Chapter 31
31
D uring the car ride, Lottie was bursting with excitement. I thought she would want a huge wedding with all of our friends and her men surrounding us. Not a church but maybe on her grounds by the pond she loved, or maybe travel to a beach somewhere; but she asked to get married somewhere completely different.
“Roe, can we get married at the overlook? Maybe just us and those closest?”
“Charlotte, I would have married you in the alley of the restaurant,” I said, pulling into an oddly familiar looking driveway. “Whatever makes you happy.”
“Rowan, this isn’t what I think it is. You are full of surprises tonight. Is this the secret you've been keeping?” She said. A shocked gasp left her, and she threw the door open to head up the porch stairs before turning to me.
With a smile that spread from ear to ear she said, “You re-built it. Your home, it’s right here in front of us, Roe.”
I nodded. I knew she would love it, and while we couldn’t live all the way at the cabin, maybe this was the next best thing for her. It wasn't the same, but it was close enough, and she could go back and forth if needed. I watched as she took in the furniture and the multiple places and memories we had here; there was only one difference. There were five bedrooms now. Her eyebrows raised, and she slowly turned toward me.
“Why five?” She asked, grazing her hand over the linen of what would hopefully be our bedroom. Her voice was seductive and laced with curiosity.
I walked up behind her, placing my large frame against her body, and wrapped my arms around her.
“Well, I figured Nicole would sneak her way in, she deserves a room to come back and forth,” I whispered on the outer edge of her ear. “The rest can be for wherever life takes us.”
She exhaled sadly.
I turned her around to face me and cradled her face in my hands. “Hey, you don't have to make a decision now, Princess, but it is here whenever you do.”
“Now, follow me downstairs because I have something I need you to do for me.”
Charlotte
Taking me by the hand Rowan hastily took the stairs two at a time until we walked into the living area adorned with decor that was a lot like the last, minus the endless pictures that Roe would have of his childhood, much like the cabin. He never did tell me what happened, and I opted from asking about such a painful memory.
“It is missing something isn't it?” I asked.
He threw me a confused glance and I laughed.
“We have to plant a new tree in the front yard, it might take years to grow, but it would make everything perfect,” I said excitedly.
I could imagine a calm serene life where I could come back home and separate my private and business life. At the end of the day, we could just be Charlotte and Rowan. Two people just trying to navigate through?life like any other couple.
I craved that.
I wanted that.
My eyes took in the room landing on the coffee table where a tattoo gun and various colors of ink lie.
I raised my eyebrows. “What's all this, Rowan.?”
He sat down on the couch and pulled me into his lap.
“You, my little artist, are going to give me a new tattoo.” He grinned.
“Roe, I've only painted on canvas, what if I mess up? Then it’s stuck on you forever. ”
He pushed me into his chest and his arm moved to the table grabbing the materials and setting them next to us on the couch. Reaching around to the back of my neck he pulled me in for a kiss.
“It wasn't a question, Charlotte. Take off my shirt and do the tattoo,” he ordered.
With a cheshire smile, I straddled him and got to work.
My tongue rolled over my top teeth as I concentrated, going over his skin to fill in the color of the Cardinal he had tattooed on his chest. The line work was a bit off, but the colors and shadowing along the edges, bleeding into the red, hid it. I’d hoped. He looked deep in thought, like he’s been doing a lot lately and I wondered what was plaguing his mind, but I had a brief idea. I wasn't the only one he shared this house with.
“It's ok to miss him, you were best friends,”? I said putting the finishing touches on the piece.
I leaned back and admired my work, and the perfectionist in me cringed. But the rational part of me was proud that I didn't just destroy his peck with a mediocre image.
Sorrow danced around his eyes as he spoke. “Don’t, he’s shit.”
“I won’t bring it up again, I’m sorry.”
Getting off his lap, I moved aside to clean up while he strutted to the mirror in the hallway. His lingering silence led me to believe he hated it, then I heard a growl from the hallway. Was it really that bad?
