Chapter 15

Rossalyn looked at Josiah and gave a long sigh. He was asking her to make a decision right then and there. She knew that something had to be done to make her brother stop acting like an irresponsible child. The man had a wife and kids to support but he'd rather spend all of their money supporting a gambling addiction. She had heard the word sickness until she was ready to bash her own skull into a wall from frustration. Yes, it was a sickness. A devistating one. But how could he not want to stop? She knew he couldn't without help, but why would he not want to get help to be the man his wife and children needed him to be? It just didn't make sense to her at all.

"I want to give him the opportunity to go into rehab voluntarily. But if you have to drag him there unconscious and bloody, so be it. His wife and kids deserve him to get help and be the man they need. God knows he won't do it on his own." Rossalyn said with a long sigh.

"Then that is what we will do. I'll have my guys pick him up today. As luck has it I've been having someone keep an eye on him since the last time he tried to borrow money." Josiah said then stood from the love seat they were seated on.

"You have?" Rossalyn didn't know why she was surprised to hear that, but she was.

"Of course, I have a firm belief that if we can exercise damage control early enough, he won't go so far as to not be saved. I don't want him to lose his family any more than you do." Josiah assured her.

"Thank you. I think it is time to bring them in on what our agreement is, though. We are going to get married and they're my only family after all." Rossalyn said, she looked up at him with a nervous expression.

"We could hardly have our wedding with no representation for you. Though I would prefer if we didn't use the terms arrangement, deal, or agreement. I would not like for people to think that I've had to resort to pressuring someone into marriage." Josiah said.

"Well if you don't want people to think that, why have you done exactly that?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I believe you're missing the part where I've watched you for some time. I firmly believe that in time you would have agreed to marry me on your own terms." Josiah huffed.

"I'm not sure if you're cocky or confident. But since you didn't take the time to woo me properly to find out on your own we'll never know. Don't worry, I won't use that terminology. I'm sure I'll think of something more appropriate." Rossalyn said then opened the door to the office to leave.

Josiah motioned for the men waiting outside to reenter the office then watched as she disappeared down the hallway. He'd yet to meet someone as challenging as she was for him. She didn't cower or mince words with him about what she thought about anything. As frustrating as that would be for him at times, it was refreshing to have someone challenge him. In his world, his word was law. People did what he said without pausing to question him about motives. He could already tell life wouldn't be easy with her in it, but it also wouldn't be boring either.

***

Roger walked into the dank dive bar that he normally found his favorite bookie drinking at. There were many deals he'd made at the bar with the bookie, though for some reason the last week or so he'd been being black balled for no reason. His hands were shaking and he was a little sweaty as he scoped out the place and found his guy. He took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves before approaching him.

"Yo!" Roger called out with forced coolness as he slid into the seat next to the man at the bar.

"Whatcha want Rog?" The guy's bored voice asked glancing over at the man he'd been forbidden to do business with since his boss got his new ol' lady.

"I need a loan, man there is a game coming on tonight. I know who's gonna win." Roger said excitedly. "If I can get in on it, I'll be floating for a while." His assurance was almost believable.

"Oh yeah? Who with?" The guy faked interest, wanting to get Roger comfortable and thinking he was going to get what he wanted. Orders from the boss had come in and the poor fool had no idea what was coming to him. He pulled out his phone and fired off a text discreetly. Roger was so focused on prattling on about the game that he didn't even notice.

'out back' the text dinged the phone a minute later and the man slipped it back in his pocket with a pitying glance over at Roger.

"Sounds like you got a good plan then. Lets head out back. There has been some heat coming in recently." The man stood from the bar and straightened his coat and beckoned for Roger to walk after him. He didn't look back, even though it was out of character for him to lead him off somewhere, he knew Roger was desperate enough to follow without question.

They went out the door into the alley behind the bar and found a black SUV waiting for them with four men standing outside it. Roger froze, realizing the trap too late. He felt his heart go into his throat and he gave a betrayed glare at the man he'd been dealing with for the last couple years.

"What the hell is this?" Roger demanded increduously.

"Get in the SUV, we got someone that wants to talk to you." One of the four men said and opened up the back door.

"No way man. I'm not falling for that trap." Roger said immediately starting to back towards the door to the bar they'd just left but within a step he'd backed into a man who felt more like a brick wall. He jumped to the side and glared at the man he'd ran into then at the others in the alley with him.

"Roger, you can make this has difficult and painful as you wish. Or you can get into the vehicle like a big boy and come talk to someone. The end result will be the same." The man said, once again politely gesturing for Roger to get into the back seat of the SUV.

Roger stood his ground for a moment, looking around at the men with him. He knew there was no chance he could fight them off. They were probably armed, though no one had pulled a weapon out to point at him. But with him being so out numbered, there really wasn't any need to. Roger knew he didn't have a choice and wanting to preserve whatever dignity he could, he walked to the SUV and got into the seat. He was soon shoved to the middle and a man got into the seat next to him on each side.

Soon the SUV was leaving the alley and Roger was left in silence to ponder who would want to talk to him so badly. The drive was only about twenty minutes then they were arriving at a big gate that opened for them once the driver entered a security code on a pad. The house was like a mansion with a long drive that seemed to circle the house. The SUV came to a halt right at the front steps then the men were exiting the vehicle and Roger followed suit, equal parts curious and terrified of who would be interested in him that could afford such a place.

Roger was led inside but not given any time to gawk as he was forced up two flights of stairs and down a hallway to a closed door. It opened pretty immediately to the knock and Roger was shoved inside and the door closed behind him. He was just getting his bearings when a voice that he would have known from his grave greeted him.

"Hey Bubba." Rossalyn said from her perch on the front of the desk facing the door. "We've got some things to talk about."