19. Chapter Nineteen

19

Chapter Nineteen

Rowan

A s I sit in my office, sifting through security footage from the other night of an attempted robbery at one of our businesses that's a cover for the guns we move all over the country, Rhett sits on the floor of my office with his toys and cars playing. I remember doing this same thing when my Da worked in this same office. It's been a few days since Clara's migraine. I don't think I've ever been as worried as I was when Sully came sprinting outside telling me Clara was pale, shaking, and throwing up in the bathroom. Knowing my ability to help her was next to zero, my mind whirled to what could be helpful. As I held her in bed and played with her hair while she drifted off to sleep the answer smacked me in the face.

I could take care of Rhett, it's not even a hardship, it was just one less thing she'd have to worry about. So after searching for him and finding him with Kieran in the kitchen we all made dinner together. Kieran's a really good cook, but he was taught by me. We all ate and joked around, Rhett was happy, and I pulled up the security cameras I have in our room to make sure Clara was still asleep. Rhett and I ended up in the theater room with, you guessed it, the turtle movie. Sometime during, we must have fallen asleep because one minute we were watching crime fighting animals while keeping an eye on Clara via my phone, and the next Rhett woke me up screaming from a nightmare. I got him calmed down, but we both wanted Clara. We snuck in the bedroom and snuggled up with her, sleeping until morning. Rhett and I let Clara rest while we went outside so he could run off some energy. Then we snuggled with her in bed all day. She's been okay since, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't keeping a close eye on her just in case.

My phone rings pulling me out of my thoughts, the number on the screen giving me pause. I shoot off a text to Dec to tell him to come here while I answer. Deciding not to humor him with the bullshit pleasantries like he expects.

I answer, "Nikolai, you're bold for calling me after what you pulled a few weeks ago."

His sigh of exasperation floods my ear before he responds, "Rowan. Don't be like that, you've been conspiring against me and we both know it. I was just sending a little warning." He brushes me off, doing nothing but pissing me off even more. Right as I open my mouth to answer, Declan slides into my office, literally. He has on gym shorts and socks and just slid in here like he's twelve.

I throw my finger up to him as I answer Nikolai, "Nikolai, don't be ridiculous, the BOCG isn't conspiring against you and never has been. If you'd pull yourself out of your own delusions you'd realize that."

Moving the phone over to speaker, we can hear his hand slam on his desk, "Don't lie to me! I called you to discuss a truce and a meeting. I'm trying to extend an olive branch, but I can't do that if you won't own up to what you've done."

Looking at Dec, he rolls his eyes and mouths ‘He has lost it.'

"I'm not going to admit to something we had no part in, if you'd realize that we aren't out to get you and haven't been for years, I'd hear you out."

He huffs out an annoyed breath, "I'd be willing to hear you out, I want the streets safe for my Natasha again." This time when I look to Dec he's looking everywhere but at me, what's up with that?

Shaking my head I reluctantly agree, "Fine, we can meet up, it won't be until next week, so I need your word on a truce until then." Catching Rhett's watchful eyes out of the corner of mine and glancing over at him he lifts his hands. Signing to him to give me just one minute, my attention goes back to the phone.

"Fine, next Tuesday, at three in the afternoon. We can meet at The Byrne so you know I truly am coming in and searching for peace." Agreeing quickly I cut the call.

Declan doesn't even let me take a breath before he's cutting in, "We're surrounding the place with security, we'll have backup and backup's for that backup. Kie will make sure they don't enter armed and all of us will be in there. We'll keep Killian here and on Clara and Rhett. We'll handle this properly."

Nodding in acknowledgment and turning my attention to Rhett, I lift my hands, "Okay, Little Bear, you have my attention. What's up?"

I can see the apprehension in his green brown eyes before he starts, "Well, you know my old daddy?" Uh, where is this going? I knew he'd probably have questions one day but didn't think it'd be today.

"Yeah, Bear. What about him?"

"Well, why is he here?" That has both Dec and I snapping to hyper alert. I'm trying my hardest to school my expression because Rhett can read a facial expression like no other.

