17. Rowan

Pulling his Ducati up behind the compact car parked at Haven's front gates, Rowan cut the bike's engine and waited while the person behind the wheel typed a code into the security box.

The alarm buzzed in denial, and he swung off his bike, approaching the driver from behind.

"Morning, Taylor."

"Jeez, Rowan, you scared me." Ben's assistant let out a nervous laugh through the open car window. "What are you doing here this early?"

More than a little pissed over Annabeth saying she didn't need him to stay over last night, he grumbled under his breath, "I could ask you the same thing."

Taylor flipped her long strawberry blonde hair over one shoulder, her lip curling in disgust at the attitude. "Excuse me?"

Rowan checked himself. Being a surly asshole to his employer's secret girlfriend wasn't exactly a smart move. "Sorry, Taylor."

Like everyone else at Fairweather Holdings, Rowan assumed the two began sleeping together not long after she was promoted. A man like Ben probably needed to blow off some steam, and it made sense to do it with a woman who was always at his side.

And while there was nothing wrong with them being together, it felt weird.

There was just something about the situation that didn't sit right with him. Taylor tried too hard. Constantly inserting herself into whatever Ben was doing. Sure, it was part of the job, but it never stopped.

"I'm guessing you heard what happened?"

"Ben gave me the details this morning when he asked for these files." Taylor jerked a thumb at some files in the passenger seat. Files that could easily have been sent via email. "The man never stops working."

"He's a machine," Rowan acknowledged. "But I'm not sure who's up yet."

"That really doesn't matter, now does it?" Taylor placed the car in drive. "Ben has requested this stuff, and I'm here to give him what he needs, so can you fix the security box and let me in?"

Rowan's brows shot up at the haughty tone. Yeah, definitely fucking the boss. "Give me a minute. I changed the code."

He turned and punched the new sequence in, purposely blocking her view as he did. As of sunrise, Liam's orders were not to let anyone know the updated codes until he said otherwise.

"What's the new code?" she asked, phone in hand, when he faced her again. "I'll add it to my notes."

"Ben will give it to you."

He walked off before she could ask again, waiting at his bike until her car passed through. Once the gates swung closed, he returned to the box, thinking now was a good opportunity to test the reentry fail safe he'd stayed up programming.

At this point, he needed sleep more than oxygen, which was probably why Taylor's attitude had him annoyed. It also didn't help that things hadn't ended on a good note with Annabeth and even though he'd only been gone long enough to gather some things from the condo—as he had zero intention of listening when she said he didn't have to stay—he was on edge to figure out how he was going to regain their footing now that they had been outed.

He first noticed the shift in her behavior at the hospital. When he tried to hold her hand, and she deftly avoided his touch, it hurt. Physically hurt. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before, and he was at a loss on how to proceed. Their relationship had forever been effortless. Neither hid their intentions or true colors from the other. At least he hadn't. With other women, sure, but never Annabeth.

So, when she pulled away, he felt it right in his gut. A pain that continued throughout the day and into the night, leaving him frustrated.

With a few more tweaks, he tested the system, and once satisfied, used his phone to complete the setup. Any wrong code entered into any of Haven's entry points would alert not only him, but Liam and Samuel, too. Ben wanted the house to essentially be locked down until things were settled, and that's exactly what he was getting.

Samuel's SUV came to a stop behind his bike as he finished up the last bit of programming.

"Almost done." Rowan didn't need to explain what he was doing. He and Samuel were in constant communication. "Did you get my text?"

Samuel stuck his head out the window. "I did, but I swear if you don't get out of my way so I can have a cup of coffee, I'll murder you right where you stand."

Small female voices chanted the word murder from somewhere in the car, and even from this far away, Rowan could see Samuel's eye twitch. "Don't you have a wife, Fairweather?" he asked, baiting his friend. "Why didn't she make you any coffee?"

The chanting ceased abruptly, and Samuel smirked as he rolled the car forward until it stopped parallel to where Rowan stood.

From the passenger seat, Evie glared past her husband at him. "Did you just ask why I didn't make him any coffee?"

Oh, shit. "I'm sorry, I was only joking."

Evie's eyes narrowed as Samuel's grin grew. "Like everyone else, I'm tired after yesterday. But do you know why I'm even more tired than everyone else?" she snarled, her voice reaching shouting levels. "It's because I'm growing my husband's large baby inside my body! A baby that likes to kickbox my internal organs every hour on the hour."

