From Frying Pan to Strange Fire

“Good evening, Mr-” Joan decided to greet him, thinking the weird look was because she hadn’t acknowledged his presence by greeting. However, Roman didn’t let her finish the greeting before he interrupted.

“Don’t greet him. Don’t give him a reason to talk to you. Don’t look at him either. He isn’t important. Keep your attention on me.” He said, leaning toward her and turning her head in his direction with his index finger.

Despite his arrogant, stupid, and unreasonable attitude, Joan still found his touch electrifying and pleasing, so much so that she wanted to lean into it. It was the same with his voice. That was something she couldn’t understand. And did he just say Williams is not important? Williams Xander, not important?

From the corner of her eye, she saw Williams finally look away from her, as if agreeing to what Roman said. He picked up his cutlery and started eating.

Joan returned her full attention to Roman and realized he looked displeased by what she had just done. She forced a sweet, nervous smile, and felt relieved when he returned the smile.

“Eat now. You must be famished. You can start with this. I requested it specially for you and dished it myself too. I know you love steak.” Roman told her, pushing a plate of steak to her side.

Joan stared at the mouth-watering steak as the aroma started to mess with her better judgment. It was true that she loved steak and almost couldn’t resist it. But in this case, where she felt her life was at stake, she took a longer time to decide what to do with the plate of temptation staring her right in the face.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you eating? Do you want me to feed you?” Roman asked, smirking.

“What?! No!! Umm…” Joan trailed off, not knowing what to say or how to respectfully reject the food.

“She’s scared, Rome. She thinks the food is poisoned.” Williams cut in without looking at her. “Isn’t that right, Mrs. Graviel?” He finally looked up at her to catch her shocked expression.

Apart from shock, Joan became even more suspicious of Williams. Did he just read her mind or was he just that good at guessing?

“Is that true?” Roman asked, and Joan shifted her gaze to him, trying to normalize her expression while not knowing what to say in response.

“Of course, it’s true. After what you did, you don’t expect her to trust you or your intentions, do you?” Williams chipped in again.

“Shut up, Liam.” Roman shot him a glare, and Williams smirked before returning his attention to his food.

“Why would you think that? I won’t poison you. You’re my wife.” Roman said, sounding hurt that Joan almost believed it. “Alright. Let me take the first bite. Give me a slice.” He requested, prompting Trevor and Daniel to look at him like he had gone nuts. Williams, however, remained engrossed in his food and paid them no more attention.

Joan stabbed a slice with the fork and extended it to him. But instead of collecting it with his hand, Roman leaned toward her and opened his mouth.

Taken aback, Joan unconsciously leaned away, her brows flying up in surprise. Was he expecting her to feed him?

Roman tilted his head ever so slightly, waiting for her to do what she was suspecting he wanted, his gaze unrelenting.

Realizing he wasn’t joking and neither was he giving up, Joan let out a soft sigh and put the slice in his mouth.

He smiled widely as he straightened and chewed, never taking his eyes off her face. He could see her cheeks reddening and he was sure it was due to embarrassment but that didn’t make him love it any less.

Joan proceeded to eat after he took the first slice. She ate in silence, fully aware that one pair of eyes was fixed on her. He made sure to take the first bite off every meal she had until she was full.

“Thank you for the meal. It was delicious.” Joan smiled, bowing slightly.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Time for your birthday present.” Roman uttered, and Trevor approached him with a wrapped box and a small envelope. “Happy birthday, again. If I had known before now, I would have prepared properly for it and celebrated you in a way no one had ever done.” Roman handed her the items.

“Thank you,” Joan said, not sure how to react since she wasn’t expecting that.

“Go on. Open it.” Roman urged and Joan obliged. She unwrapped the box and opened it to find a beautiful neckpiece that had a heart-shaped crystal pendant, inside of which her name was written in bold and floating. There were matching earrings and a bracelet together in the box.

Joan’s lips parted. That was the most beautiful thing she had laid her eyes on in a very long time.

“Why?” She whispered, lifting her eyes to look at him. She didn’t understand what was going on anymore. Why was he doing all this?

“Because you’re worth it. Do you like it?” Roman answered, excited.

“It’s beautiful. I love it, but I can’t accept it.” Joan shook her head and closed the box.

“Of course you can and you will because it’s yours already. There’s no debating it. Open the envelope.”

Joan proceeded to open the envelope which contained a flight ticket to one of her choice vacation locations. Confused and speechless, Joan lifted her questioning eyes to look at him. He was smiling. Why was he smiling? What was going on?

“I figured you would need a vacation to recover from all the stress you’ve been through lately. You can either go alone or bring someone along with you. Anyone you want.” Roman explained.

“I don’t know what to say,” Joan uttered.

“You don’t need to say anything, sweetheart. Just enjoy your new life. Come on, let me escort you back to your room.”

Williams, Trevor, and Daniel watched the couple walk away from the dining room.

Like Joan, Williams couldn’t believe his ears. He looked at Roman as if the guy had grown a second head. What the hell?

He stood up and started walking away with a frown on his face.

“Alpha-”

“Not now, Daniel.” William cut the young man off and walked away without turning around.

Daniel turned to Trevor. “Is it just me or is boss behaving kind of weird?”

“It’s called love, Daniel. You’ll understand when it’s your turn.” Trevor answered.

Joan uttered no words and neither did Roman until they reached the front of the room designated to her.

“Here we are. Rest well, my darling. Your flight is in three days so I’ll need the name and details of the person you want to travel with tomorrow.” Roman informed her, then turned around to leave.

“Why did you give me a separate room?” Joan asked, needing an explanation for one of the things that still confused her. She had thought he would make her share the same room with him.

“You sound like you don’t like the idea. You are welcome to stay in mine. It’s big enough and the company will be appreciated.” Roman answered, turning to look at her with a flirty smile on his face.

“That’s not what I… Nevermind. Can I lock the door?” She asked.

“Still scared?” Roman chuckled. “You can do whatever you want with the exception of trying to escape. Although your attempt will be unsuccessful, it will make me mad. And I don’t want to be mad at you. Have a good night.”

Joan watched him walk away with his hands in his pockets. Everything looked and felt too good to be true, and she knew that when something felt that way, it most likely was just that – too good to be true.

They must be treating her like a chicken. Feeding her to make her fat only to feast on her at the end of the day. But they were mistaken if they thought she had not seen through their plot. She was no chicken, and she wouldn’t end up on anybody’s plate. Whatever it took to escape this situation, she was going to do it.

Her eyes narrowed slightly and a smile slowly appeared on her face as an idea popped into her head.