maybe's." I say, leaning against his desk.
He lets out a deep laugh and it causes my stomach to flip. "You and your questions."
"It doesn't hurt, though." I say with a shrug. "Now is that the only reason I'm here? I'm sure there are other women who want your time."
"But none of them are you." He simply says.
Our gazes hold and it seemed like minutes passed by before we looked away from each other. "What do you want from me, Roman?"
"I don't want your money, Giselle." Roman softly says. "I'm not going to force you to have sex with me, and I'm not a pervert. I may be an asshole at times, but I was raised right. I told you that Tim would get taken care of. So I'll make sure that happens. That'll be my help to you."
"Don't get yourself in trouble for me." I said, surprised that I cared about this man getting into any kind of trouble.
"I won't." He assures me.
Our fingers touch, just the slightest bit and he pulls back as if he was burned. It kind of stung, and I just wanted to shrink away. I watched as he walked over to the window and stays there for a few minutes before I decided to get my stuff to leave.
"My brother died almost two years ago." The man softly says. "Congestive heart failure. He was older than me, but that's how I know what it feels like to lose a sibling. Hoped he be around a lot longer."
"He is, in spirit, I'm sure." I tell him before reaching out for my stuff. "I'm sorry for your loss, though."
"Please, don't go." He whispers before turning around to walk up to me.
I put my hands down and look at him curiously. "I'm intrigued by you, Roman Reigns. You have a way of knowing things. You're mysterious and yet you don't say much about you."
"Maybe I like it like that, sometimes." He says, with the corner of his lips, lifting up.
Lifting up his hand, he slightly hesitates before lifting my chin with his fingers. The warmth of his fingers radiate through my body. The light pressure that he puts on my chin is enough for me to want more. His eyes go back and forth between my lips and my eyes, and I wonder if he'll do anything. What am I getting myself into with this man?