Shadows of Deception Ch. 03

Note: Depending on when this is published there may be a discrepancy in Roman's name from Solis to Aurelius. I wasn't 100% sold on Solis, it was just a placekeeper till I found something I liked more. His name is Roman Aurelius. Happy reading.

Three: Boyfriend by Dove Cameron

Sometimes when people ask questions, they don't always want an answer, they're just running things. The silence that followed the string of garbled words that came from Daisy stretched on for a few minutes before Belladonna realized this wasn't one of those times. Sure enough, Daisy was looking at her with an expectant look, clearly waiting for an answer but that was a problem because Belladonna hadn't even heard her question. She didn't even realized Daisy was talking to her until she'd felt her near-laser vision burning a hole into the side of her head. This marked the fourth time it had happened all day. And this time she couldn't blame it on the proofs or emails that had previously been conveniently located within her line of sight. No, she'd been staring at a spot on the wall near a baseboard in her living room.

"Huh?"

Daisy's deadpan expression wasn't one that Belladonna saw often as she was usually a much better listener. "Sorry, Daisy, say that again, I didn't catch it the first time."

"Or the second,"

Irritation tugging on the ends of her words seemed so unnatural for someone of her chipper demeanor, but still, even the nicest people had their limits and Belladonna had a sneaking suspicion that Daisy was the last person she wanted to upset. Daisy was as calm and nice as could be, even in the face of people in the industry screaming at her or talking to her like an idiot, the only time Belladonna had ever seen Daisy lose her cool was when a model got grabby and she'd socked him pretty hard in the junk. Poor guy folded like a lawn chair, though he really did have it coming, and Belladonna was in no hurry to be the next lawn chair.

"Sorry."

"Ok, what's with you lately? You've been in a weird funk for two weeks now." She didn't say anything and instead hoped a few minutes of silence would put Daisy off, but it didn't. Oh, no, not Daisy, especially when she thought the tea was piping hot, then she became more life a blood hound. "I am just going to stand here until you tell me."

As promised, Daisy stood poised at the kitchen counter of Belladonna's loft, her arms folded across her chest with no sign of moving.

"We've got work to do." Daisy still didn't move.

Daisy could have made a great FBI agent if she wasn't so high maintenance, her ability to suss out lies and hidden information made a jealous girlfriend look like a cartoon spy with a magnifying glass. She knew it wasn't smart to lie, lies were slippery and tough to keep track of. With the police investigating her and Roman, the fewer lies, the better, but she had to give Daisy something. Daisy was the last person she wanted poking around. She opted for the truth or a version of it.

"It's a guy."

Daisy's mouth fell open, not in a dramatic way, like jaw-dropping loony toons style, but she clearly hadn't been expecting Belladonna to say that. She just kind of let it hang there for a second while her brain struggled to catch up. In her mind's eye, Belladonna envisioned a hamster in a little spinning wheel inside her head running at warp speed and the poor furry thing holding on for dear life.

"What guy?" Daisy said finally mastering the art of speaking again.

"I'd like to keep it vague for now, I'm not sure what is happening with him just yet."

She looked confused by Belladonna's cryptic response, usually, Belladonna was pretty straight with people, it wasn't like her to be obscure. It was one of the things most people liked about her, she said what she meant and didn't give wishy-washy answers, no sugar coating, right between the eyes.

"You mean you're deciding if a one-night stand is enough or not?" God, she wished it were that simple, but it would do.

"Something like that."

"Who is this guy?" Belladonna tilted her head at Daisy's question. "Oh, right, keeping it vague, ok, how about some initials? Is he someone I know?"

"I doubt it." She tried to decide if giving initials would be a dangerous move or not, Roman Aurelius was an uncommon name but his initials? She didn't see the harm, and she was looking for it, so she reluctantly offered up: "R. A."

"R. A... Ok," She could see the wheel in Daisy's head spinning and the poor hamster squealing as she tried to crack the code. If R. A. was someone she knew, but after a few moments of contemplation she came up empty-handed. "No one I know?"

She shook her head. "You might know of him but I doubt you know him personally."

"Ok, identity aside, what's the deal? Was it good? Washe good?"

