Page 61 of Hate On

While she knew how to drive, she rarely did, but she wasn’t in the mood to rely on a taxi and it was too late to have John drive in from his home in Brooklyn to ferry her around.

The burgundy Jaguar clung to the streets, the powerful throaty motor all but begging for her to open up, but the streets of midtown Manhattan weren’t exactly made for that.

She arrived at Roman’s condo less than thirty minutes after she’d left the family estate and she still had no idea what she was going to tell him.

They were going to have a reckoning, that was for certain.

But what was she going to tell him?

Other than the fact that he’d been an ass and he needed to listen to her, of course.

That was thefirstthing she planned on saying.

But beyond that?

She wasn’t sure.

The conversation she’d had with Moira could wait until later. Some part of her had been turning the proposal over in her head and she was excited about it, but things between her and Roman needed to be settled first.

Her blood was up as she strode inside his building.

The doorman greeted her with a smile and she moved toward the security desk.

“Ms. Castle.” The man behind the desk greeted her with a smile.

Glancing at his nametag, she nodded at him and said, “Hello, Carter. Can you buzz me up?”

“Mr. Montrose isn’t in right now. He stepped out…oh, perhaps an hour ago.”

Well, shit.

Feeling deflated, Julianna headed back to her place, less than a fifteen- minute drive from Roman’s.

She could try calling him—and she would once she got home. But she had a feeling he wouldn’t answer.

“I’ll track him down, sooner or later,” she told herself as she stepped onto her private elevator.

It zipped up to her floor as she leaned against the back wall, feeling drained and tired.

It had been a bitch of a day and as much as she wanted to curl up in bed and just sleep the rest of it away, she knew she needed to at least try to contact Roman.

“Try,” she muttered.

Try to call him so he could ignore her. Try to text him so he could ignore those, too.

She stepped out of the elevator doors as they slid open, trudging toward her door with her gaze on her feet.

She was five feet away when she finally looked up.

And that was when she saw him.

Roman.

Standing right by her door.

23

Roman