Rowan quickly tapped in the new code to let them pass, and the damn gates had the audacity to open at a snail's pace. "I will never make another joke for the rest of my life, Evie. Promise."

Ignoring him, she unbuckled her seatbelt and was halfway across Samuel's lap as she continued to shout. "Let me shock you even more. The kids haven't had breakfast. That's right! I'm letting my children starve!"

Scared for his life, Rowan looked at Samuel for help, but the asshole remained silent.

"Annabeth will hear about this," Evie promised, returning to her seat as the SUV's rear window rolled down and two more sets of angry female eyes sized him up.

Harper clucked her tongue like Simone often did. "Yeah."

"Wees tells her." Theo hunched comically around her sister, pulling her hot pink sunglasses down low on her nose to glare at him. "Yous girlyfriend gonna be mads."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"How is she not your girlfriend?" Harper asked, her head tilting. "I looked up voyeurism yesterday, and it said that—"

"Do not finish that sentence." Samuel hit the gas, and the SUV cleared the gates just as they began to close.

Rowan stood for a minute in the dust, letting Samuel's branch of the Fairweather circus get inside before he joined them. It would be insane this morning, and he wasn't in a hurry to engage with Evie again until she calmed down.

After running two more checks, he made his way to the house, parking next to Simone's red sports car. On the front path, the Fairweather security team mingled with some local cops and what looked like one or two federal agents. It appeared to be a full house for the time being.

Or perhaps not.

Going inside, he paused in the foyer at the silence. In all the years he'd hung around Haven House, he'd never known it to be overly quiet. Straining to listen, Rowan picked up an inaudible murmur of voices coming from down the hall, and he followed the sound into the kitchen.

Theo and Harper sat at the bar, chewing loudly on their cereal while their parents stood behind them, listening to Abe.

"There's no news on what happened," Abe was saying from his spot at the kitchen table as he scrolled through what looked like social media pages of news outlets on his laptop. "I guess having Liam in charge isn't such a bad idea."

At the stove, Annabeth was making omelets with a colorful spread of vegetables and other fillings laid out next to her on the counter. Rowan couldn't stop his heart from aching at the sight. His girl always took care of others before herself.

"Need an assistant?" he asked, coming up behind her. "I'm not much of a cook, but I can help."

Her battered and beautiful face turned toward him, and she nodded, not quite meeting his gaze. "Get me the chopped ham out of the fridge."

Theo eyeballed him warily as he passed. "Yous not her boyfriend."

"No, I'm more of a special friend who is a boy," he replied, getting the ham and ignoring how Annabeth went tense at Theo's comment. "A very special friend."

"Special friend?" Samuel chuckled. "How does that work?"

"It's like this." Abe held a hand up as if it were a phone. "Hey, special friend, what are you wearing?"

"Nothing," Samuel breathed into his own imaginary hand phone. "Are you ready for me, baby?"

Annabeth spun around, waving a spatula. Bits of eggs flew from its edges, and a lone cat darted out from God knows where to gobble them up. "You're both about to get smacked!"

Wisely, the two grown men dropped their hands, leaving the only one laughing to be Evie, who had buried her face in her husband's chest.

"Morning." Liam came in and headed straight for the coffeemaker, pulling down two matching cups from the cabinet above. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Rowan said at the same time as Annabeth, and they turned their backs on the room to work. "Everyone's a comedian this morning."

"Even Samuel?" Liam popped a K-cup into the machine, and Rowan gave him a second look, noticing he'd shaved his beard off. "That's weird."

"Thanks for bringing these." Ben came in from the side hall with Taylor following. "But you really didn't have to drive all the way here."

"Oh, I don't mind," Taylor said, positively beaming. "Plus, I wanted to check on you guys. Yesterday must have been so scary."

Rowan risked a glance over his shoulder to see how everyone was reacting to Taylor's presence, but no one seemed to be even the slightest bit disturbed.

"Taylor, did you get that email I sent regarding San Antonio?" Samuel sipped at his coffee, protectively resting an arm across his wife's shoulders. "With everything going on, I don't want to move forward."

"We'll put it on the back burner," Taylor replied, leaning forward to whisper a good morning to Harper and Theo. "But they won't wait forever."

Ben awkwardly gestured to the main hall. It was surreal for Rowan to see a man like him so out of sorts. "I'll walk you to the door."

"You can stay for breakfast if you'd like." Simone stood on the opposite side of the kitchen, coming out of the set of rooms that belonged solely to her. She looked worse than Annabeth but better than yesterday. "We have plenty of food."

