PERMITTED (#2)

Chapter 6

"Drakos. What happened to the late-night meeting you said was so important you had to skip this function?" Colton spoke, low enough so that only the three of us at the table could hear him. His tone was light and teasing, but there was also something else that I couldn't pinpoint. I was still looking forward, eyes trained on the speaker, making sure not to look anywhere else.

"Plans change." The seat next to Colton scraped against the floor as it was pulled out and I didn't have to look in his direction to know that Roman sat down next to him or to know that he was staring directly at me. The heat of his stare seared the side of my face, and it took all of me not to confirm that he was indeed caressing my face with those icy orbs of his.

"We've never met in person, but we have exchanged a few emails a while ago. I'm Ashley Montgomery." She introduced herself and gave him a smile, holding out her hand for a shake.

"Pleasure." He shook her hand, and from the corner of my eye I could see him give her a small nod. She nodded back and glanced at me, a questioning look on her face. I knew she was wondering why I hadn't introduced myself, or even looked his way this entire time. He was one of the most powerful men in these circles. People would kill to even breathe the same air as him.

Not me.

I wanted to be as far away from him as possible right now. I didn't want to think about the past. Didn't want to care about what he thought about Colton sitting at the same table as me even though we haven't been in communication for basically the same amount of time I haven't been in communication with him. The heat of Roman's stare was still on my face and I was hoping he wouldn't say a word to me.

Please don't speak to me, please don't spe-

"Violett."

It took all of me not to flinch at his voice. I sucked in a silent breath and released it just as quickly. He acknowledged my presence. By my first name, no less. Which showed that we were on a level past professional. It was personal, as if he wanted everyone to be aware of that. Well, the only one who didn't know was Ashley, who had a confused look on her face. Should I ignore him? That would be seen as rude and would definitely raise more questions that I didn't care to answer. Of course, I had to acknowledge him.

My gaze slowly left the speaker and when I finally locked eyes with Roman, I couldn't look away. Those striking blue eyes held me in place, an emotion in them I couldn't detect. Not that I was even in the head space to try and figure it out. So many memories came rushing at me faster than I could stop them, overwhelming me. I wanted to leave, but I would be seen as weak to anyone who knew our history, aka kept up with the tabloids.

"Mr. Drakos." I responded after what felt like an eternity and his mouth curved upwards for a second before the serious look was back on his face. I was sure mine mirrored his, keeping it void of any emotion. I turned my attention back to the front, promising myself not to look his way again for the rest of the night. Ashley eyeballed the exchange, and I could tell she had so many questions, but she wouldn't get any answers from me. At least, not tonight.

Tonight, was all about me making it through the night. All I wanted to do was go home and curl up in my bed with a cozy blanket and a pint of ice cream, my go to for comfort. Roman didn't try to speak to me again at the table and I could feel Colton glancing at me once in a while as the hours passed, but I didn't look his way. Looking at him would in turn make me look at Roman, which I didn't want to do.

After a few long and boring hours passed with so much info dumping, my brain couldn't even keep up, the conference was over. I couldn't be more happy when the closing statements were being made and I got up out of my seat along with many others during that time.