Chapter 20
ROWAN
The relief that crashed through me was almost painful.
"First, we secure our place," I said. "Increased security. Guards if necessary. No one gets in or out without our knowledge."
"Second, we move Kira in with us," Kellan added. "She's not safe in that apartment anymore."
"Third, we start investigating. Figure out who's behind this and what they want." I pulled out my phone. "I have contacts. People who owe me favors. I'll call them in."
"And me?" Naomi asked. "What do I do?"
"You stay close to us. You don't go anywhere alone." I stopped, knowing she wasn't going to like what came next. "You let us protect you."
"For how long?"
"Until we've dealt with the threat."
"And if that takes weeks? Months? Years?" Her voice rose. "I have a life. I have plans. I was supposed to open the learning center in September."
"Which you can still do," I said. "Once we've made it safe and eliminated whoever this is."
"You can't promise that."
"No. But I can promise we'll do everything in our power to make it happen."
She looked at the destruction around us, work reduced to rubble and water damage.
"I don't know if I can do this all over again," she said quietly. "It took so long to get here."
"You can," Kellan said. "You're stronger than you think. This time you’ll have support."
"I don't feel strong." Her voice cracked. "I feel violated… terrified."
I moved to her, careful not to crowd but close enough that she could reach me if she wanted.
"Then be terrified," I said. "Feel whatever you need to feel. But don't run. Don't try to do this alone. Let us help you."
She looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes of hers, and I saw the war happening behind them. All of her emotions raging against one another.
"If I stay with you, I need something in return."
"Name it."
"I need the truth. No more secrets. No more holding back because you think I can't handle it." Her voice was firm despite the tears tracking down her face.
"Done," I said without hesitation.
"And," she swallowed. "I need time to figure out what this means for whatever this is between us."
"You can have all the time you need," Kellan assured her.
She nodded, then turned to Danny, who'd been standing silently through this entire exchange.
"Can it be fixed?" she asked. "The building?"
"Yeah. It'll take time and money, but yeah. It can be fixed." He paused. "Naomi, want to tell me what’s going on?"
"People from my past are resurfacing," she said. "People I didn't know existed until a few days ago."
"We’ll need to add additional security here. I’ll get the water turned off and we’ll access the damage when it’s all dry. I’ll make some calls to get it all cleaned up."
"File the insurance claim, too. We'll figure out next steps after you get all that done."
He nodded. "Okay. But Naomi, be careful."
"I will."
He left, and it was just the three of us standing in the ruins of what was supposed to be her future.
"Let's go home," I said quietly.
"To your home, you mean." Naomi sighed.
"To our home," I corrected. "For as long as you need it."
She looked at me, then at Kellan. Then she nodded.
"Okay," she whispered. "Let's go home."
And as we walked out, I made a silent promise. Whoever was coming for her would have to go through us first. We’d searched for what felt like forever and now that we had her, we’d protect her at all costs. We weren't about to fail now.
No fucking way.