Taylor's smile dimmed at Simone's arrival. "I've already eaten, but thank you."

Rowan had to give it to Simone. Even in a robe and slippers, she still looked put together. "Perhaps next time," she said. "My home is always open to Ben's trusted employees."

"Oh, I'm sure it is." Taylor tossed a wave over her shoulder on the way out. "Considering you used to be one."

As Ben escorted Taylor to the door, Rowan braced himself, waiting for someone to say something about Taylor's comment to Simone. But no one acknowledged it, and he considered that maybe he was overthinking the whole thing. Perhaps they all knew about Taylor and Ben and were totally fine with it.

Liam finished making two cups of coffee and then popped another K-cup in. "I'm guessing you need full strength caffeine this morning, Simone?"

Simone made her way over, laying a hand on every person she passed as if to assure herself they were all safe. "Yes, please."

While she waited for her coffee, the lady of the house came to stand next to Rowan. Leaning a hip on the counter, she watched him and Annabeth work silently together for a moment. "Thank you for taking care of us. If not for your system, and your actions, those people would have taken Jamison."

He'd never known a human stare could literally carry weight, but Simone's most definitely did. "It's my job."

"Mmm, yes." Simone took her coffee from Liam and sipped. "But I heard you screaming through the speakers. Your concern over our welfare far surpasses that of a job or a mere casual fling with my daughter, doesn't it?"

Distracted by what Simone was insinuating, his hand brushed against Annabeth's arm, and they jumped apart as if jolted by electricity.

Simone grinned. "I guess touching each other is a new concept."

"Mama!" Annabeth slapped a hand on the counter. "Don't you need to go sit down?"

"I'm fine right here." Simone took another sip, making a noise low in her throat. "But thank you for your concern."

Rowan's phone went off, along with Liam and Samuel's devices.

"Klausen has updates," Liam shouted so Ben could hear at the other end of the house. "The feds have arrested several members of Zanmi. Some in Miami, Raleigh, and Houston."

Skimming through the information coming through, Rowan tilted his phone so Annabeth and Simone could see the details. Evie read over Samuel's shoulder, and Liam relayed the report aloud for Abe to hear. "There was also a standoff about an hour ago. Three Zanmi are dead."

Ben returned, again with Taylor trailing behind him, walking on her tiptoes as she tried to see his screen. "But none near here?" he demanded. "Or anywhere near where the girls were taken? What about Sinclair?"

Jamison materialized from the same doorway Simone had come from and halted when she saw Taylor huddled close to her father. "What the hell?"

"They've arrested members of Zanmi," Liam explained, frowning with her as they watched Taylor and Ben. "Warrants have been issued to search their records. They'll have a trail to Sinclair and the others within a day or so."

"Does that say three people are dead?" Taylor gasped, tears already building. "That's so awful. I would think you would want to take them alive to question."

Passing his phone to Evie, Samuel laid a hand on the small of Taylor's back. "You don't need to hear all this. I know how these types of things can upset you."

"What's her problem?" Annabeth whispered as Samuel led Taylor from the kitchen. Ben didn't even acknowledge the poor woman's departure, too engrossed in listening to Liam read the reports. "Is she really crying over these people?"

"Taylor is sensitive." Rowan didn't know how else to describe it. "There are rumors around the office as to why, but all I know is that she gets emotional over the slightest hint of conflict."

Simone and Annabeth gave him their full attention, completely ignoring Liam.

"What rumors?" Simone asked. "Spill it."

Not wanting to overstep, Rowan shrugged. "Samuel would know more than me since Taylor was his assistant in Lauderdale, but from what I hear, she was married, and the guy died from a heart attack."

"And?" Simone pressed in closer, sandwiching him between her and Annabeth. "Is that it?"

He imagined the fate of Taylor's husband sounded very minor compared to what they had lived through. "It kind of messed her up, and she gets upset easily."

Annabeth shared a look with her mother. "Don't say it, Mama."

"That woman comes in here shaking her tail at Ben like she's a cat in heat and I can't say…" Simone paused, gathering herself. "I'm sorry for Taylor's loss, but yeesh."

"I know it's hard to accept Ben seeing someone after all this time, and it might feel like a betrayal to the memory of Evie and Jamison's mom," Rowan said. "But Taylor's not all bad."

Simone's half-swollen mouth dropped open. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

Oh. Shit.

"Ben and Taylor." Terrified of the two small women on either side of him, Rowan told himself not to panic. "They're together?"

