I tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep with Livia mere feet away from me, at one point I found myself standing in her doorway, watching her sleep peacefully. I went downstairs, brewing some coffee, because I knew I was going to need it to stay awake. When Livia finally came downstairs, I said to her, "We need to be to my office at 10, I've got a few meetings today, you can sit in on them, after that, we can go through the paperwork you brought. Umm, I do need to apologize to you for that day, I was out of line kissing you." "It's ok." "No it's not, I over stepped my bounds." "Roman, really it's ok, besides...." she was cut off when Dean and Seth walked through the door. "Hey guys," Seth said, "you good Livia?" "Yeah, thanks." "Your morning meeting got cancelled due to the shareholders of Styles Inc. flight being delayed in NYC." "Yeah thanks Seth," I said, "remind me to have Alexa call to reschedule that one then, we need to get that meeting done asap." "Styles Inc?" Livia asked. "Yeah, we are trying to merge the companies together for some cross promotional work." "Oh." I sighed, knowing she was starting to remember. I had to begin to be careful around her, and not press her too early. Seth and Dean knowing the process, looked at me nodding. "Well since we don't have that meeting, we can head in and get started on going through the rest of the paperwork, and maybe start some employee interviews." I saw Livia tense, so I said, "It will be good to have you in there, since you know these people." Her shoulders relaxed, "Thank you for letting me be in on these." "Anything for you," I said, mentally kicking myself when I said that.
Later that day We had just finished up the last of the interviews, most went surprisingly well, the people for the most part really loved Livia. There was one that as soon as he walked into the room, and the way he looked at Livia, I fired him on the spot. Livia said to me, "He always creeped me out, whenever I'd go to the boardroom, and have to sit through a meeting where he was attending. Vince only kept him because of his work, I'm glad you let him go." "Yeah, I didn't like the looks he was giving you. Kane was definitely not going to fit in here." "Thank you again, I don't know what I did to deserve everything you've done for me lately, but I really do appreciate it," she said, smiling up at me. Fuck, I thought, I could get lost in her eyes forever. In that instant I felt her hand slid into mine, "You ok Roman?" She asked. "There's something I need to tell you when we get back to my house," I said, brushing my hand up against her cheek. She let go of my hand, bringing hers up to my face, pressing her lips to mine, winding my arms around her waist. "Hey Rom........fuck sorry man," Seth said, breaking the moment. Livia hurried past Seth, shutting the bathroom door behind her. "Damn man, sorry about that, but dad and Vince are on their way up. We've got one last meeting and then we're done for the day. And you might want to adjust yourself before she comes back out. Meeting starts in a half hour in case you plan on....." he said, trailing off, as the bathroom door opened. When she saw Seth her cheeks flushed, but she came up and stood beside me. I laced my fingers through hers, as Seth told her about the meeting. When he left, I turned to her, cupping her cheeks and pressing my mouth to hers. Her hands wound into my hair, my hands dropped to her waist, lifting her into my arms and carrying her to my desk, setting her down, breaking the kiss. "Roman," Livia said, her eyes searching mine, her arms flinging around my neck. "My love," I replied, hugging her tightly when someone knocked on the door. Helping her off my desk, I went over and opened it. "Hey, dads ready for us," Dean said, smirking, "that's if you two aren't too busy." "We'll be right there," Livia said, once Dean left, she turned back to me and said, "you have some explaining to do when we get back to your place." And with that she was out the door.
After the meeting, Livia and I were sitting in silence the whole drive back to my place. Sighing deeply as we pulled in, knowing the moment I had dreaded for the last 500 years was upon me. "A penny for your thoughts," Livia said as we walked inside. "I'll meet you in the living room, there's something I need to get before we talk," I said, she nodded, and went into the living room. I ran to my room, going immediately to my nightstand, pulling out the necklace I had given her when we married thousands of years ago. I have kept this in my possession each time she has died, not willing to let it go.
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Imagine this in silver
I walked back down the stairs, clasping this in my hand, smiling slightly when I saw Livia curled up on the couch, fast asleep. I sat down beside her, pulling her into me, placing the necklace around her neck. I pulled the blanket off the back of the couch, laying it over her. Her eyes fluttered open, "Go back to sleep my love, I'll be here when you wake, I promise, I won't let anything happen to you." Her eyes closed momentarily, before flying back open, she sat bolt upright, turning, her eyes widening, "Roman?" She asked quietly. "Yes love it's me, I'm right here." Her arms flew around my neck, tears streaming down her face. "I thought I'd never see you again." Sighing I said, "Livia, no matter how much I love you, I can't bear to see you die because of me. The only thing I can do is protect you." "But....." "No, listen to me, I can't love you and protect you at the same time." "But....." "No buts, this time I intend to see you live a long, happy life."
