Chapter 49

(Rylan)

I fell asleep to the sound of Aaron’s voice asking me to move in with him. I woke up hours later, alone in his enormous bed. When I reached for him, his side of the bed was still slightly warm, which let me know he hadn’t been gone for very long.

Aaron asked me to move in with him.

Holy shit.

I mean, yes, I am selling my house anyway, but are we even ready to live together? Did he only ask me to move in because he wants to make sure I am safe, or is it what he really wants? I would love to move into that beautiful house he built, but I am not sure if now is the right time.

Maybe once everything with Paulson and Grant has been dealt with. Then there is also the issue with Charlie and confronting my mother about it all. That is still not a conversation that I am looking forward to.

After heaving a big sigh, I get up out of bed and then head into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day ahead. Flashes of what happened in the shower mere hours ago flash through my mind as I wash my body. Heat courses through me as those images cause me to want to do it all over again, but I push it down so I can just get done.

Thirty minutes later, I am dressed, and my hair is dry. I head down to check on my sister, only to find that she is not in her room. I make my way down to the kitchen, where I hear voices. When I walk into the kitchen, I see Rosalie at the stove cooking; from the smell, I can tell she is making pancakes. Kimiko and Megan are sitting at the counter; both are sitting slightly sideways with their backs to the two solid walls of the room.

Megan sees me first and gives me a curt nod before she smiles at me. “Nice to see you again, Danvers.”

She looks exactly the same as she did years ago, except her hair is longer and a deep burgundy instead of blonde. Her athletic build is no longer hidden behind her drab army uniform and is now on display in a purple sundress. It suits her sunny personality.

Her quiet and sunny disposition will be perfect for being my sister’s bodyguard. The fact that she is also lethal in combat makes it a major bonus. If Grant gets close to my sister, Megan will take him to the ground and keep him there.

Or kill him first.

I am silently rooting for that to be the case.

Grant Donovan is a monster and deserves to die.

No, I am not ashamed of that kind of thinking. Not after I saw those marks he left on my sister’s body over the years and now know the extent of the psychological damage that he has done. Grant will reap what he sowed.

“You too, Jennings. Although I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Megan glances at Rosalie, then back at me. She nods her head in understanding. I know Mac and Aaron would have told her everything that had happened and why we were now in hiding. Well, my sister is at least.

I refuse to hide, but I will be more cautious.

Speaking of cautious, I glance at Kimiko. His onyx eyes give me a once-over before he nods. Silent as always. He has that Japanese broody thing going for him. He has always been a man of few words. I think that is why I will feel better with him watching my six.

Kimiko is the silent sentry. Always there. Never heard, and he is only seen when he wants you to see him. The ultimate assassin, according to Quinn and Mac. The army didn’t give him those skills, but it sure took full advantage of them.

I give him a nod and then walk straight to the coffee machine. It is only after I have a steaming cup in my hand that I ask where Aaron and his parents are. I feel a little guilty for not asking that right away.

“Aaron took his parents to their new house to get them set up. He told me to tell you he would check in with you later.” Rosalie tells me this as she adds another pancake to the large platter on the counter next to the stove.

Oh, that makes sense. Of course, he would be with his parents, getting them settled into their new house, well, temporary home anyway. How long they will stay in California is still up in the air. I know it was originally, so they could be here for him during his therapy to deal with his PTSD.

I have a feeling that Tori will not want to move back to their hometown once Aaron is in a better position with his PTSD. She strikes me as being one of those helicopter moms in a lot of ways. Not that that is a bad thing right now. He needs her more than he knows.

If I am honest with myself, I could use a bit of her mothering too. So could Rosalie. We both know that our mother is not the type of mother either of us needs now. She is the type of mother that believes that children should be seen and not heard, kind of like the aristocratic families of the past. I guess a lot of that is her southern upbringing, and the rest is just her need to be the center of attention at all times.

“Thanks. When is your appointment that Annie set up for you?”

“Tomorrow morning at nine,” Rosalie says as she turns off the burner and then carries the platter of pancakes to the island counter. “Eat up, you two. I made more than enough for all of us.”

Kimiko nods his head, then helps himself to a few pancakes. Megan glances at me before she does the same. Ten minutes later, we are all sitting quietly as we eat breakfast. I am lost in thought when I hear my phone ring; it is Seven Nation Army by Skald.

I stand up and then rush into the living room where I left it last night. The person calling is someone that I need to speak with, but I have been putting that conversation off. Until now, it seems.

“Mother,” I mumble as I glance over my shoulder to see if Rosalie is still in the kitchen.

“Where are you and where is your sister? Why are you not at your house?”

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and something heavy pools in my gut. How the fuck does my mother know that we are not at my house?

Grant.

Fuck.

I suck in a deep breath and then calmly put my mother on hold while I walk upstairs to Aaron’s bedroom. Far away from my sister. There is no reason for her to hear the very explosive conversation that is about to happen if what I am thinking right now turns out to be true.

“Did you tell Grant where I live?” I ask her after I resume the call.

“She is his wife, Rylan. He wants to make amends.”

“You told her abusive husband where to find her?” I ask in a low, menacing tone.

“Grant never abused her. Whatever she told you is a lie. Husbands sometimes need to discipline their wives like they do children; that is not abuse.” Her voice is indignant as she says this shit.

I scoff.

