Butterfly by Nelle L’Amour

CHAPTER 37

Sofi

Irecognize his baritone voice instantly. Both the sound of him and the touch of him send a bolt of electricity through my body. With a jolt, I spin around.

Roman.

“What are you doing here?” I spit out, my voice hoarse from crying so much. Though I sound enraged, the truth is every particle of my being is charged with kinetic energy at the sight of him. Shivers spiral down my spine and my knees grow weak.

No answer. He grips me tighter.

“Let go of me!” I hiss, trying to stay strong despite growing weaker by the second.

I attempt to jerk myself free of him, but he keeps his hands cupped firmly on my shoulders and holds me fiercely in his gaze. There’s a fire behind his eye I’ve never seen before.

“Goddammit, Sofi, you had me crazy with worry. I looked all over for you.” The tone of his voice goes from wrathful to rueful, his good eye growing watery. “I thought something terrible happened to you.”

The tenderness in his voice does little to mend my mangled heart. The hurt that’s dug a hole in the pit of my stomach. “Go away, Roman. I never want to see you again.” Another round of angry tears gathers in my eyes.

“Sofi, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough for you.”

Roman’s voice rises and his brows arch. “What are you talking about?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were terminating my job?”

“What!!!??”

“Kendra showed me my pink slip.”

“Kendra? When?”

I launch into my unexpected encounter with Kendra, my voice weepy as Roman listens intently, his face darkening with each word. I hold back telling him what she called me. By the end of my narrative, fresh tears are swimming down my cheeks.

Roman’s flame-blue eye blazes with anger. His grip around my shoulders loosens. “That’s bullshit. I never asked her to draw up a termination notice.”

“But your signature was on it,” I stammer, not sure if I believe him despite my father always telling me there are two sides to every story.

Roman’s nostrils flare and his jaw tightens. “The fucking bitch forged it.” He looks at me imploringly. “Sofi, you’ve got to believe me. She’s warped. She’s jealous of you.”

“Jealous of me?”

His expression softening, he strokes my hair with one hand, his eye never leaving me. “You need to know this. She has a thing for me. She always has, but I’ve never felt a goddamn thing for her. The night you fell down the stairs she was drunk and tried to seduce me.”

Again, the memory of Kendra half-dressed and barreling down the stairs flashes through my head. And again, the possibility of her pushing me down the steps jumps to the forefront. Knowing how much she loathes me, it seems more and more possible. I’m tempted to tell Roman about my suspicion, but let it go. It just doesn’t seem like the right time or place, plus I have no proof. And the cunning woman would only deny it.

“I swear,” continues Roman as I shift to take the weight off my throbbing foot, “I would have thrown her out of my study on her bony ass if I didn’t think she’d vindictively hit me up with a sexual harassment charge.”

I’m beginning to believe him. “Why don’t you fire her?”

Roman blows out an exasperated breath. “I wish I could, but I can’t. She owns forty nine percent of the company. I can’t afford to buy her out.”

A tense stretch of silence; Roman breaks it.

“Sofi, please don’t believe a word she told you. I could never fire you. I need you like the air I breathe. The water I drink. You inspire me. Ignite a fire inside me that I thought disappeared. If you only knew how I felt when I saw you sprawled on the floor, so lifeless after your fall. The light inside me flickered on and off, and I felt myself falling into the black hole I never want to know again. God, Sofi, I don’t know what I’d do if . . . ”

His voice trails off and I process his words. He’s never told me how much I mean to him. So cherished and worshipped. So needed. My heart swells with happiness. Or maybe it’s love. An emotional mess, I can’t stop shedding tears as he brushes them away with the pads of his thumbs. Then, with one thumb, he tilts up my chin.

“Hey, why are you still crying?”

Sniffling, I blink my waterlogged eyes and look away. “She called me a whore.” My lips quiver. “One of your many.”

“Damn her! Look at me!” Slowly turning my head, I meet his gaze. He tenderly cups my face between his large hands. “My sweet butterfly, you’re anything but that. You’re the purest, most wholesome being I’ve ever met. I could never use you. Or hurt and abuse you. Ever!”

On my next snivel, he takes me into his arms, crutch and all, drawing me so close our bodies touch. I melt into him, feeling his heat penetrate my skin, warming every follicle, seeping into every pore.

“You belong with me, Butterfly,” he whispers against my neck. “Let’s go home. We’ve got work to do.”

I give a silent nod and adjust my crutch under my armpit.

“Leave it,” orders Roman. “I’m all you need.”

Letting him wrap an arm around my shoulders, I lean into him.

And a butterfly hatches.