Twenty One

Dean made sure Roman was sound asleep before he went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

He almost lost Roman tonight and it shook him to the bone. He had to consider several options now including having Roman stay over with his parents until he settled this whole thing with Zack.

He put two teaspoons of his ground coffee powder into his white ceramic mug while the kettle boiled water.

Having Roman with his parents would be safe. Dean knew he could count on his parents for help and his father would most likely watch over Roman like a hawk which worked with the auburn haired cop well.

Zack would pay for this and Dean would make sure he'd see him till the very end being put in the slammer with cuffs.

He had to have help pulling off his fake death. And it was a no brainer that the help came from the inside but the question was who?

John?

Dean didn't think it was. John was devastated after Zack's "death" and like Dean, he had received counselling.

Captain?

But what would Captain gain from any of this? Money? Power?

"Dean?"

He found Roman walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"You're supposed to be sleeping, babe," Dean said, stirring his coffee.

"You weren't there beside me."

"I'll be up in a second. Go ahead without me."

His boyfriend wrapped his arms around him. "No." Roman pressed a kiss on the side of his neck. "What's on your mind?"

"Roman, I'll need you to go and stay with my parents for a while." Dean turned around. "Zack and I have to settle this between us."

"I'd be more comfortable staying with Rosey."

"Your brother?"

"Well, yeah. I mean he's still my family, Dean."

Dean didn't like the idea of Roman returning back to his brother but if it made him feel at ease, then he wouldn't object to it. "Okay. Just call him tomorrow and let me know. Remember there's always my parents."

"Sure." He bit his lip. "Dean, we won't be separated for long, right?"

Dean sighed sadly. "I can't promise you anything, babe. Dwayne will be there to keep a look out for you, okay?"

"Okay."

They made love later slowly, their eyes gazing into one another. Dean kissed him tenderly, pouring his heart out silently.

Roman meant the world to him in less than a month yet it felt like a lifetime to Dean.

To Roman's surprise, Rosey sounded thrilled to have him home for the next few weeks. True to his business nature though, he requested for some rent money which he agreed to pay without letting Dean know.

He arranged to come over after work and informed Dean before breakfast. His boyfriend helped him pack his clothes and other essentials he may need. Roman had not anticipated the sadness he was feeling at being separated from Dean.

He stalled packing for a bit, choosing to kiss him in between. If Dean was bothered, he did not say anything.

Once his bags - a duffel and a backpack - were packed, he had pancakes with scrambled eggs with the blue eyed man who had become the center of his world. Dean reminded him that he had a tracking device so Roman could trace his whereabouts too.

"You'll call me right?" he asked.

"I will," Dean assured him. "Every night."

"And lunch time too."

"Okay."

"And when you wake up."

Dean smiled. "I'll call you as much as I can, okay?"

That eased the anxiety in him. "Okay."

His scruffy boyfriend then drove him to work and kissed him before he got out of the car. Dwayne would be driving him to Rosey's place later. "Have a great day."

"I will."

"Oh before I forget," Dean said, reaching into his pocket, "I want you to take this." He took out a couple of hundred dollar notes from his wallet. Roman shook his head. "No, Dean," he declined. "I can't."

"I insist, Roman," Dean argued. "Your pay isn't due till month end. This may hold you for a bit. If you need more, just let me know and I'll transfer money into your bank."

"But-"

"Let me take care of you till you're on your feet okay?"

He couldn't argue with that. No one cared about him the way Dean did and it humbled him. "Alright. I'll call you tonight."

"You better."

John was shaking his head after sipping his coffee once Dean related to him about Zack at the station.

"I'm just trying to figure out who would help him do that," Dean said, putting his feet up on his desk while leaning back in his swivel chair. "It could be anyone."

"We'll just have to keep our eyes wide open," John replied, his face lined with pain. "I can't believe it. Zack was like a brother to us. We've been through so much together."

"But it wasn't enough."

"Where's Roman now?"

"At work. He insisted on heading back to work more as a means of distraction than anything really. Dwayne will drive him over to his brother's place later."

"What are we planning to do?" John asked.

"We will be investigating Zack. I think we should start with those files from SWAT first. I've already asked Captain to put in a request for us to access it."

John frowned. "Can we trust Captain though?"

"For the moment, yes."

At this point, he would until he was proven otherwise.

Roman's day flew by fast.

