Roman listened patiently as Abigail delved a little further into her family’s past. From what she shared with him, it sounded like she’d had quite an adventurous childhood. However, he hadn’t come to her apartment to learn about who she was, or where she had come from. He just had one end goal in mind: Earn this gorgeous woman’s trust enough to convince her to spend a night with him, and then move on to the next. His jade eyes traveled from her face down to her body as she spoke, impatiently awaiting the time when he would get what he wanted from her. He knew he was going to have to invest some time into a few dates, but he hoped it wouldn’t take too long. There were plenty of other hotties in New York just waiting for a shark like him to come along. He couldn’t waste all his time on a single one-night stand.

When Abigail finished speaking, he looked up again to meet her gaze. Havin only partially paid attention to her story, it took him a moment to remember what she had been saying to him. “You know, you’re a pretty trusting person,” he said with an amused smirk. “You invited a total stranger into your home, and then told him you’re living alone in the city with no nearby family, and almost no friends. For all you know, I could be a murderer just waiting around to kill you.” He chuckled to himself and picked up a butter knife from the table, twirling it between his fingers. Setting his own ambitions aside, he almost felt pity for this girl. If she didn’t wise up to the fact that most people were selfish and only looked out for themselves, she was going to have a hard life in New York. There was no room for innocence or blind trust in the big city. She was going to have to learn to watch her back.

“For the record, I’m not a murderer,” Roman went on, placing the knife back down on the table and leaning back in his chair. “But you might want to be a little more guarded about that information in the future. There are plenty of people out there who are much crueler than me, and I can’t promise I’ll be around to stop them every time.” He winked at her as he referenced the time when he had saved her from the robbers not long ago. Seeing an opportunity to earn a bit more of her trust, he tagged on one more quip at the end: “Just do me a favor and stay safe, so I don’t have to worry about you when I’m not around, okay?”