The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

Chapter 165: Roman’s Rage: Roman

There weren’t words for the panic I had felt when Hannah called.

My mind was instantly on overdrive, and my primary goal just to get to her. Despite having been sitting in an important board meeting, I left without so much as a word. They weren’t my priority, Hannah was.

I kept her on the line and tried my best to talk to her as I moved through the building and down to the garage. I needed her to be okay, and I needed her to stay on the phone with me so that I had reassurance and didn’t barrel through downtown and risk the lives of others and myself.

She was rattled, but she was alone and safe. That was all that mattered.

I wanted to be there just as fast as I could, but I knew that I needed to be responsible about it. Who was to say whether or not the danger was immediate, though? I had to trust that Hannah would let me know if anything changed, and then I would race through the streets as I was then trying not to do.

It didn’t feel as though I could breathe until the building for the non-profit came into view.

I let her know I was there and peeled into the parking lot. Hurrying to the front of the building, not caring about how I parked, I got out of the car and rushed to the car. I could see her through the glass as she rushed to the door.

I pulled her into my arms as soon as she came through the doors.

She was crying, and I had to clench my jaw to keep from joining her. I would hold her for as long as I could and would cry with her later, but right then, there was still things to sort.

Starting with, if there was danger still on the property.

As I rubbed her back in attempt to comfort her, I glanced about, trying to get a peek at anything going on. It was almost at that exact time that Nick turned the corner around the building.

My eyes narrowed at him. "Where is the intruder?" I called to him.

"He got away," he frowned.

A rage built in me that I couldn’t stop. Anger at Nick for being so incompetent, anger at the agency that sent him, and anger at myself for not thinking much more about it when Hannah brought up that he seemed very new and potentially inexperienced.

If I was honest myself, I knew that everyone around her had considered her to be delicate. That her little concerns had been nothing more than the healing process of a wounded woman.

No more of that. I was no longer going to turn a blind eye to Hannah and her concerns. Nothing should have ever been taken lightly.

"Can you explain to me what happened?" I demanded of Nick.

"What do you mean? I was making my rounds, and when I got back into the main part of the office, I noticed Hannah wasn’t around. I went to the door and heard her screaming. I hurried over there, but by the time I was out there, no one was around."

I shook my head and tried my best not to raise my voice, knowing Hannah had been through enough. "I didn’t hire you to patrol the property. I pay you to stay next to Hannah’s side. You’re a bodyguard, not a security officer. Or are you somehow confused by your own job title?" I asked, my voice nothing more than a seething bite. "You’re fired. Get out of here. The police, I’m sure, will contact you for your statement about what transpired today."

"You have to be kidding me," Nick muttered.

I glared hard at him. "I assure you that when it comes to the safety of my wife, I am not kidding. Are you kidding? This is my wife! You were meant to protect her and stay at her side, but you couldn’t even do that. Get out of here."

Nick glared back at me, scoffed, and walked off.

I wanted so badly to stomp after him and grab him by the shirt and knock some sense into him. That wasn’t my business, though. And I was sure that the security agency firm he came from would have more than just words for him, if their tough persona was to be believed.

He wasn’t my problem, then; it was Hannah.

I thought about calling the cops, but they had just been there before, and I knew that they wouldn’t handle it with the sensitivity that Hannah needed right then. No, there was only one set of law enforcement officers that I trusted around her at that point. Ed and Marcus.

Besides, who knew if any cops could have been in on it? Going with who we trusted had to be the move at that time.

Kissing the top of Hannah’s head, I moved her to the car and helped her into the passenger door. Taking a moment to catch my breath and soothe my own nervous, I moved around to my seat. I buckled in, held her hand, and started the drive home.

She wasn’t crying anymore, but her eyes were distant. I longed to know what was on her mind, how far away she was mentally. However, I didn’t think she needed to be questioned and bothered at that time. I knew that my role would be best served in silence, but present.

She didn’t seem to mind, at least not that I could tell. We didn’t even play music on the way home, just riding in complete silence.

Once home, I hurried around to her door and wrapped an arm around her as we moved inside. Hannah still hadn’t said a word, and I wasn’t going to force her to.

Getting her up to bed, I tucked her in and laid down next to her, hoping to lay there just long enough to comfort her while she dozed off.

She needed her rest, but I needed to think. I was too antsy to lay there in complete silence.

Still, she was the focus. I laid behind her with an arm tossed over her and my other hand running through her hair, hoping to soothe any woe that might have been batting about her head.

She was my world. It never seemed so clear than it did at moments like that. How soon, how quickly my world could have crumbled before me had anything at all happened to her. I only wished that it wasn’t in this way that I was reminded. I loved her and I cherished her, and I hoped she knew that.

Once her breathing deepened and her body relaxed, I slowly peeled away. I hated to leave her, but I knew I would be no use of her if I was just an anxious, tossing-and-turning mess.

Tip-toeing out of the room, I headed for my study and left the door cracked. Even in the safety of our home, I was panicked at the thought something else could happen and I would not hear.

At least I was only a few doors away from her. I would gather myself and then go back to her.

I paced about the home office, my hands running endlessly through my hair.

I knew I needed to call Ed and Marcus, but I wasn’t sure what to say. Would they even think anything of it? Would they be too busy and just write it off as happenstance? Surely they wouldn’t, right? We had gotten close, all those months together.

I knew they would treat it with the care needed, I was just panicked that I wouldn’t be able to give Hannah the services and protection she needed. What if we had to go back to the way things were before? I knew without question that it would make Hannah absolutely miserable.

Still, it was better that than being in danger.

My fingers clutched my hair, and I groaned. Nothing seemed right, nothing felt like the perfect solution.

Maybe that was something I was going to have to face. That there wasn’t a perfect solution, just the best one available. I needed to call Marcus and Ed, that was first. Whatever they recommended, we would go with.

I heard the door creak open and I turned to see Hannah standing in the door. "Come back to bed," she said in a small voice.

I moved to her without hesitation. "Sorry," I muttered, kissing the top of her head.

We moved back to the bed and she curled into my chest. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I hadn’t found the calm I needed in the study, but I at least knew with a clear mind what the first step would need to be. I kissed the top of her head again and again. Whatever needed to happen, was going to happen. Hannah had to be safe.