Chapter 38 You've Seen It? The moment my senses returned, the words tore out of me like claws. I knew all the right answers to his questions and it all led to one big revelation. Dean had secretly recorded us together back then and now he's using it to make Roman do his bidding. “How could Dean do something so disgusting?!” It came out loud enough to rattle the air between us. My whole body was hot—too hot—and I couldn’t keep still. My arms wrapped around myself like that could stop the tremor running through me. Roman was calm. Infuriatingly calm. Was that a talent? Was it a skill that he had perfected? How does he stay unbothered even in situations like this? He was lying on the bed beside me, one forearm tucked behind his head like nothing in the world was worth breaking a sweat over. His gaze tracked me, steady and unblinking, as if he’d been expecting this outburst before I even opened my mouth. “Calm yourself,” he said evenly. “I’ll handle the weasel.” The flatness in his voice only fueled my fury. “How can you be this calm, Roman?” My words cracked. “Do you even get what this means for me?” “Yes.” His eyes didn’t leave mine. “Well, I can’t believe this. I—” My breath hitched, my pacing quickened. The carpet muffled my steps but I could hear the rustle of my own frantic movement, the sharp rhythm of my breath. “This is exactly why you can’t trust people! This is a nightmare.” “This is exactly why I didn’t want to mention this to you,” Roman replied, his voice low but cutting through my panic like a blade. “You’re getting worked up.” “How can I not get worked up?!” I shot back, whirling on him. “If he releases it—God—my life is over!” “Don't say that.” “But it's the truth. Dean would leak it just to hurt me. He's that petty. Especially after last night.” Roman shifted slightly, just enough to prop himself higher against the headboard. Still lounging. Still maddeningly composed. As if I wasn't just watching my entire world about to crumble before my very eyes. “He won’t.” “Oh?” My laugh was sharp and humorless. “And you trust Dean because…?” His mouth curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Because he only needs a guarantee that you won’t get in the way of his wedding to your sister. That's all.” I froze mid-step. “That’s it?” My voice was quieter now, but no less bitter. Roman shrugged one shoulder. “Sounds too simple, doesn’t it?” “It does.” My chest ached. “He’s… that in love with her?” “So he claims.” Something cold and sharp twisted in my stomach. My sister. Him. Dean’s obsession had always been ugly, but hearing Roman say it so plainly scraped something raw in me. A part of me still feels sour. And that part of me hated Dean and Chloe bitterly. Because I knew one thing; If Dean was threatening to humiliate me in public, Chloe was in on it too. Anything leading to my utter humiliation would have Chloe as the mastermind. I forced myself to meet Roman’s gaze again. “What do I do, Roman? I’m scared. Dean might leak the video just to get back at me.” “I’ll get him to erase it,” Roman said without hesitation. “But you—” his eyes narrowed a fraction— “you can’t react. He can’t find out that you know it exists.” I clenched my fists, “That'll be damn difficult because the only thing I want to do is wrap my hands around Dean's scrawny neck and never let go.” He smiled, “As fun as that would be to watch, you can't do that. At least not yet. We don't know if he's got copies or if he's already sent them to other people as insurance.” “And how do we find out?” I panicked. “I have my ways. We'll have a nice, lovely chat at the rehearsal tomorrow. You're not planning to crash his wedding, are you?” His voice turned lighter. I shook my head. “They both deserve each other. Sick birds of a feather.” I spat. “My thoughts exactly.” My pulse thudded in my ears. “But why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why make me go through all this—” “I didn’t want you to feel…” His voice lowered to a gravelly whisper. “…violated twice.” The room stilled. The air thickened. I stared at him, my mind empty for half a heartbeat before it flooded. The words lodged in my throat like a shard of glass. I had so much to say. So much to ask but I still can't find the right way to say it. I glanced at him warily. “You’ve… seen it?” Roman didn’t flinch, but something in his jaw shifted—tightened. He held my gaze. “I had to know what he was using,” he said. “What he had. I watched it once. Never again, Sav. I wouldn't have, if I didn't have to.” The air left my lungs in a slow, shaking exhale. My skin prickled all over, heat and cold battling under my flesh. I felt exploited. I felt exposed. I felt violated. Most of all, I felt betrayed. That was someone I used to trust a lot. In a moment that should have been private, intimate. Just the two of us. But Dean had to do this. He had to hit me where it hurt the most. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hide. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never show my face again, not to Roman and definitely not to anyone downstairs. I wanted to… I didn’t even know. How do I face Roman now after discovering that he had seen it? My goodness. The image of him watching it—seeing me, unaware, exposed, taken—seared itself into my skull. Shame burned through me like acid. My stomach twisted until I thought I’d be sick. But layered under the shame… was something else. Something darker. Something that shouldn’t have been there at all. Want. The knowledge that he had seen me, had taken it in, had decided to carry that burden in silence—it pressed against something primal inside me.My breath came shallow. “Why?” I asked, my voice fraying at the edges. “Why not tell me straight away? Why the games?” Roman’s gaze was unreadable, but I could feel the weight in it. “Because it would’ve hit you harder coming from me. You would have gone off the rails. And I need you focused. Not broken.” My throat tightened. “You think I’m broken now?” “I think,” he said slowly, “that you’re stronger than you believe. But even steel bends under the wrong kind of fire.” His words settled heavy between us. I sank onto the edge of the bed, my legs suddenly too weak to hold me. The mattress dipped under my weight, and I could feel the faint heat of him beside me. He didn’t reach for me, but his presence was… consuming. “So you just… watched it,” I whispered, staring at the floor, not even knowing why I asked again. “Yes.” His tone was clipped. “I saw it long enough to know exactly what I was dealing with. Long enough to make sure he could never use it against you without going through me first.” My head snapped up. “Going through you?”Roman’s mouth curved—not in amusement, but in a cold, lethal promise. “If Dean ever tries, it’ll be the last thing he does.” I should have been relieved. Grateful, even. But my chest was too tight, my mind too loud. Images kept flashing—Dean’s obvious smirk, Roman’s eyes on a screen, my own body in that sickening frame. And the strangest, most dangerous part was how my body betrayed me at the thought of Roman watching. I hated myself for it. “Savannah.” His voice cut through my spiral. I looked at him. “I told you once before you’d beg me for something.” His tone wasn’t teasing now—it was quiet, heavy, threaded with something dark. “This isn’t the thing. But the day will come.” A shiver rolled down my spine that had nothing to do with fear. I swallowed, my voice coming out rough. “I’m not begging you for anything.” He tilted his head, studying me like I was already halfway to doing exactly that. “Not yet.”My hands curled in my lap, nails biting into my palms. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to hit him or… The silence between us stretched taut, vibrating with unspoken things. Finally, I managed, “So what now?” “Now,” Roman said, settling back against the headboard with the quiet confidence of someone who had already decided the outcome, “you leave Dean to me. And you don’t let him see you crack.” I stared at him, my heart still pounding, my mind still a mess of shame and something else I didn’t want to name. But deep down, I knew something had shifted. Roman had seen me at my worst—at my most vulnerable—and instead of turning away, he’d stepped closer. Protected me. Controlled the situation. And God help me… part of me wanted him to keep doing it.