"What do you mean he's here? Have you seen him?" He's nodding before I even stop signing the question and my heart stutters and stops in my chest. No matter what, they'll be safe here. Until my dying breath, they'll be safe.

"I saw him out of my window last night. He was really mean when we lived with him. He hit, hitting isn't nice. Daddy, don't make us go with him." I'm shocked, he has to be mistaken. There's zero chance that Preston was on my property. If I find out he was, I'll murder my entire security and staff team then hire new ones without blinking.

Moving over to him and getting down on his level my arms wrap him up tight. Hoping I'm giving him every ounce of safety he needs to feel right now. When he hugs my neck back with the same intensity I know I'm doing the right thing. We break away and he looks at me with so much fear and worry.

"Bear, you and your mom are never going back with him. Remember? Safe, I promise. Can you show me and Uncle Dec where you saw him?" He takes both our hands and leads us out the office, across the living room, up the stairs, and to his window in his bedroom.

"I got up to potty. A light was in my window. My old daddy was holding a light. Right there." He points to where the privacy fence sits, you can see to the other side of it from here.

If he saw what he thinks he did my question becomes, how did Preston Donovan get on and off my property undetected.

Declan beats me to it, "I'll have Mac check it out." Every square inch of this property is under surveillance, finding out who was shining a light in my son's bedroom window should be no problem. However if we find out it was Preston, then it's just the beginning of an infinite number of problems. The hellfire that will reign down on this city will be indescribable.

While Mac works on that I need to get everything ready for our big trip to the doctor tomorrow. We talked to Rhett about it and made sure this is something he'd want. He's four and a half so he doesn't get the final say, at the same time Clara and I both agreed if his answer was a resounding no we wouldn't pursue it at this time. Surprisingly enough, he was really curious about it. We'll see what the doc has to say tomorrow then Clara will decide after. If she asks my opinion on it I'll tell her; however, this chance was pulled out from under her feet once before. I refuse to let that happen again.

* * *

Finding Clara exactly where I assumed she'd be, in the hammock reading, my smile isn't able to be contained, neither is my instinct to kiss her. Taking her chin in my hand while standing over her I tilt her head back and press my lips to her. The corner of my lips tick up when she instinctively opens up for me and my tongue slides against hers as she moans in my mouth. Pulling away the happiness in her eyes is unmistakable.

"Hey, Pretty Girl." Rhett and the twins are playing in the pool. So we can speak freely for now. Moving onto the hammock with her I pull her thigh and side until she's laying directly on top of me, her head on my chest. "Is this a good time to talk?"

She snuggles in and lets out a content sigh, I love that sound. "Sure, what's up?"

Rubbing designs on her back with my fingertips I feel her relax into me, soaking in this moment for a second longer because I know it's about to come to an abrupt end. Finally, my eyes close and I just say it, "Rhett thinks he saw Preston shine a light into his bedroom window last night." She turns rigid as her breathing turns shallow in an instant.

"What did you just say? I don't think I heard you right." Wrapping my arms completely around her and holding her close, my voice comes out tight, because maybe I'm a little worried too.

"Yeah, he showed us where and we have Mac combing through footage now. We'll have something by the time Rhett's in bed tonight. We're all meeting in my office."

Before my thought is finished she's cutting in, "I'm going to be in that meeting. You guys can't keep me out, this involves me and my son."

"Whoa, no one said anything about leaving you out. I was telling you so you knew what we were doing after we laid Rhett down. I'm not the enemy here, baby. We're a team."

She flinches then looks up at me, "I'm sorry. I went mama bear without letting you finish your thoughts, that wasn't fair."

I press my lips to her forehead, shooting her a smile, "It's okay, I just want to remind you we're a team, you aren't alone anymore, and your opinion is important and we all want to hear it. Also, it's us and our."

Moving her head so she can give me a proper look of confusion, "What? Us and our?"

I'm dead serious when answering her, "You said this involves you and your son. But this involves US and OUR son."