Ah, yes, the true heart of the matter. The holiest of gossip between women, but that also wasn't as straightforward as she would have liked it to be.

Belladonna cracked a sideways smile.

"We didn't have sex." She was staring at the counter Daisy was propped up against and thinking about what happened there with Roman, then to the table and whatalmost happened. "Just sort of got to know each other."

Again, not a lie. Not really. Daisy wore a look of genuine confusion on her face, and Belladonna didn't blame her. What did you call it when you shoved your tongue down a man's throat while he felt you up because you were trying to prove a point? The point being that you were willing to lie to the police about a relationship and that you weren't scared of a man you absolutely should have been scared of but also couldn't explain your attraction to.

She could be somewhat airheaded at times but Daisy wasn't stupid like a lot of people assumed she was. Far from it, Daisy had an IQ of 130 and she could have gone to an Ivy League school, but nothing interested her like fashion. Except maybe freaky sex. She could see the gears in her head come to a halt and half-expected smoke to come pouring from her ears.

"So, you guys, what? Just fooled around?"

Belladonna tilted her and thought about it for a second, deciding that the middle school expression fit the situation quite well.

"We sort of got interrupted." But Daisy still didn't look like her questions were answered. "He's a busy guy, it was a work thing"

"What work thing could be so important it stops you from having sex?" Daisy did not sound convinced, in fact, she sounded almost outraged. Like it had happened to her instead of Belladonna. "Well, was whatever you guysdid do any good?"

She gave a vague gesture when she asked her question as though the motion was all-encompassing whatever wasn't put into words. Belladonna couldn't look at the counter or her table and not think about Roman's demanding mouth and his bold hands. How he snarled into his phone when it rang and the general air of legitimate rage that radiated from him when he answered it. He had been pissed. It made her wonder just what they would have done had the phone not rung.

"He certainly seemed to know what he was doing." She smirked slightly as she said it, staring at the counter. Her far-off look wasn't lost on Daisy and it seemed to satisfy her curiosity.

"What's he do for work?" Daisy went to Belladonna's wine fridge and pulled out a bottle as though they were gossipy college girls about to play fifty questions.

"Can't really say, but it's high-powered type work."

Come to think of it, Belladonna wasn't even sure what Roman did as far as work was concerned, both legal and illegal. He owned Nexus, sure, but what exactly did he do? She couldn't picture him sitting at a desk going through liquor order forms, payroll or scheduling.

"Like Wall Street?"

She held back a scoff, she couldn't imagine Roman having the patience for a job like that either, though he would make for quite the intimidating figure in a boardroom.

"Not quite but it's up there with demand and risk."

"Where'd you meet him?"

She accepted the wine Daisy offered her, not paying attention to what she was drinking, only noting the dark crimson color, just swirling it around in the glass, letting it breathe. "At a club last Friday."

"You went out? I thought you went home." Now she sounded shocked and betrayed. Maybe mentioning the club was a mistake, at least she didn't tell Daisy where she'd gone.

"Yeah, I was upset about Jackson. So, I wanted to try and forget about him for a night, you know?"

She wasn't at all ashamed of what her plan had been, she didn't shy away from sexuality and had a general lack of concern for what most people thought of as loose behavior. So then why was she acting like she was embarrassed by what she had gone out to do?

Probably because of where it had landed her.

Whatever the reason, Daisy picked up on it right away. "Belladonna, you don't have to explain anything to me or feel weird about it. So, you went out, who cares? Just wish you'd have told me, I would have gone with you."

An awful thought occurred to Belladonna just then, the kind that gives you cold chills; what would have happened if Daisy had been with her? Would Roman have killed them both? Would she even have gone into the back of the club? Would the creep even have pursued her if she hadn't been alone? There were too many scenarios to imagine and no one had any more validity than the last. An endless realm of possibilities and none of them mattered because none of them were reality. The reality was that Belladonna was now very involved with Roman Aurelius and despite how at times it had scared her, she couldn't bring herself to hate her interactions with him. He was like a cigarette; bad for you, and would probably kill you but felt good to have one in your mouth or in your hands.

