Page 24 of Under Their Protection

“Just say the word,” he says simply.

“Red. I can’t do this,” I say quietly. He nods and turns to everyone else.

“We are leaving now,” he says as he picks up my bag and hands it to me.

“I’m filing the paperwork Monday,” Dad says to me.

“I hate you. I hate both of you. You never loved me. You never gave a shit about me unless I could do something for her. I never even got a ‘Happy Birthday’ let alone either of you telling me you loved me. Go to hell and take my whore sister with you,” I say with tears in my eyes. Rowan takes my hand and pulls me toward the door. Isaac quickly blocks us and looks angrier than I’ve ever seen him.

“Move or I’ll make you move,” Rowan says with an obvious air of violence in his tone as he steps toward Isaac. As I expected, Isaac moves out of our way and Rowan pulls me out of the house. I am a ticking time bomb at this point. I need to get away from them before that timer runs out and I explode.

Everyone follows us out and watches as Rowan opens the truck door and gets me inside before jumping in. Dad comes to Rowan’s window.

“If you run, I’ll have you committed,” he says as Rowan backs out. I lay my head back, close my eyes, and focus on my breathing as Rowan calls Max.

“Hey. Where are y’all? … No, it’s bad… Harper is in kidney failure, and they want her to give up one of hers because she is a perfect match for her… She did. She said no and they are going to try to deem her incompetent and have her committed so they can sign off on it to force her… She’s not talking… We are just a few minutes away. Just meet us in the parking lot… Okay. Let Emma know what’s going on. She may be able to think of something… He said he is filing on Monday… Okay,” he says as he ends the call.

Rowan takes my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine. His warmth is soothing. We stay hand in hand for the ten-minute ride to The Cherry.

As soon as Rowan put the truck in park, my door opens. Max unclips my seatbelt and pulls me from the truck so Mia can get to me. She cups my face and makes me look at her. “I need you to talk to me okay?”

“Okay,” I say softly.

“We will not let them do this to you again, Anika. I swear to God, we will figure something out,” she says.

“He’s right. I don’t have a choice,” I say with a shaky voice.

“No, he isn’t. We will figure this out,” she repeats.

“I am so angry that I don’t know what to do,” I sniff back tears. “I don’t want to give her anything else.”

“You don’t have to. We will figure it out, even if I have to drive your ass to Mexico and we hide out until she dies. I am not letting her take anything else from you, Anika,” Mia promises.

“Hey. Sorry, I got caught up,” Emma says. I turn to face her, and she hugs me tightly.

Emma is Max’s sister. She owns The Cherry and is also a lawyer who practices criminal and civil cases. She does a lot of pro bono work as well.

“Is there anything she can do?” Max asks his sister.

“Yeah, but you’ll have to do it tonight so the court will have it before he can file to commit her,” Emma says,looking at me.

“What?” I ask.

“You need to get married. Only next of kin can file that paperwork. If you get married, then your parents are no longer in charge of your care. At most, you’ll have to go to court and whoever you marry will have to assure the court that they think you are of sound mind. No amount of money can change that unless you get divorced. It absolutely has to look real though, or they can file against it if they can prove it’s a fake marriage,” she explains.

“It has to be Rowan. He went with her tonight, and she already lives with him,” Max says.

“Plus, Isaac already thinks they are a thing,” Mia adds.

“Fuck,” I say entirely too loudly. I back away from everyone and walk to the truck. This is too much. I don’t even know what to think, but this is too much. Rowan catches me by the waist and backs me against the bed of his truck. “I’m not asking you to do this.”

“I want to do this, Anika,” Rowan says softly.

“No, you don’t. I promise you don’t. I will figure out another way,” I say with tears running down my cheeks. Rowans cups my face as everyone else walks over.

“I have known you for eight years, Anika. You are an amazing woman. You are smart as hell and the kindest person I know. You do not deserve this, and I won’t let anyone take you from us,” he says as he wipes away my tears. “Marry me, Anika. We take everything day by day, but we start by getting you away from your family.” At least this way I know that I won't get committedand no one will cut me open.

“They won’t stop trying,” I say.

---