Rusev had enquired his whereabouts and he lied about a family emergency hence why he had to rush off. His Bulgarian friend was still on the edge about TJ who was more of a happy go lucky person to the Samoan personally.

He spent some parts of his lunch chatting with Dean on Whatsapp about his day. His boyfriend seemed busy so Roman didn't drag their conversation on.

True to his word, Dwayne arrived to fetch him to Rosey's.

His cousin didn't seem to know about last night's event so Roman kept quiet about it. The drive was filled with talks about their childhood instead.

Rosey was already at the front door and he shrugged when he saw Dwayne. Since they were young, his brother and cousin could not stand one another. "Roman," Rosey said. "Welcome back. Why don't you get settled in your old room while Dwayne and I talk."

Roman wasn't sure if that was a good idea but he decided it would be better to put away his bags first.

His old room remained the same as it had been when he last left it.

He put his bags aside and lied down on his king sized bed. As he ran fingers through his locks, he tried to recall what his life was like before Dean. He found it hard trying to remember most things.

Taking out his phone, he tapped on the app that was linked to a tracker on Dean. His boyfriend was still at work. More late hours. This time spent on trying to catch Zack. He contemplated calling Dean - wanting nothing more than to hear his voice - but decided against it.

There were steps being bounded down the steps then.

"Roman?" Dwayne called out. "You okay down there?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I am."

There was a moment of silence before he heard steps coming down. Roman woke up but froze when he saw who it was.

Zack Ryder.

"Oh please," the brunette said. "Don't bother sitting up, Roman. We have all night."

He tried to run for the exit, shouting out Dwayne's name but there was no reply. Zack merely pushed him and he found himself falling down.

"Dwayne!" Roman shouted. "Dwayne, he's here!" Where was Dwayne? Surely he didn't leave so soon. And Rosey? Didn't he want to come down and check on him?

Zack merely laughed in response. "Oh Roman, you have a lot to learn. You're all alone now and this time, Dean isn't here to save you."

He heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Everything okay in here, babe?"

Babe?

Roman watched to his horror Dwayne kissing Zack on the lips in front of him.

No.

Not Dwayne too.

But why?

"Surprised?" his cousin said after he broke the kiss with Zack. "Don't be. Zack and I have been dating for years."

"Years?" Roman shouted. "Dwayne! Have you lost your mind?"

His cousin laughed. "No, Roman. Actually I feel liberated."

"See, Roman?" Zack added as he pinned Roman down. "I told you that you didn't know who you were messing with."

"Dwayne?" Roman was scared now, struggling to get up but both men held him down. "What… what's going on?"

His cousin shrugged as he tied his hands. "Simple, Roman. I saw a good deal and I took it."

"Good deal?" Roman repeated. "What can you possibly gain from this?"

"Well, money for one. And well more money. You of all people understand, don't you, Roman? After all, Rosey and Aunt Bertha needed that money. You being the looker came in handy and trust me that dough lasted them a long time."

"Are you crazy?" Roman was mortified. "But why him?"

"Because unknownst to Dean and John, me and him were actually banging on the side. Well we still are but that's besides the point. The point is we were sick of the low income we were getting and we wanted a little side money. And you, Roman, will bring us the big one."

"You… you… you were Zack's inside help."

"Yes, I was."

He was shaken to the bones now. "Makes you regret being with Dean now, huh?" Zack asked.

"No. I'll never regret that."

"Oh after tonight's auction, you will."

An auction tonight?

Roman started moving wildly but Zack held him down. "Uh uh. Calm yourself, Roman. You're only going to hurt your wrists doing that."

"Rosey!" he shouted. Where was his brother?

"Rosey's in on it too," Dwayne filled him in. "So don't bother calling for him." He took Roman's cellphone and tossed it aside. "This time, Dean won't be coming to your rescue so I'd start to move on mentally."

"Fuck you, Dwayne!" Roman spat out. "Dean won't take this lying down."

"We look forward to that."

He covered Roman's nose and mouth with a soaked cloth then.

When he came about, the first thing he saw was a chandelier.

Roman woke up with a bitter aftertaste on his tongue as he felt his arms being held back by two handcuffs to a iron bedpost in a warmly lit room with elegant fixtures and fittings. Where was he? It looked like someone's home.

He shuddered.

Surely he did not sleep through the auction.

Maybe he had, he thought with a sinking feeling as he looked down at his naked form.