"Well, if you had I might not have met him."

"Fair enough." Daisy held out her glass to Belladonna's for the customary clinking before drinking. "So, is he gorgeous? He must be a catch if he caught your eye. You haven't been involved with anyone since Jackson."

First thing she thought of were those leather gloves he'd worn, then the suit, the glasses, and those dark piercing eyes. "Yeah, he's pretty gorgeous." No lie on her part there.

"Does he have any hot friends?"

Belladonna stopped and blinked, glass halfway to her mouth, her thoughts turned to the shadow that so often accompanied Roman whether she'd seen it or not.

Mercer.

She was fairly sure they weren't friends, but honestly, she had no idea what their working relationship was. Mercer with all his scars and menacing, was most definitely not Belladonna's type but he just might have been Daisy's. Despite her petite and sometimes demure personality Daisy had just as few fucks to give as Belladonna and she liked to walk on the wild side when it came to men and sex. Daisy was the one who needed multiple drinks to finish a game of 'Never have I ever'. It reminded her of how Daisy had been talking earlier and she hadn't been paying attention but she suddenly found a means of shifting the conversation away from her relationship with Roman.

"He's not my cup of coffee but he might be yours. Wasn't that what you were talking about?"

"So youwere listening?"

"Suppose I absorbed a few things through osmosis. Same shit, different day, right?"

It was a stab but lucky for her, it ended up being correct. It was Daisy's chief complaint about her dating life. But Daisy didn't really date, she was a fan of casual and open relationships. Relief flooded her expression as she felt she could now properly vent knowing she would be heard. And yes, it would be the same type of problem, most men treating her like she was breakable and a bit put off by what she wanted and what she liked.

"God! Like is it so hard to find a guy who will be respectful and treat me like a human being but then behind closed doors politely but very disrespectfully rail me?" Belladonna choked on her wine sputtering slightly, not bothered at all by how Daisy barely paid her any mind. She'd merely been caught off guard.

"It wasn't like I was asking for anything wild, just a bit of wax play, is that weird? That's not weird, is it?"

Belladonna stared at her glass and blinked, her expression saying that their definitions of weird were probably very different. "On the first date? It might be a little weird."

"What's weird about that? Most men want sex right?" Belladonna nodded, universal truth there. "And most men want it right away, right?" Another nod. "So, what's wrong with saying on a first date what you like or what your boundaries are, if you know you're both going to end up in bed together?"

It shouldn't have been weird by that logic. Daisy wasn't looking for a husband, or even a boyfriend, just someone to have some fun with. It was a fine example of the 'math not mathing' and Belladonna hated math, she'd come close to flunking, had it not been for overpaid tutors. Things that on their own were certainly acceptable but when you put them together in the same sentence, somehow the answer was; you're a slut.

"Ok, that is a good point."

"Right? Like, Jesus, I'm tired of the guys I meet treating me like a goddamned China doll. Spank me, tie me up, that's what safe words are for!"

She chuckled and nodded along, Daisy was 100% right. What was the point in being in a relationship if the sex was subpar at best? She wanted good sex first and if a relationship worked too then cool, all the better. She admired that about Daisy, and wished she'd been half that self-assured when she was Daisy's age.

Belladonna finally looked over to the bottle of wine Daisy had opened. It was one of her pricier bottles, the kind that really should be enjoyed in its entirety and Daisy certainly knew this. Daisy shrugged but grinned in victory as Belladonna reached over to close her laptop.

Wear the dress.

What dress? She wondered to herself as she read the text message again, the elevator dinged on her floor and she quickly shoved the phone into her back pocket, before shifting the brown paper bags in her arms while struggling with her keys just outside her apartment. She wasn't sure how Roman got her phone number but then again, it didn'treally surprise her. Roman Aurelius was a man of means and connections and there wasn't a single doubt that he had the resources to get what he wanted and he was most certainly used to it. A phone number was probably a piece of cake, or whatever treat a man like Roman fancied.

What dress?