Pounding.
Crunching.
The drywall.
He stomped over to me and took a deep breath. His cheeks were flushed and puffed out, grinding his teeth so hard, I could hear them rub against each other. But I didn’t speak. He needed the space to gather his words. I stepped up to wrap my arms around his torso, and he melted into my arms kissing the top of my head.
“I went to go see my dad,” he whispered into my hair. “Sit down, we have some stuff to talk about.”
We spent the better part of the night in the kitchen talking about the information given to Rowan by his father and I was astonished to say the least, and it gave me all the motivation I needed to fulfill my father’s wish.
“These were retrieved from the Walkers office, by one of Arthur's guys,” he said, throwing a bunch of files on the table in front of us. “It's everything about all of us, and our parents. What if he wants to finish what his father started?”
“But only Richard knew all of the history, I can’t believe my father was best friends with him. This is crazy. What would he have done if I couldn't give him what he wanted? If I didn’t lose it, what if he would have taken our baby?”
I was shocked. Roe grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers with mine, squeezing gently.
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore…Okay?” He reassured me.
We had already looked at the other files and the torture Thomas went through was heinous. No wonder why he's so reserved. Arthur, he almost shared the same fate as myself and now I can understand why he didn’t do relationships or the reaction he gave when we came across my own videos. They must live with so much guilt.
Charlie’s file was the same. If I lost my children, one of two things would happen, I’d go crazy, or I’d walk through life watching each day blend together until I died. All the guilt I had for the way I’d treated him through the years came crashing down on me and I wiped a stray tear from my eye.
Carter Davies- Deceased - Decapitation
Sarah O’ Malley- Unknown- left family after birth of youngest daughter
Helena O’Malley - Sold
Celeste O’Malley- deceased - hollow bullet to the chest
“Princess, are you ready to look at our files?”
I shook my head.
“Why don’t we read each other's?”? I suggested.
He nodded and we switched the folders. I opened his slowly, afraid of what I would find.
Connor Anderson - Life Sentence- Smuggling and human trafficking
Mary Anderson- Deceased- Asphyxiation
Rowan Anderson - Reconditioning - Rowan will take on the full duty of breaking those to be sold, using force or physical harm when necessary. He will participate when asked, upholding the wishes of our customers, and will ensure continued care and compliance of Miss . Bennett while not in use.
I closed his file disgusted; not before I looked at him, making sure his eyes weren't on me. Then carefully, I slid the paper with the truth about his mother into my hand, and into my pocket. It must have happened the night of the fight, I remember him telling me about it, and I had found it odd already, when he described the way he found her. The truth would crush him, and it's my job to protect him from the hurt.
He flicked mine shut, his lips in a tight line. Neither of us spoke and I slid it toward him.
“He was going to make you do terrible things Rowan,” I whispered.
I stilled, watching him.
He ran his hand through his hair and laughed, but it was painful.
“Lottie, I will protect you from anything, you know that, but you also have a right to know.” He pressed on. “You tell me what you want to do, and I will do it.”
I thought for a few moments as I gathered up the other files. There was only one thing I wanted to know. Walker's plans didn’t matter to me anymore, and I didn’t want to know how my father suffered.
“I just want to know about my mother, Rowan,” I said shakily. “Please.”
He took a deep breath.
“She died in captivity, Charlotte; she tried to run, and they tortured her to death. I’m so sorry.”
“Was there a body?”
“There was.”
He was being cryptic, and I was getting irritated. I banged my fist on the table in frustration.
“Rowan,” I said sharply. “Where is it?”
His eyes pleaded with the demand in mine. Eventually he answered. “It was spread across the city.”
While it hurt to hear those words, I was glad I knew the truth. She did not abandon me, and I was thankful for that. But I couldn't even be mad at Walker, he was dead too, and Joshua's plans were becoming clear.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
He leaned back in his chair folding his hands behind his back and adorned a proud smile.
“Clever, Princess…I think we found an angle. At least a possible one.”