Savage

Chapter 24: Mind Games

As we descended the stairs together, I saw the back of a long-haired brunette. She must have heard us because she turned immediately with a smile plastered on her face.

"Roman!" she squealed.

She ran towards us with her arms wide open. Roman did not hesitate to reciprocate the affection coming from her, releasing my hand to hug her. She jumped up in his arms, hugging him tightly. I hung back to let them have their moment in peace. I felt awkward standing there. So out of place. She finally released him and began bombarding him with a string of German, which I still haven't caught onto yet. I felt like I was eavesdropping or something in a private conversation. As I stood there looking at the pair having their nostalgic exchange, a feeling that was foreign to me for so long took over. Watching her laugh and giggle at his, I can only assume jokes, holding on to his arm every now and then to say something. Roman never once lets go of her hand, when he speaks to her. It was as if they were in a bubble and I was watching from the outside, as they flowed together. My mind could not wrap around the feeling yet, and I pressed on, torturing myself with this sight. I felt masochistic as it dawned on me what exactly I was experiencing. That growing ache in the bottom of my stomach has my head hurting and nausea setting in. My vision blurred in front of me and I instantly saw the green stain in my eyes. That damn green-eyed demon mocking me.

I was suddenly upset with myself for two reasons. One for allowing myself to even acknowledge such a childish feeling and two for being unable to come to this realization sooner. That I have been letting Roman Heinrich in this entire time. Getting to know him on this trip, how we got along, and regarded each other. Old-fashioned my ass. He was a genius. Depriving me of one weakness and getting to know me through the other. Sex and Food. I was the fool who fell for it, falling for him in the process. And so, as I stood there watching this man, my man, and this woman, who I have yet to be introduced to, exchange pleasantries and more. My little green friend slowly vanished, and a new set of emotions gathered at the forefront. Fear. Fear that my weaknesses, more like pleasures have grown from two to three because I have developed strong feelings for Roman, and the crappy part is that he knows. He has known all this time and has been there waiting for me to come to terms with it.

Eventually, they acknowledged my presence and Roman turned to me with a huge smile on his face, while enveloping the young woman in his arms. He then let go and draped his arm over her delicate shoulders. She was beautiful in her thin-strapped lavender dress. I loved it. It stopped mid-thigh. She wore gold ballet flats, with open sides and a slim gold watch on her left wrist, to match. She was smaller than I was, but her entire appearance was immaculate. She had soft features that were framed by her long brunette hair, which fell below her waist. Her toned legs were a tell-tale that she probably played sports or danced. I wasn't quite sure. From where I was standing she had striking blue irises, in a pair of larger almond-shaped eyes much like Roman's.

"Hi, I'm Kat," she announced sticking out her small hand out to me.

I hesitated a bit before taking her hand, which Roman saw because his smile dimmed slightly. However, I couldn't tell if Kat noticed because her composure didn't falter at all.

"Sage. Nice to meet you," I said.

"Sage," Roman started in a warning then turned to Kat and said, "I'm glad you finally get to meet," his eyes cast on me now, "my cousin."

Well, that made me feel like shit, letting out the breath I was holding in. I had a 'girl crush' moment. Hopefully, the only one I will ever get to have with Roman is in my life. But I highly doubt it.

"I'm so happy to finally meet you, Sage. Roman has been occupied lately. Now I know why he's been acting strangely." She chirped, letting go of her cousin and grabbing my hand to lead me to one of the stark white, long sofas that occupied the living area.

Kat jumped onto the sofa and patted the space next to her. I daintily sat down beside her, wondering where she was going with this.

"I can't believe I finally get to meet you! This is unbelievable," she shrieked in an almost raspy German accent.

Roman moved somewhere behind us, and I heard the tap from the kitchen turn on.

"Hasn't he taken a woman home before?" I quizzed.

"No not really," she paused looking towards the kitchen while dropping her voice to a whisper. She leaned in closer to me and said, "The ones that he does carry home are always for social events. They are not fun. Uptight, and boring. They latch onto him like the cold-blooded bitches they are."

I knew must have a strange expression because of her reaction.

"Sage!" she giggled, "Stop looking at me like that. You know my cousin is a treat, especially if he caught you."

That's right he did catch me. Cornered like a deer in headlights.

"Besides he doesn't keep one girl long enough for us to get to know. So it was easy to figure out that he was very fond of you. Probably more."

"Should you be telling me this? I mean aren't you afraid you're making him out to be a bad person?"

She laughed again, then her smile dropped and her facial features turned serious.

"Honestly, no. My cousin has never spoken of you being easily swayed by anything. It is obvious you know that Roman does not play with his women." She paused before continuing, "He gives them exactly what they want. This is dependent on the type of woman he has on his arm at the moment."

That's true. I can attest to that. Remembering his exact words to me when he stormed my apartment when Wong came over.

I stared at her. My brain felt blank until that warm feeling took over the pit of my stomach and a soft smile played across my lips. I broke eye contact to look at my fiddling hands in my lap.

"He knows I won't hide anything from you. I doubt he cares what I say. I can only imagine what he has told you. You see, he and I are much alike." She pauses and looks over at Roman, "Unlike his brother and I, who don't get along very well. Don't get me wrong we get along, but we don't relate to each other as much."

Her English was clear, with her accent. However, she doesn't dip into German like Roman does. Then a thought crossed my mind. Roman had a brother? I must have said that aloud because Kat promptly answered.

"Yes, silly. An older one who runs the company with him. I'm surprised he didn't tell you before he told me about you. You see, Roman has been telling me about you from the moment you both met." A pause, "...Err-properly." She said the last bit in a panic.

She has no filter. Roman emerged from the kitchen then with a tray in his hand.

"I made us some herbal tea and scones," he said with a smile.

He laid the tray before us on a glass coffee table.

"He means he heated up the pre-baked scones," I said biting into one. He smiled.

"Roman why haven't you told Sage about your brother?"

His face paled as he was handing me the tea. He looked at me and said, "I didn't think it was important. Besides, he's been getting on my nerves lately."

There was some irritation I saw on his face. Anger danced in those blues irises, until he closed them, shaking his head in the process. When he opened his eyes I saw that they were back to normal. It felt like I was missing something.

"Well, now she knows. He also has a little sister, my age. I have an older brother. Now you know about the siblings. Do you have any?"

Ripping my eyes away from Roman I replied, "Yes a younger sister. she's in university. Her name is Soraya."

"What a beautiful name. I would love to meet her someday," she exclaimed. "I have an idea," grabbing my arm that was holding the plate under the teacup. It almost spilled. Almost. "Let's go out to dinner."