Chapter 44

(*Aaron*) (Trauma Trigger warning for mention of SA and possible SA) 

The look on Rylan’s face when I mentioned bodyguards was expected. I knew she wouldn’t like the idea at all, but I made the arrangements, anyway. Her and Rosalie’s safety is all that matters right now, not her pride or her ability to protect herself.  

Look where that ability has gotten her. Almost raped on two separate occasions by two eerily similar men. I am not victim-blaming at all, but now that we know Paulson is back in California and Grant Donovan is after his wife, both women need more security around them.  

Even if they don’t like it. 

“I don’t need a bodyguard, Aaron. I can look after myself.” Rylan says after giving me a withering glare. 

Instead of saying exactly what I just thought, I take a deep breath and then tell her in simple terms just what is at stake here. I learned a lot more from Quinn when I went to change, while Rylan told her sister about Paulson. 

He has been watching her for a few days now. Not just at her home, but at work, he was also caught on my security cameras for my home. He followed her to my fucking house. 

This is my business now, too. 

That house is my sanctuary, and now it is tainted.  

I will now sit idly by while Paulson stalks my woman. He will not get to her if I can help it. I know if he does, then he will finish what he started that night and then kill her like he promised he would if he ever got a hold of her again.  

Rylan’s face pales when I tell her everything that I learned from Quinn. She glances over at Rosalie, then reaches out for her hand. They share a look, then they both nod at me. 

“I will take the bodyguards for us on one condition.” Rylan says quietly.  

“That is?”  

“I get to pick them.”  

“That can be arranged. Who do you have in mind?”  

I already picked Alaric for her, and Kimiko is in town again, and he agreed to help with Rosalie. 

“Captain Jennings, she is who I want to watch over my sister. She is on Mac’s payroll now that she is out of the Army. Get her, and I will agree to whoever you want to guard me.”  

Ahhh, Megan Jennings is a formidable woman. She is also a beast when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, close-quarters combat, and being one hell of a marksman. We were going to recruit her for security, but Mac scooped her up first. 

G&C Enterprises works closely with Mac’s company, and a lot of our security is found and hired through his company. We don’t poach people from him or anyone else, for that matter. That is just dirty business.  

“I won’t be leaving the penthouse anytime soon. I am still studying for my recertification, and the classes are online. It is only when I have to take my tests that I will need to leave.” Rosalie says quietly. “If this place is as secure as you say, then why do I need to be guarded? Not that I don’t appreciate it, but I just don’t see the need for it until I am scheduled for the test.”  

Rylan gives her sister a funny look, and Rosalie looks away after her face goes even paler than it already was. If that is even possible. What is going on that I don’t know about?  

“Is there something going on that I need to be aware of?” I ask as I get up from my stool so that I can look at both women. 

My question goes unanswered. 

Rylan is looking at her sister with a concerned yet knowing expression. Rosalie is pale and looking down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers. There is something going on here that is important, but neither of them seems to want to say anything.  

“Look, I know that there are things about your relationship with your husband that I don’t need to know, but if something is going on that pertains to your safety and that of your sister’s, then I do need to know. This man followed you out here, staked out Rylan’s home, and sent you that threatening message. He is dangerous and doesn’t seem to be someone to back down until he gets what he wants. What are you hiding?”  

“Back off, Aaron!” Rylan yells at me. 

“Then tell me what that look was for and why you two clammed up when I asked what was going on.”  

They share a look again, and then Rosalie shocks me with her next words.  

“I am pregnant.”  

Now I feel like an asshole.  

This woman has lived through a nightmare for years, and now she is pregnant with a monster’s baby. I can’t even begin to understand what she is feeling about it. I only hope that Grant Donovan is unaware of this news. 

“Is that why he is here for you?”  

Rosalie shudders but laughs. It is creepy but understandable. I will do everything I can to make sure she has whatever she needs or wants. Even if it is an abortion. I will make it happen for her.  

“He never wanted children, and I was happy with never bringing a child into that house. He always had pregnancy tests in the house in case of a slip-up.” She laughs, a sad and bitter sound in the quiet of the kitchen. “He always wore protection, except when he would ...” 

I hold my hand up to indicate for her to stop, then reach over and push a tissue box towards her. It is bad enough that she has to live with the memories of everything that happened to her at the hands of the man who vowed to love, honor, and cherish her; there is no way that I am going to have her live through it again by retelling it to me.  

That is what a therapist and DV groups are for. Which is something that I highly recommend she do soon. Take her life back from him, and therapy is a start.  

“What do you want to do about the baby?” is all I ask after she wipes the tears from her face.  

“I used to want children when I was younger, before I met Grant. Now, I don’t think I can do this. I know in my heart that this baby is innocent of anything that Grant ever did to me, but I just don’t think I can go through with it.”  

Rylan stands up to move behind Rosalie, and then she wraps her arms around her shoulders and hugs her. Rosalie reaches one hand up and claps Rylan’s arm. It took living through hell for both sisters to open the way for this bond to be formed. If only their mother isn’t the narcissistic bitch that she is.  

They could both use some motherly love right now. 

Which reminds me, I need to call my parents to check in on their packing status. My mom would know exactly what to do right now. She would know what to say to ease some of their worries and pain. 

My mother may have kept a tight leash on me as a kid, but she loved me unconditionally. Like all parents should love their children. Like Rylan’s mother never loved her or Rosalie. 

I make a mental note to call Annie later to both thank her and ask for a favor. She is a doctor and could come down here to check on Rosalie and give her advice on where to go for an abortion, if that is what she chooses. Also, her mother is an amazing woman and would drop everything for another woman in need.  

