Ruby's Secret

CHAPTER 27

Ruby St. Clair's POV

I didn't have any idea how to answer him when suddenly asked me—out of the blue—to stay with him forever. Honestly, it caught me off guard. I never thought that Roman had been thinking such things when we both agreed that whatever we had was temporary and we'd let things run their course and no hard feelings in the end.

So why now, all of a sudden, when he announced to me that he's planning to buy that huge penthouse and thinking of setting up a permanent office here in New York he was asking me to stay with him forever?

He's not as if he's in love with me, right? Because love is just a fictional emotion that doesn't need to define how you live your life. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in love. I love my family, my sisters, and even my dear old granddad but it was an entirely different thing when you're talking about romantic love. A love between a man and a woman is messy and it would always end up bitter in the end. I saw that before from my family.

I sighed deeply, shaking my head. There was no reason to mull over yesterday's event when I didn't give Roman the answer to his sudden question. Instead, I asked him to give me time to think about it since he didn't prepare me for his plan. For his part, he smiled understandingly in my direction and said he was willing to wait for my answer.

I was grateful that he didn't press the matter and demanded my immediate response. Truth be told, I think I am not the girl who's fit to have a long-term relationship with my sisters. I saw what marriage could do to a person one good example of that was our parents.

If I was just honest with myself I was scared to answer Roman. Heck, I didn't even know how to give him an answer. I need time and space to clear my head because whether I like it or not this thing between us moves faster than we probably both wanted.

Since he told me over breakfast that he has an important meeting this morning I decided to take this opportunity to be away from him for a while and visit my grandfather in his estate in Hamptons. I need to forget this permanent setup I have with Roman for now and focus my attention on other matters.

Checking my appearance in the full-length mirror one last time I picked up my shoulder bag from the bed and went out of Roman's apartment.

Once outside I hailed for taxi and gave the address of my grandfather in Hamptons. After almost two hours of a long drive from the city, I finally arrived at the estate. In our teenage years, Emerald and I spent most of our summers here with our grandparents. I like it here away from the prying eyes.

I walked to the familiar meticulously-cared English garden my late grandma always loved going to the main entrance of the castle-like home of the infamous King of Diamonds of New York. Before I had the chance to knock at the huge wooden double in the foyer. Granddad's loyal butler opened the door with a ready smile on his face.

"It's been a while, Miss Ruby."

I smiled at the elderly man serving my granddad for decades. "Long time no see, Grayson. I thought you already left Daniel last time I was here I didn't see you."

He was one of the few people on earth that could differentiate me from Emerald. "Probably the time you visited here was the time of the year when Mr. St. Clair gave me a long vacation to be with my family, Miss Ruby."

I smiled at him thoughtfully. "I'm surprised the old man is letting you have such a long vacation I always thought that he couldn't bear you out of his sight. I believe Daniel couldn't move without you in his side."

Grayson laughed heartily, as pride showed in his eyes. "That's not quite true, Miss. I think he just wants to make sure everything in here runs smoothly. Please come in."