Dwayne had betrayed him. Dwayne had betrayed Dean. Dwayne had betrayed John.

His family were nothing but a bunch of greedy individuals who valued the green bill over anything, even going so far as to destroy one another for it.

"You're up," a man wearing a navy blue suit with white hair said, walking in. "Hi. How are you?"

Roman stared at him wordlessly.

"You speak English, right? Zack told me you could."

Who was this man? He cleared his throat. "I… Who are you?"

"Shane McMahon. I bought you."

His heart sank. So he had slept through the auction. How much chemical had Dwayne knocked him out with? "Bought me? Through an auction?"

"Oh yeah. I'm a billionaire who longs for companionship. In my youth, I spent so much time travelling due to my business but now I can afford the luxury to settle down at home with someone by my side. To be honest, you're so beautiful that I didn't mind paying that five million dollars."

Roman's heart pounded. Five million dollars? "What date is it?"

Shane showed him the calendar. So half a day had passed. Dean must be worried sick and on the lookout for him. There was no way he'd be sitting down at the station doing nothing.

"All in order?" Zack asked walking into the bedroom. "Aaah you're up. Shane, can I have a moment with Roman?"

Shane nodded and closed the door behind.

Roman glared at Zack when he sat down beside him on the bed. "You made me a rich man, Roman. So thank you for that. Don't worry. You'll like Shane. He's a nice guy. If you don't cooperate with him, you know what will happen. I don't want to hear complaints about you."

"You'll pay for this," Roman vowed. "Dean will come for your blood after this."

"Assuming that he can catch me."

"He will."

"And I'll be waiting."

He patted Roman on his right cheek and got out of the bed. Alone in the room, Roman started to wept. Dean. He wasn't sure if his boyfriend would ever find him… if he'd ever see him again.

Dean could not shake off the sinking feeling he had all morning.

Roman was not answering his phone calls. Despite Dwayne's assurances that he had sent Roman to work and would be driving him back home later, Dean couldn't help but wonder why his boyfriend was avoiding him.

Their last conversation had ended lukewarm because Dean had informed Roman he was busy writing a report for the arrest he had made the other day during dinner at the Waterfall Cafe.

Roman seemed okay with it.

Nothing in his reply stood out as something for Dean to be worried about.

So what was going on?

Maybe he should drop by his workplace on the pretense of surprising him?

"Dean," John said as he chewed his burger at the Goodburg Cafe during lunch. "Relax. Roman's fine."

"I'm not sure, John." Dean pushed his tray aside. "He's not answering his phone. Yesterday he was adamant that I called him as often as I could. So why is he not picking up the phone? I think I'll go visit him."

Dwayne, who had joined them for lunch, shook his head. "If you do that, it'll just be you trying to control him… you know being hardpressed and all. Give him some space."

"He said that to you? About me being hard pressed?"

"Oh yeah. Said that it unnerves him at times."

Dean couldn't help but feel a bit saddened. Hadn't he toned it down? Clearly it wasn't enough if Roman thought otherwise.

Still would it hurt Roman to answer his phone just once?

Shane's lips were pressed on random spots of his body.

Roman didn't dare to move. He didn't know Shane. He wasn't sure of the temperament he had or the quirks he may like or dislike.

He knew nothing so he chose to remain quiet.

"Relax," Shane whispered in his ear. "I'm going to make you feel good."

The billionaire claimed his lips following that promise. Roman remained tight lipped. Shane frowned. "Open your mouth, Roman."

"No," he objected.

"Open it."

"Shane, shouldn't we get to know one another if we're going to be doing this a lot?"

"We can get to know one another later. Open your mouth, Roman."

He did so in defeat as Shane's mouth covered over his. The billionaire's tongue plunged into his, moving it wildly as his hands groped Roman's waist.

Roman broke the kiss and shook his head. "I can't, Shane. This is wrong. I'm a free human being just like you are. My boyfriend is out there looking for me now."

"You're not free, Roman," Shane corrected him. "I bought you therefore you belong to me."

"I belong to Dean."

"Dean? That's your boyfriend's name? Well, I've got news for you, Roman." He spread Roman's thighs apart. "Dean's not going to find you anytime soon so just get used to this."

A/N A spy in Dean's midst… will he be able to find Roman? Thank you for your favorites/follows/reviews. I appreciate it :-)