Chapter 17

"What?!" Roger exploded and once again was restrained by Larry's hand on his shoulder, though he was aided by the tall, brick chested man from the alley way.

"Why don't you have a seat?" Josiah suggested gesturing to the leather arm chair a couple feet to the left of where Roger was currently standing.

As if that had been a cue, the two men forced Roger to the chair and sat him down. They stood on either side of him, ready to intervene once again, should Roger show further inclinations for outbursts.

"The details do not concern you, as you will not be there for the wedding. The only thing that conerns you is the process to start making amends for the wrongs you have done your family." Josiah informed him coldly.

"I want to know exactly what is going on here. That is my sister not some bimbo from the streets for you to victimize!" Roger shouted at Josiah, though like the trainable dog he remained seated.

"What I do is of no concern to you. And if I have my way, what Sarah and the kids do will no longer concern you either." Rossalyn spat the words at him, soaked in venom. "The only reason you're not leaving here in a body bag is because you are my brother. So I suggest you calm down and listen to what Josiah has planned for you."

"If I don't?" Roger blustered, glaring at his sister defiantly.

"Then I'll make sure Sarah finds out everything you've been up to." Josiah said calmly.

"I've been offered a few different choices on how best to demand my retribution for the wrongs you have done. I told them that I wanted to offer you the choice to go into rehab voluntarily to get your life together and hopefully get your family back." Rossalyn said, leaving her perch on the desk and packing back and forth in front of Roger.

"They really want to pound you to a pulp and be done with it."

"Oh really?" Roger scoffed, though his eyes flicked to Josiah nervously.

"I told her rabid dogs need put down. Don't look to me for sympathy." Josiah said tightly.

"So," Rossalyn continued as if she hadn't been interrupted by either of them, "I told them they have permission to do whatever they see fit to get you into the rehab facility."

"I don't need no fucking rehab facility, Ross!" Roger shouted at her in frustration. Before he realized what happened his face exploded in pain and his lip was dripping blood on his shirt. He hadn't even see the fist come from where Larry had been standing next to him.

"Do not shout at or curse at Ms. Rossalyn." Larry spat in fury, a hand bunched in the front of Roger's shirt almost lifting Roger from the chair like a ragdoll.

Roger froze for a moment but gave a tight nod in acknowledgement and sagged back in the chair when Larry released him. Roger's view of Rossalyn cleared when Larry stepped back next to the chair to find Rossalyn standing in front of him with her arms folded under her breasts and such a look of fury on her face that for the first time in their life he actually felt fear of her. He'd desperately underestimated his sister. Somehow she'd managed to get the mafia backing her and the leader's hand in marriage. All without him hearing a single word of it. The first realization that he might not ever go home again started coming to his awareness. His heart started racing and palms started to sweat as he just sat and stared up at his sister.

"Yes, Roger there you go. Now you're getting the picture." Josiah said, approvingly. "Why didn't we start this meeting with a well aimed blow to his lying mouth?" Josiah asked Rossalyn casually.

"Because I was hoping he wasn't dumb enough to earn one. But I've ever been wrong about his intelligence levels. I got the brains between the two of us, apparently." Rossalyn said, though her glare never left her brother's pale face.

Roger said nothing in return, didn't dare even glare at her. He didn't know the relationship between the man who had struck him and his sister, but the man was clearly willing to hurt anyone who he perceived as being disrespectful toward her. He might talk a big game, but he knew when to shut up too. If ever there was a time to keep ones mouth shut it was when he was in a room with no support and two people who could command his death. He realized then that it was entirely possible with what he'd done he could have pushed her that far.

"I'm telling you this, less to give you options than to inform you of what your immediate future will hold. You're going to be escorted from here to a rehab facility. Someone will bring you a bag of clothes and toiletries tomorrow. You will be in the rehab facility until the therapists recommend your release." Rossalyn said to him once she had her temper back under control.

"You can't force me to stay at the rehab." Roger said disbelievingly.

"Oh, she can't. You're right. But the men that will be watching the rehab facility for any attempts of escape will. If they see you walk out of that facility without me.....well lets say that they have excellent aim. So if you have any thoughts of checking yourself out, just remember that there isn't a moment that rehab facility will not be watched." Josiah assured him.

"We have also informed the staff that you're not to socialize with the other patients there, nor are you allowed communication to anyone outside the facility." Rossalyn pointed out. "This could be the preview to what it'll be like for you if you get out and go back to doing what you're doing now. Sarah might be willing to give you another chance once you're out and doing good. But I doubt she'd be so forgiving twice."

"You're going to tell her everything?" Roger asked quietly.

"Of course I'm going to tell her everything. We need to get your clothes for rehab and give her the title back to her car and her jewelry back. You didn't think we were going to keep it all did you? She's going to want to know how we got hold of it." Rossalyn said, a little too sweetly.

"Get him out of here." Josiah said to Larry and his fellow guard who immediately complied by yanking Roger up from the seat by his arm pits.

Once the door to the office closed and she heard the footsteps of the men fade down the hallway, Rossalyn sagged into the chair Roger had been forced to sit in. She closed her eyes and gave a long sigh, more or less trying to breathe out the disgust she felt for her brother in the minutes he was in the room with her.

"You did great." Josiah said and rubbed her shoulders soothingly.

"I wanted to hurt him so bad." Rossalyn said tightly.

"I know, I think Larry popped him just out of sheer frustration." Josiah said and laughed a little at the memory.

"Why do I feel like its going to come back an bite us in the ass?" Rossalyn asked softly.

"Because, rabid dogs need put down. Lets hope he's not really rabid." Josiah said, glancing toward the direction of the driveway as if he could see through the wall and to the SUV pulling away from the house.