“I think I will need to go to the hospital to confirm how far along I am. That will determine if I can even have the abortion. I honestly don’t remember the last time I bled and it being my period and not...” She breaks with a sob, then she breaks out of Rylan’s arms and rushes from the room.  

Holy shit!  

Rylan looks gutted when she turns back to me after watching her sister run away. She is too pale, and I know she is close to an emotional break by the way she sags onto the stool. They have both been through the emotional wringer for too long.

“Go to her, baby. She needs you now. I will make arrangements for you.”  

“Can you call Annie? Maybe she could look at Rosalie and do an exam.”  

I walk around the counter to her and then pull her into my arms. “That was on that list. I will call her first, then Mac, to arrange for Megan to take Alaric’s place. Kimiko will be your guard if that is ok with you.”  

She nods into my chest and hugs me tight. 

“I am also going to call my parents to check on their progress. My mother could help Rosalie.”  

“Oh, I love that idea, but I am not sure Rosalie wants a lot of attention focused on the pregnancy.”  

“Not just for that, babe. I mean overall moral support. Motherly love, like she needs right now, or just a friend that will listen and be kind.”  

“Like my mother never was. That is what you aren’t saying, and you are right. Thank you for thinking about and taking care of my sister. I wish she could have met someone like you before she met Grant. No one deserves what that man did to her.”  

I squeeze her tighter for a moment, then let her go with a step back. She lifts her face up to me, so I lean down and press a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I will be in the master suite making those calls if you need me.”  

“I love you, Aaron.”  

“I love you too, Rylan.”  

After she walks away, I decide to go up to Quinn and Annie’s instead of calling. This is a conversation that is better off had in person. So, after leaving a note for Rylan on the kitchen counter to explain where I am going, I grab my keys and leave. 

Now that the elevator stops at my floor instead of my original private elevator at the back of my penthouse, I can get to Quinn’s place faster now. I reach their door after a few minutes in the elevator. After I knock, I only wait a few minutes until the door opens.  

Annora’s mom greets me, and I smile. “Hello, Aaron.”  

“Hi. I need to talk to Annora.”  

Vivien steps back to let me in. “She is in her office. Do you need anything to drink?”  

“No, thank you, but can you join me in this conversation I am going to have with Annie? I could use some advice and maybe some help with a situation that has come up.”  

She gives me a surprised yet concerned look, but nods her head. “Is something wrong with your parents?”  

I shake my head. “They are fine, as far as I am aware. I will call them later today, in fact. No, what I have to talk about is more personal.”  

Her eyes light up at that, and I can tell right away what she is thinking. I know this because that is exactly what my mother would think too. They both would think that I was going to ask Rylan to marry me. 

Not yet, mother. 

Not yet.  

“It concerns Rylan’s sister Rosalie.”  

“Oh my, Annie told me what she knew, but that wasn’t much. Is she ok?”  

“I will explain everything that I can without overstepping her privacy.”  

“Good man.” Vivien smiles at me, then motions for me to head upstairs to Annie’s office. 

Once we get upstairs, I can hear Annora talking to someone. I knock lightly on the doorframe to announce myself. Her smile is instant when she looks up from her desk to see who is interrupting her. 

“Let me call you back later; someone is here to see me.” She says, then pauses as she listens to whoever is on the other end of the call. “Yes, fax that to me, and I will go over it as soon as I can. Thank you, Lorelai.”  

She ends the call and then moves to stand up, but I motion for her to stay seated. I walk over to her and give her a side hug, then a kiss on her temple. After that, I sit in the overstuffed chair facing her desk. Vivien sits in the chair beside me.  

“It is good to see you, Aaron. Did Rylan and Rosalie get settled in? Are they ok?”  

This is why I will always be grateful to this woman. Like her mother, she helps others in need. Annie has been an asset to our Outreach Center. Her ideas have helped significantly.  

“Yes, they are safe and sound. I am going to order food to fill the pantries and refrigerator since they will both be staying there until Paulson and Grant Donovan are caught.”  

“That is Rosalie’s husband, right? Quinn told me about him, or as much as he could find out from Mac. On paper, that man is a saint, but from the bruises on Rosalie’s face, he sounds like a monster.”  

I tell her about the text message he sent Rosalie this morning, how he found her and was watching her at Rylan’s house. Then I explain what I need from her. She agrees to examine Rosalie, and she even has a portable ultrasound that she can take with her. 

“What do you need me to do?” Vivien asks after I explain everything that has been going on.  

“She may need someone to talk to that isn’t family. Someone who is a mother, but not her mother.” I grimace at the thought of that narcissistic woman. “Helen Danvers is a piece of work, and I have no doubt that she would victim-blame.” 

“Does Rosalie know you are here asking this of me?”  

“No, which is why I will ask her if she would like to talk to you about it before you actually talk to her. I am only asking you first to give you background information on the situation she is in.”  

Vivien nods her head. “I am a phone call away and will come over if she agrees to talk. I am not sure what I could say that will help her, but I will try my best.”  

“Thank you both. She needs all the support that she can get. Rylan is stressed over so much, and I know she is trying to put on a brave face for her sister. They could both use a shoulder to lean on, and there is only so much that I can do.”  

Annie and I spend the next twenty minutes brainstorming ideas, then I leave to make arrangements for groceries and the basic necessities to be delivered to my place. 

I will do all that I can to help them both, even if it is little things.  

I got you, Rylan. 

(Authors note) 

(Updates are only available once a week on Fridays. I have a Facebook group, NorthRoseNovels that you can join to find information on when I can’t update and why. I also post there every Friday when I update. So, join my Facebook group.)