She relaxes back into my hold, " You're right. This involves all three of us. Thank you so much for being you. You're so understanding and patient with me."

"Well, Pretty Girl, you make it easy." She lays her head on my chest and my fingers go back to drawing designs on her back. Kissing the top of her head, my eyes close in content.

We lay like that for a few minutes and as soon as I start drifting off her fingers move under my shirt and slowly strokes my sides. My body tenses because her hands are cold and her touch will always get a reaction from me. My body is just trained to crave her touch at this point. Because I'm nothing if not constantly ready to match her energy, my hands start roaming up her shirt continuing my light touch, making her shiver. My hands move back down her back and stop at the waistband of her athletic shorts. As my fingers dip under the band her fingernails slowly scratch down my sides bringing my dick to life, "You're trouble. The boys are only across the yard."

She lifts her head and shoots me a smirk that tells me she doesn't give a single fuck who's around right now, "Roe, they're a football field away from us at least, and we're tangled up in this hammock. Not to mention they're being loud and rambunctious. We both know they can't see or hear anything."

* * *

Clara

I've lost all common sense while laying on top of Rhett in this hammock. Honestly though, there's no way they can see or hear us. It sinks down just enough to shield us on the sides, and like I said they're diagonal from us and the length of a football field away. This yard is giant, and I need some part of Rowan inside my pussy before I explode. Just to drive my point home I push up slightly on his chest and push my hands up the front of his shirt while grinding down on his hard cock.

He groans as my hands work his shirt up enough so his Adonis belt, abs, and pecs are on display for me. His hand trails from just inside my waistband down to roughly cup my ass. Smirking at him, his eyes are dancing with playfulness as well as the fire from his desire. Pulling my legs a little farther apart so my thighs are resting on the outside of his. My hands snake up his torso and wrap around his neck. Laying flat on his chest, in this position all he has to do is push my shorts aside and his hands have full access to my dripping core.

"That's my perfect girl. Don't move, okay?" When I don't answer fast enough he removes his hand from my shorts just long enough to smack my ass.

"Hey!"

He chuckles, "Don't move, okay?"

Responding after deciding to be a smart ass and rolling my eyes, "Yes, Sir." His groan comes from deep in his chest as his fingers move down my outer thigh and move to my inner thigh.

"Don't tease me baby. I like that more than you'd probably want me to." He flexes his hips to emphasize his point. Before I can think of a response his fingers trail under the hem of my shorts and move my panties to the side. His index finger swipes through my folds and a dark chuckle has his chest vibrating.

"This all for me baby?" The tip of his finger lightly circles my clit making me bite back a moan,

"Yes, sir." I can feel him smirk into my hair as he presses two fingers inside of me curling them up. Turning my head into him and tilting up so my face is in his throat my teeth latch on as he works me over with his magic fingers. I alternate kissing, lightly biting, and sucking on his neck while he builds my orgasm up. Stroking me deep inside with his index and middle finger while his thumb keeps the most delicious amount of pressure on my clit while he rubs tight circles.

He knows what he's doing, but refusing to think too hard about that I focus on what's happening right now. Shifting slightly my hand slides down his shorts and wraps around the base of his perfect cock. I stroke him at the same pace he's working me over, twisting my hand slightly as I go and every few passes grazing my thumb over his tip. My thighs are shaking and my climax is so close I can almost taste it.

"Rowan, I'm so close." He doesn't change his pace or tempo keeping everything consistent since I'm right there.

"I've got you, Pretty Girl. Come for me." Not even a minute later I'm moaning into his neck and coming so hard I see stars.

When I get my bearings again I continue stroking him. "Baby, I'm close." Deciding we actually will make a mess if he finishes in my hand I push his shorts down just enough to free him and before he can process what's happening the tip of his dick is hitting the back of my throat. "Fuck, Clara." Is all he can get out before his hand is tangled in my hair and he's coming down my throat. Taking every ounce he gives me I smirk up into those green eyes. Pulling off him and swallowing I fix his shorts and climb back into his arms. He's breathless as he tells me, "You're fucking perfect."

