Chapter 16

Rossalyn was sitting in the entertainment room she'd discovered on the first floor reading a book when Larry came in like an elephant in a china shop. She looked up at him with some irritation at being interrupted when she seen Josiah following him looking annoyed but pleased with himself.

"What did you do?" She asked in a resigned tone.

"Picked your brother up. He will be here in about twenty minutes. Be in my office before then." Josiah informed her then immediately left.

Rossalyn sat the book down on the table next to the chair she'd been curled up in and rushed after him, catching him up at the stairs. "What do you mean 'picked up'? He okay?" She demanded grabbing his arm to force his attention to her.

"Yes, he looked like he was going to try to run but thought better of it, the only smart thing he'd done lately. He wanted to bet on a game and my guy texted me to let me know he was there. I knew he'd reach out so I had guys waiting not far off to intercept." Josiah said, taking her hand and continuing their trip up to his office.

"We discussed what to do about him less than a hour ago." Rossalyn said disbelievingly.

"You still don't get who you're dealing with do you?" Josiah rounded on her in frustration. "I am the man that says jump and the earth shudders with how many people jump. I am the man who says light and fires spark immediately to grant my demand. I said I wanted him brought in, so he is on his way. I made it as non-tramatic as possible. I could have had men storm his house and drag him out in the middle of the night, but I decided to let him come to me. I knew it wouldn't be long. It never is." Josiah turned and stomped up the remaining stairs muttering under his breath while Rossalyn remained frozen for a moment watching him. It wasn't long before she caught him up again.

"What are we going to do?" She asked as they entered his office.

"We are going to present his options to him, politely. That is the approach you chose after all, isn't it?" Josiah said in a tone that sounded a lot like a duh to Rossalyn.

"Do you already have everything set up for him at a rehab?" She asked in surprise.

"Yes, I've had a bed on stand by since yesterday. They've also been given very explicit instructions and they've agreed to them. The only people he will be allowed contact with is a therapist, you, or me." Josiah informed her.

"What about his wife and kids?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"I think it'll do him some good to get a taste of what life will be like when he doesn't have access to them whenever he wants to. Plus, addicts have been enabled by their spouse on some level in most cases. Until I know his wife isn't going to bend, it'll be best for all of them if he is isolated." Josiah said.

Rossalyn wanted to argue, but she couldn't come up with an argument that sounded even remotely convincing, even to herself. Sarah was a wonderful woman, but she wasn't exactly known to take an assertive hand in their marriage. She didn't blame Sarah for the situation her brother was facing, but felt bad for her because she was as innocent a victim in their marriage as their children were. She didn't know what her husband was up to half the time and even if she did, she didn't have the means to be able to stop him from doing whatever he wanted. She'd made comments that the few times she had tried to gain control over their finances that Roger had pitched massive fits. Well, that was no surprise since he knew she'd catch on if she looked into anything with half an eye.

Rossalyn and Josiah spent the next few minutes going over the plan of confrontation with her brother. Rossalyn wasn't scared that they couldn't get Roger into rehab, especially given that Josiah wasn't inclined to really give him a choice. She was scared that she'd be put in the position to back her approval of Roger getting beaten when he refused to go to rehab on his own two feet. She'd signed off on it but she really hoped Roger wouldn't push them to that point. But she knew her brother and the chances were high the meeting wouldn't end without some kind of physical confrontation.

She turned and perched herself on his desk facing the door to wait for Roger to be brought into the office. Josiah sat on the love seat and watched her nervously pick at her skirt. He admired her conviction, though he felt bad she had to go through what was about to happen. He just hoped the small taste of his disciplining didn't make her scared of him. He would never hurt her or allow anyone else to hurt her. That was the main reason for why he was so ready to beat Roger to a pulp. Roger had hurt his sister and taken advantage of her for years. He didn't deserve the heart of gold she had. Josiah just hoped he didn't tarnish it too badly.

Josiah came out of his musings when the knock at the door sounded and Larry, who had been waiting in the office with them opened the door for Roger to be shoved inside. Two of the men followed him as Roger looked around nervously for a moment before Rossalyn's voice drew his attention to the desk and shock covered his face.

"We?" Roger's voice croaked in shock, unable to believe the vision of his sister perched so casually on the desk in front of him. She had clearly been the very last person he'd expected to find waiting for him.

"Yes, 'we'." Josiah answered standing up and joinging Rossalyn at the desk, resting his hand on Rossalyn's thigh possessively.

Roger's eyes went from Josiah's face to his hand then to Rossalyn's face in such quick succession that without having been watching him so closely, no one would have realized he'd done it. Shock still had him frozen but angry red started rising in his cheeks so quickly that it looked like he was in a cartoon of someone about to blow a train whistle from their ears in a cloud of smoke.

"What are you doing here Ross?" Roger demanded, taking an unconscious step forward. A hand shot out and a painfully tight grip on his shoulder yanked him back into place. He stopped his advance and shook the grip from his shoulder. Larry's hand released him, though Larry didn't move away from Roger.

"The better question is what are you doing here, Roger?" Rossalyn answered his question with her own. She hadn't missed the way he'd jerked forward in his anger and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I was meeting a friend at a bar then the next thing I knew I was being all but kidnapped and brought here." Roger said tightly.

"Would this friend happen to be someone that loans you money?" Rossalyn asked casually.

"So what if he loans me money from time to time. I pay him back." Roger said defensively.

"Really? You pay him back?" Rossalyn gave a deliberate emphasis on the word 'you' and raised an eyebrow at her brother. "Or was I paying him back for you?"

"He was getting paid back. Whats the big deal?" Roger asked, his tone angry again.

"The big deal is you lied to me. Not only have you lied to me, you've been trying to sell off Sarah's jewelry and car." Rossalyn said. "Not only that but you've forged checks from my bank account." Rossalyn spat the words at him and for the first time Roger could see the fury in her body.

Josiah looked over at her and cocked an eyebrow at her, wondering if she had failed to mention something to him. He only knew of the one and it never went through. He looked over at Roger and had to make a huge effort to not reach out and punch him.

"You didn't think I'd find out about it? When they gave me the check you tried to write off my account, I went back online through my bank statements. You've been skimming money from my account for months. While I worked my ass off to pay my bills and save your ass you've been taking money from my account too!" Rossalyn said angrily.

Josiah was impressed at how Rossalyn had played that information so close to the vest. He'd had no idea she'd found out about that, especially since he hadn't even gotten that far yet. She hadn't mentioned it to him, though she couldn't have known about that very long since this had all been brought to her attention very recently.

Roger's eyes went wide with shock. He didn't know what to say or how to get out of the bind he was currently facing. He went to step forward, though much less aggressively, but the hand shot out and gripped his shoulder once again, keeping him in place. He shook it off once again and shot the man an angry glare, "Who the hell are you?"

"Its my job to protect Ms Rossalyn. You've not been invited to approach." Larry replied calmly.

"What are you doing here Rossalyn? Don't you know who this man is?" Roger demended gesturing toward Josiah, who's hand had not relinquished Rossalyn's thigh the whole confrontation.

"Of course I know who he is. He's going to be my husband next week." Rossalyn said as she moved her hand to grip Josiah's hand on her thigh as she held her brother's gaze steadily.