“Really, Rylan, you can’t keep Grant from his wife. I told him where you live so that he can come talk some sense into her. She needs to go home and deal with her marriage like an adult, instead of running away like a child throwing a tantrum!” She practically yells the last part into the phone.

“Did you know he raped her?”

She sighs heavily, but doesn’t answer right away. “Sex between a husband and wife is not rape, Rylan.”

“Wow, you are so delusional, Mother. Do you actually believe the shit you say?”

“I will not be talked to like that. You have such a foul mouth. Though I am not surprised with the career you chose. A woman in a man’s job is a disgrace.”

I look up as the door to the bedroom opens and Rosalie walks in. She holds her finger to her lips to tell me to keep her presence quiet. I get what she wants, so I put the call on speakerphone so she can hear the venom that our mother is spewing.

“Have you ever cared about either of us, Mother?”

She sighs again. “What does this have to do with your sister and the lies she is telling about her husband? Grant is a man of God, an upstanding member of his community, and a doctor. He is not this monster that she is telling people he is.”

“Wow!” Rosalie says it loud enough for our mother to hear her.

“Oh, I see that you have me on speakerphone. This is good; now I can just talk to Rosalie directly. Sweetie, you need to talk to Grant. He is confused why you left and just wants to talk to you.”

I watch my sister pull out her cellphone, the new one that Aaron gave her yesterday. She sits next to me afterwards, and I can see that she has pulled up her email. The only thing she has in her inbox is the police report she made before we left South Carolina. She opens it, and I flinch as images of what he did to her that day and all her older scars are shown in clear light.

She looks at me, and I nod my head.

With a determined look on her face, she pulls up our mother’s email address and then adds every single picture from that file to it. I reach for her free hand, then give it a gentle squeeze. The look on her face when she hits send makes me want to cry.

She now knows with full clarity who our mother really is.

“Check your email, Mom,” Rosalie says a few moments later.

“Why? Are you coming home?”

“No, Mom, I am not going back ever again. Now, be a decent human being for once in my life and check your fucking email.”

There is silence on the other end of the call, as I assume our mother is doing as she was asked. After a full minute, I hear a sharp intake of breath. Now she has seen what her amazing man of God has done to her own flesh and blood.

I listen as Rosalie gives our mother the gruesome details of her marriage to Grant Donovan. Her face is pale but her beautiful eyes are hard and full of bitterness. Grant and our mother are responsible for the trauma that my sister has lived through.

“Oh, my baby!”

“NO! You do not get to call me that ever again. You are no longer my mother. What kind of mother ignores her daughter’s cries for help? I pleaded with you to help me, and you told me to grow up and be the wife that my husband needed me to be. You LEFT me in that house with him. You talked me out of pressing charges against him. You are NOT my mother anymore. Never call me again!”

With that, Rosalie gets up off the bed and rushes from the room.

“So, still think she is lying, and Grant is the good guy here?”

“I … I just…”

“You what, mother? You just wanted her to follow your beliefs? He tortured her, raped her, and had her isolated from everyone but you. The one person who should have fucking helped her!”

“I didn’t believe it was that bad.”

“If you had known it was that bad, would you have helped her leave him?”

The silence on her end is almost deafening and all the answers I need.

“I have one more question for you, and this is completely unrelated to Rosalie. I know you had a wild past before you met your first husband. How wild were you? Did you have a child before me and put her up for adoption?”

“What? What are you talking about?” She asks indignantly, but I hear the slight tremor in her voice.

Probably fears that her secret is out.

“You don’t remember the child you had before me and gave up for adoption?”

I hear her take a sharp breath and nod my head. She knows her past is no longer hidden in time. It has come back to haunt her, just like most secrets have a way of doing.

“How much did that old bat tell you?” She hisses out at me.

That old bat is my grandmother, her mother. Talk about being a loving and respectful daughter. Not that I expect that from my mother. She wanted her children to be loving and respectful, but she wasn’t the same with her own mother.

“So, you do remember having a child before me and giving that child up?”

“I knew I should have never told that woman anything about it. I knew one day that she would use it to turn you against me.”

A bitter laugh escapes me before I can stop it. “No, mother, you did all of that on your own.”

“What. Did. She. Tell. You?” She asks in an aggressive tone, emphasizing each word.

Oh, I pushed a hot button there.

“I met someone on Friday night, and let me just say that we were both in for the shock of our lives. She looks so much like all the women on your side of the family. It was like looking in a mirror. Now, seeing as you are an only child, this woman is not a cousin. That leads me to question if she is a sibling that I never knew existed.”

“When were you in England?”

Oh, wow.

“I wasn’t, but she is here in California. I guess that wasn’t part of your plan. Did you go to another country to give birth and then give her up?”

“I am done with this conversation. My past is just that, and it is none of your business. I should have given you to your father the moment you were born. You have been nothing but trouble for me since that day.”

The line goes dead, and I am left staring blankly at my phone.

I break down sobbing because now I know I was never wanted. Thinking about it and knowing it for sure are two entirely different states of emotional trauma. I feel strong arms wrap around me sometime later, and the floodgates break wide open.

“I got you, Rylan. Let it go, baby.” Aaron’s voice soothes me.

(Author's note)

(To those that should have been protected by their parents but were not, you are seen, loved and worthy.)

(My Facebook group is NorthRoseNovels, join it for updates or delays. I update once a week on Fridays only.)