"Oh my God." Annabeth covered her smile so the others wouldn't see. "No way."

Simone did the same, taking a minute to regain her composure. "Taylor does make it obvious that she wouldn't mind being in Ben's bed, but it'll never happen. He has no interest in her or anyone."

Deciding to let it go, Rowan nodded and the three of them refocused on the discussion, which seemed to have now turned into an argument between Ben and Jamison. And a couple of Fairweathers arguing was fucking scary if you asked him.

"I don't care about a shrimp problem. You can work from home," Ben informed his daughter. "There's no need to go to the office."

"Agreed." Liam put his phone away and grabbed the sugar dispenser, carefully measuring each teaspoon he poured into one of the matching mugs. "It won't be the end of the world, and it won't be forever. The arrests this morning should flush out the others nicely."

Jamison came around the island. "If you can't present me with an end plan, or at least a plan for this week, then I'm going to continue to live my life. God knows you've got enough guards out there, and if we let them scare us into hiding, they'll eat it up."

"I don't care. Someone tried to kidnap you, and staying on lockdown for maybe a week won't kill us." Liam frowned as he stirred in the sugar, his brows drawing tight. "Why are you acting this way?"

"I just don't want them to think they've won."

"Jamison is right," Annabeth said, and Rowan realized she was trembling. "I have a business to run, and… and… a party to go to. I know that seems silly compared to the big picture after what we went through last night, but I'm sorry. Those things are important to me, and I refuse to be a pawn in Toby's game. I'm not doing it again, damn it."

"Don't apologize."

Annabeth looked up at him, startled, and Rowan cleared his throat. He didn't know why his voice dropped so many octaves just then, but he wasn't about to have her apologize for being brave. Not when she'd come so far.

Harper stopped eating to whisper to her little sister. "This is getting good."

"Yep." Theo chewed another big bite. "Wees no stay home, Unc. Gots to see the penis." She twisted around on her barstool to address Ben. "Yous boss man, Papa. Yous tell Unc we needs to see a penis."

The entire kitchen went silent.

Samuel returned from dealing with Taylor, and frowned at everyone staring strangely at Theo. "What did I miss?"

"Your daughter said she needs to see a penis?" Abe arched an eyebrow. "Did you want to elaborate on that, Sammy?"

"I have an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday," Evie explained. "We're hoping to see the baby's sex this time."

Penises were all great and good, but Rowan wasn't done with Annabeth. "What party?"

She was back to not looking at him. "We shop owners are hosting an event at Firewater on Tuesday. It's a costume party since Halloween is right around the corner, and I've been preparing myself to go. It's the first time I've had the courage to attend an owners' event."

The disappointment in her voice didn't belong there. Not if he could help it. She'd mentioned several times about practicing mental exercises to get ready for crowds, and her hard work wasn't going to go to waste. Jamison was right. Fuck those cultish freaks. He would work overtime to track the rest of them down.

"I'll take you to the party."

"And I'm going with Annabeth for moral support," Jamison said to the back of Liam's shaking head. "I'm also going with my sister to her ultrasound appointment."

Liam turned and handed her one of the two matching coffee cups he held. Rowan would have never pegged them to be one of those couples who did cutesy shit like having coffee mugs that matched.

But he liked it.

Maybe he would buy a set for him and Annabeth.

Or maybe not.

Flying his freak flag too soon could scare her off.

"I said no," Liam told Jamison. "Rowan can take Annabeth, but you are staying home."

Rowan's eyes went wide, unsure if Jamison Fairweather had ever been told no in her life. By the collected breath the room held, he doubted it.

"Excuse me?"

Samuel and Simone smirked at the absolute rage in Jamison's voice, and scrubbing a hand down his face, Ben wisely sat with Abe at the table to stay out of the situation.

Liam studied her. "What is your deal with this?"

"No one is going to control what I do." Jamison held her coffee with two hands, looking as if she might throw it in his face. "Not even you."

"Ah, but you see, I actually do control what you do." A condescending half smile spread across Liam's mouth. "As the head of Fairweather's security, I control everything all of you do, and if I say none of you can go anywhere, then none of you can go anywhere."

Evie poked Samuel in the stomach. "Excuse me?"

"That's why we hired him, but we're going to the appointment," Samuel told his wife as he continued to watch their sister's growing fury. "And if you absolutely need to go somewhere else, I'll be right by your side."

Evie thought about it for a minute. "Me and my libido are totally on board with this plan."

Harper's hand shot up. "What does libido mean?"