He hadn't sent her anything at work in fact there had been virtually no communication since their tryst in her kitchen several days prior and although it seemed an odd gesture, it did sound like the kind of thing Roman would do; grand displays. He was definitely the type of man who would buy all the roses in a flower shop just to make a point, then again he was also the type of man to send a severed finger via personal courier for effect. She had no evidence to back that one up but she'd seen movies. No; if Roman had sent her anything at work he would have made sure she got it, he wouldn't leave something like that to chance. It wasn't his M.O. everything about the man screamed control.

The locks clicked and she entered her apartment, still wondering about the text message. She'd got it just as she stepped out of the car.

The car; that was a new development she was still getting used to. For the last week whenever she got off work, there had been a black car waiting to take her home each night. A courtesy of Roman. The driver had introduced himself as Lloyd and that he was to drive her to and from work and wherever else she needed to go. He seemed like a nice kid, and he definitely was a kid, couldn't have been older than twenty-one, clean cut, nice manners, friendly, and professional.

What was a kid like that doing working for Roman Aurelius?

It was a bit odd, but she was now fairly certain that Roman wasn't going to kill her and she slept a little easier, though there were still nights when she woke up in a cold sweat, swearing she heard gunshots or smelled blood.

Nightmares. Just bad dreams. It seemed so stupid to be a grown woman still waking up from bad dreams. She'd wondered how many bad things had to happen to you before you stopped having nightmares altogether. In this city? Hell, they weren't even nightmares anymore, they were premonitions.

Everyone has nightmares, she told herself. Everyone. Even Roman Aurelius. Though his nightmares probably ran more like the upper 1% of wealthy first-world problems. His favorite scotch was gone, or his suit clashed with his sunglasses. Really, what did scare men like Roman Aurelius? Did anything?

She shook the thought from her head and went about putting her groceries away all the while having forgotten about the text message, now locked onto a train of thought regarding what scared men like Roman. She genuinely couldn't think of anything and it wasn't until she finished putting everything away, hung up her coat, put her keys in the dish she kept them in, and headed towards her bedroom that she remembered it.

There, on her bed was something that stopped her in her tracks, the red mini dress she'd worn to Romans club. The same black clutch and black heels next to it.

That dress had been in the back of her small walk-in closet, exactly where she'd wanted it to stay. In fact, she'd kinda thrown it back there the morning after the whole thing. There had been blood splatter on it and it had a few popped seams from the physical altercation she'd been in. She honestly didn't think she'd ever wear it again or ever look at it again but she was too scared to get rid of it for evidence's sake.

For a second she was even afraid to touch it. But as her eyes scanned the dress she noticed something; it looked brand new. She picked it up and looked hard at the red fabric, but she couldn't find any hint of blood stains. It smelled great, it had been freshly laundered and the popped seams repaired. But it was certainly her dress, the tag on the inside had a small black heart drawn in with a permanent marker, it had been one of the first nice luxury items she'd bought herself with her own money. She loved that dress, so a little black heart went on the tag.

It would seem that Roman had paid her loft another visit. The fact that he had now broken in twice, that she knew of, no longer really bothered her. But his motives were a mystery to her right now. She looked at the heels, examining them closely; the scuffing was gone and they too looked brand new, even her little black clutch looked a bit polished up.

She almost jumped when her phone buzzed with a message.

Put it on.

She knew she was alone but she looked around the room and out the windows, not sure why she did.

She contemplated the dress and the events that had occurred the last time she'd worn it. She also contemplated what the consequences would be if she didn't comply, but the request seemed harmless enough. And each day Lloyd picked her up in that fancy car she grew a little more confident that Roman didn't want her dead, weirdly enough he was kind of growing on her.

But she still paced around the room for fifteen minutes before deciding to do it.

She'd fixed her hair up a bit and touched up her makeup opting for a slightly more smokey eye than her usual daytime look. He didn't say anything about makeup or hair but she just assumed it came with the package, as a mentor had once told her when she got into fashion photography;

Don't even bother with the dress if you're not going to nail the part.

She took one last look at the dress before stepping into it, she wasn't sure why the whole time she was acting like the damn thing was going to bite her. The fabric clung to her frame and fit her just as perfectly as it had the same night, it wasn't anything scandalous but it had been a favorite of hers. In words; chic and classy.