The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

Chapter 154: New Office: Roman

I managed to get through the workday by forcing my full attention and focus on work, but, after several hours, my brainpower began to deteriorate. I needed a break.

Pushing away from my desk, I stood before the massive window and stared out across the city. The sky was darkening to a deep purple as the sun made its descent in a splash of oranges and reds.

My thoughts turned to Hannah, and I rubbed my hands over my face.

On the surface, Hannah seemed to be very excited about putting her business plan into action, and it was certainly for a noble cause. But was she in the right state of mind? Was she trying to hide her fear beneath the surface because she was tired of living in the shadow of it after all we had been through?

I didn’t know, but I was worried about her.

Scrubbing my fingers through my hair, I took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling as if the answers would be there.

I loved Hannah’s idea for a nonprofit charity for victims of sex trafficking, but it was so close to our trauma, to her trauma, that I was afraid she’d float too high on excitement and adrenaline just to fall and crash. If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for not knowing how to help her avoid it.

I needed Hannah to know that she didn’t need to cover her fear by distracting herself or trying to seem strong for me. But, I also knew that she was a strong and capable woman and it was just my job to be there for her when she needed me.

She was the only one who could make the decision of whether or not she was ready to launch such a large project as the one she was working on.

My phone vibrated on my desk and I grabbed it, noting that there was a phone number displayed but I didn’t recognize the number.

I answered the call. "Hello?"

There was silence and then the line went dead. I glanced at the screen to see that the call had ended. Clearly they had the wrong number.

This snapped me out of my reverie long enough to realize that I needed to sit down and get back to finishing up my work so that I could get home to my wife. My phone vibrated again.

It was another random number and I wasn’t sure if it was the same as the first, but I answered.

"Hello?" I said, and again there was silence before the call ended.

Maybe whoever was trying to call had a bad connection. I didn’t have time to worry about that right now. The momentary distraction of phone calls had pulled me out of my headspace and I was able to reset and focus on bringing the final threads of my work day to a close. I responded to a few emails and pulled up some documents and spreadsheets to edit.

A thought crept into my mind...maybe I still had some trauma to get over. Well, sure I did after endless days of the threat of violence on my life and the lives of those I loved. After spending weeks healing from a bullet wound and having my wife kidnapped, I did realize how quickly our time together could come to an end so I cherish her, and us, more because of it.

But, knowing deep down that something like that could potentially rip us apart again for good...it hurt to the depths of my soul to even consider it. I pushed away from desk and fidgeted, bouncing my knee to the rhythm of my anxiety. I was still afraid.

My phone vibrated on my desk again, and my anxiety turned to irritation at seeing another, or the same, unrecognized number. I picked it up, but I didn’t speak immediately. There was silence.

After taking two breaths with no sound on the other end, I said, "who is this?"

The call ended.

What the hell was going on? This couldn’t be a mistake or a coincidence. I looked at my call log and noticed that the numbers were all different. One person with access to many numbers, or many people calling in on the same agenda?

I searched for each number online and got back search results that weren’t great. No businesses or names attached to the numbers.

I wondered if Ed or Marcus would humor me and look into the phone numbers. No, the thought was absurd. I was definitely overreacting.

My phone vibrated again, and I just stared at the numbers that flashed on the screen, knowing that if I answered whoever on the other end was going to hang up. I selected the answer key and then immediately tapped the end call button.

The last time Hannah received a string of weird calls she ended up almost getting hit by a car, and then she was kidnapped—but her caller had actually spoken and threatened her.

My heart was already beating rapidly at the thought when my cell phone vibrated again.

I picked it up, clicked the answer button, and listened.

There was no sound on the other end. No background noise and not even breathing.

I waited, imagining Jared Fitzgerald’s dead and bloodied face on the other end of the line just calling to distract me while his armed men were hunting Hannah down.

The call ended with neither me or the person on the other end saying a word to one another.

I felt like I was losing my hold on reality. I had to call Hannah and make sure that she was okay. I had to hear my wife’s voice.

My heart was beating a little too fast and my fingers were beginning to tremble as I pulled up Hannah’s number in my contacts.

"Stop it, Roman," I said aloud. "Just stop and relax."

With the phone in my hand, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. If Hannah heard fear or anxiety in my voice she would freak out. I didn’t need or want that to happen.

After another deep breath I felt more in control and trusted myself to speak evenly and naturally on the phone. I tapped on her contact profile and the phone began to ring. I sat in stiff anticipation as the phone rang twice before she picked up.

"Hey Roman," Hannah’s bright, clear voice floated to me through the phone, and I relaxed a bit at hearing her.

"Hey sweetheart," I said. "How is everything going? I haven’t heard from you."

"Things are going great," she said cheerfully. "Perfectly, in fact. Lori and Lauren are here having an office warming party with me."

I could hear Lauren’s voice near Hannah asking if it was me. I smiled

"And your bodyguard? Is he there with you right now?" I asked Hannah.

"Yeah, Nick’s here too, but he’s not drinking because he’s on duty," Hannah said. Lori and Lauren laughed in the background, and Hannah shushed them playfully, letting them know that she was trying to talk to her husband.

"Will you ladies be done soon? It’s getting late," I told Hannah, glancing out of the window to see the final rays of the sun just about to disappear. It would be dark out in the next half an hour.

"No, we’re not done yet," Hannah said. "We’ll probably be here a bit longer working on this champagne. This place is beautiful, Roman. I can’t wait for you to see the decor."

"I have no doubt that it’s perfect," I said, and as I spoke my phone began to beep signaling that I was receiving an incoming call. I glanced at the screen to see another number that I didn’t recognize.

It was too much, and it sure as hell was getting beyond disturbing. I didn’t like this feeling that something was wrong, despite what Hannah was telling me and the fact that she seemed to be okay.

"I’m sorry that I haven’t kept you updated, but it was a busy day," Hannah said. "I love you, Roman. Forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you, Hannah," I told her. "I love you more than anything."

"I’ll see you later, okay?"

"Later," I said before she hung up.

A part of me was relieved at hearing my wife so happy and relaxed, but the other part of me felt like something dark was lurking.

I went to the call log on my phone and dialed the number that had called me while I was on the phone with Hannah. There was a disconnected tone.

Even though there were only a couple of things left for me to do, I knew that I wasn’t going to finish any more work. Not with this bad feeling in my gut. I shut down my computer, grabbed my jacket and keys, and left the office.

Once I was in the car, I drove way faster than I should have been driving, but my single-minded mission was to get to my wife at her office as fast as I could. I would only believe that she was okay when I saw her with my own eyes and held her safely in my arms.