Everyone ignored her.

"Same goes for you," Rowan informed Annabeth, more than pleased with where this conversation was headed. "If you want to go to work, I'll go with you. A party? We're going together."

"It's not the same thing." Annabeth crossed her arms, that stubborn crease on her brow firmly in place. "You're not my husband and shouldn't have to do that."

"I know I'm not your husband, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it."

Everyone started talking at once, and Liam shouted over the rising noise. "Well, as we are all so painfully aware, I'm no one's husband either, but that doesn't change that you three are not going anywhere without a shadow until this investigation pans out."

"I can take care of myself," Jamison huffed. "I don't need some random person following me around every time I leave the house."

"Random person? Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't making myself clear." Liam took a few steps back to lean on the counter next to Simone. "Samuel is with Evie. Rowan can take care of Annabeth." He lifted his mug to take a casual sip. "And you get me."

Jamison's usual rosy complexion paled to an almost sickly color before rebounding into blotches of red and purple. Only once had Rowan seen her like this, arriving at a point where she was so incensed she couldn't tap down her temper before it exploded. It had been when two members in upper management made innuendos during a meeting with their teams, suggesting that if Samuel were fucking his stepsister, what would stop him from fucking his half-sister too.

Word got out, and thankfully, Samuel had been away in North Carolina, or else the men would have lost more than their jobs.

But Jamison wouldn't let it go.

After the two were no longer employed at Fairweather, she had come to him to help her dig up as much dirt on them as she could. With the blessing of Ben, they exposed every dirty little detail of their lives, and with each unveiling, Jamison would get the same wild look in her eye. She was methodical and almost evil in the way she made them suffer.

No wonder Liam had moved closer to Simone. The man knew he needed protection.

"All day, every day." Liam wagged his finger in the air, creating a circle. "Around the clock."

Chest pumping, Jamison got in Liam's face, and Rowan pulled Annabeth out of the strike zone, sacrificing Simone to her fate.

"William."

Unfazed, Liam shrugged a shoulder. "If you've got a problem, take it up with management."

"Jesus Christ, leave me out of this," Ben mumbled, continuing to read his phone at the table. "Samuel, you're up."

"If you don't want Liam, we can assign Izzy to do the job," Samuel offered, his eyes going wide as if that were the best idea he'd ever come up with. "Liam said she reminded him of you, and yesterd—"

Silencing her husband by placing a hand over his mouth, Evie gave Jamison a sympathetic smile. "It's for the best."

Choked noises came from Jamison, each more incoherent than the next. Rowan thought they might be words, but really, it sounded more like a countdown to total annihilation.

Liam continued to sip his coffee as if this were a normal Sunday morning. "You should eat," he remarked casually. "Annabeth and Rowan have been making breakfast."

"My man, you can leave us right the hell out of this conversation." Rowan pulled Annabeth further away when he noticed the kitchen knives were a little too close to where Jamison stood. "This is your deal."

Jamison's mouth opened to speak—snarl—at Liam, but Simone stepped between them.

"I trust no one else to do the job." Simone glanced over her shoulder at Liam. "But with Selah coming home today, this old house is getting crowded, and I think it's best if you move out to the cottages for the time being. Abe wants to stay at his place, and it would give me peace of mind to know you and Rowan were out there as well."

Rowan was going to give Simone a big, fat kiss at the first opportunity. She'd just given him the green light to stay over.

"He has his own place. Rowan isn't staying here," Annabeth argued. "And Abe doesn't need babysitters."

"Rowan needs to stay close since he and I will be working together non-stop," Liam said over Simone's head. "But I don't see why I need to move out to the cottage. The reading chair in Jamison's room is fine."

"You're not staying in my room again." Jamison joined Ben and Abe at the table. "And if my dad is staying over, along with your parents coming, then Selah with his family, and the Izzy person, there really is no room."

"I'm good with a cottage." Not caring where he stayed as long as he was close, Rowan agreed with the plan. "But are we setting up our command center in here or out there?"

Liam scowled at Jamison gloating in her chair. "I'd like to use the media room if everyone is okay with that."

The media room would be ideal. The soundproofing alone would allow them to concentrate, and he had overhauled the back office around two years ago, giving it a full upgrade. "Yeah, the office in there has almost everything I need," Rowan said.

"That's fine. I can work in the dining room, and so can Jamison," Ben replied, shaking his head at his daughter when she started to speak again. "And since we're all going to be under one roof, with the cops and feds around, I expect everyone to behave."