Rubbing his sides as he fixes my shorts I kiss his chest, "No, I'm just perfectly loved by you." I'm not sure how long we lay like that just soaking in the highs of our orgasms, and the weight and warmth of each other. It's long enough for the thought from the other day to flash through my head again, I'll marry this man tomorrow, he's just got to ask.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean, there's no footage?" Rowan's yelling so loudly that instinctively I flinch back from him and cover my ears.

Declan steps in front of me, arms crossed, "You need to calm down, or you need to step out until you get it together." I can hear the growl of rage coming from deep in Rowan's chest from here.

"Declan, you have fifteen seconds to step aside so I can talk to my girl. Also, if you ever step between us again, I will end you. You're my brother, but never mistake that as a green light to get between us."

Making the quick decision I step around Dec, and fold as soon as I see the pain and anxiety in his eyes. He's so worried about this that he has Killian standing guard at Rhett's door until we can get back upstairs. He's worried more for us in the past couple of months than Preston did in all the years we were together. He holds his arms out to me and I step into them without hesitation. Quickly, I'm wrapped up in his arms and his lips find the top of my head. He takes a deep breath into my hair and slowly lets it out before speaking.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I'm pissed that we're somehow missing footage, but that doesn't mean I'm mad at you or Rhett."

Kissing his chest I pull back slightly, "You have every right to be mad, I'm sorry I got spooked." Turning back to Mac my eyes flare in anger. My lungs exhale the breath they were holding. While what's happening actually sinks in. "Mac, what do you mean there's no video?"

Mac shifts his eyes from Rowan to me, "I mean it's been wiped. Whoever did it did a decent job, to be honest. That's not the biggest problem though." He trails off nervously and looks to Declan then back to me. Impatient by his lack of just spitting it the fuck out, he gets the wrath of mama bear.

"What could be a bigger problem then missing footage and my fucking four year old seeing his biological father shining a light into his bedroom window in the middle of the night?"

Mac's eyes widen in shock at my outburst before he says, "To erase the footage, they would have to be inside the house on my computer. Which stays locked up when I'm not here."

My world stands still, everything else disappears. Everyone sounds muffled, I can feel my hands shaking. Preston's been in here. He's been in this house, it isn't safe here. We have to leave. Instantly a plan starts forming in my head, my feet start moving without my permission straight to Rhett's room.

After dismissing Killian and climbing in bed with Rhett my heart rate finally starts to slow. How is this happening? He doesn't want Rhett, he never has. He wants me, and he knows Rhett's my achilles. Holding onto my baby knowing that I have to shake our lives up again, and this time he's going to lose it because he has to leave his Daddy and Uncles behind. It feels like I've been laying here for hours, just staring out the window waiting to see if the light shines in tonight.

My phone's been buzzing but I haven't checked it. It's probably a mix between Rowan and Britt. I'll have to leave the phone here, it's fine though. I'll call Britt from the road. How am I going to get my car out of here without waking up someone is the big question. Shit, surely the guards are going to tell Rowan as soon as we try to leave.

My heart is splintering in my chest thinking about leaving him behind. Allowing myself to sit with the hurt of leaving him behind for a little bit, it's clear that we can't do that. We also can't stay here. Kissing Rhett's forehead as carefully as possible, my decision is made. Looking out the window and finding the yard empty, my heart is racing as I make my way across his room and head into the hall. My foot catches on something and I let out a scream while falling. Quickly I'm pulled into strong arms before hitting the ground. Panicked instinct takes over and my body starts thrashing against whoever was laying on the floor that has grabbed me.

"Shhh baby, it's me." My body melts into him instantly. Rowan, it's just Rowan. He adjusts us so I'm laying on top of him, in the middle of the hallway.

"Why are you laying in front of the door?"

He holds me tighter, "Keeping the bad guys away. I just fell asleep." A smile splits my face, no, there's no world where we leave Rowan to run. He just has to run with us.