Chapter 6 - A DEBT ERASED
Roman did not ask whether Paige was all right in the casual tone people used when they wanted a quick yes. He sent the other guests away, summoned the housekeeper for an ice pack, and stood across the kitchen island while Paige wrapped her wrist. She disliked the way he watched her, as though a calculation had failed and he was trying to understand why.
“You should have stopped him sooner,” she said.
Roman accepted the accusation without blinking. “Yes.”
The answer stole her next argument. He told her Donovan would not return to the house. Paige reminded him that his house was not the only place Donovan could find her. Roman looked toward Luca, and something unspoken passed between them. Paige immediately shook her head. “I don't want a guard. I want to go home.”
Roman arranged a car but did not insist she use it. Before she left, he handed her an envelope containing the evening's wages and a written agreement: temporary hospitality work at a rate more than three times what the Onyx Room paid, with medical coverage for workplace injuries and the right to leave without penalty. The supposed debt for the suit was listed as zero. Paige read that line twice.
“You lied about the jacket,” she said.
“I needed Arthur to keep your job.”
“You could have just told him to.”
“He would have fired you the next day.”
She wanted to hate the logic. Instead, she signed nothing and carried the agreement home. Elena met her outside the apartment and took one look at the swelling in her wrist. At the clinic, an examination confirmed that Paige needed rest, a brace, and follow-up care. Her manager would never have offered those things. Roman's envelope sat unopened on the kitchen counter while she tried to sleep.
The next morning a news alert announced that a shipment of medical supplies had vanished from a warehouse controlled by a Gallow subsidiary. Paige almost ignored it until she recognized the signet ring in a photograph of a port contractor quoted by the reporter. Donovan. Beneath the article was a picture of the clinic where Elena worked, one of the intended recipients of the missing supplies. For the first time, Roman's world and Paige's own appeared in the same headline.
She called the number Luca had written on the agreement. “Tell Roman I need to speak to him,” she said. “And tell him this isn't about his suit.”
The agreement also contained a clause Paige almost missed: every hour would be logged by Mrs. Bell, and wages would be paid through a legitimate payroll service. She called the listed office the next morning and confirmed it existed. She did not suddenly trust Roman, but the document gave her something she could take to a lawyer. When she asked why he had bothered, he replied that she had been injured while working and should not have to beg for treatment. Paige wondered how many other people in his orbit had been offered the same consideration.
May you like
Elena asked whether Paige was attracted to him. Paige nearly dropped her coffee. “I'm attracted to having a functional wrist and a roof over my head.” Elena laughed, then turned serious. “Good. Keep those priorities.” Paige did. Still, she could not forget Roman's face when Donovan grabbed her. He had looked less like a jealous man than someone witnessing an old, familiar wrong and recognizing his own responsibility for allowing it.
====================================================================
