Page 40 of Battling Aries

I could understand this. I can’t stop looking over my shoulder. It doesn’t matter that Aries and even the club are swearing to protect me.

Rosemary sighs and clasps her hands in her lap. “I told you about being kidnapped, and the club finding me, but I didn’t tell you where they found me. I wasn’t used for sex or anything like that. I was forced to fight in death matches.”

“You were?” I gasp, eyes widening.

Rosemary nods jerkily. “Yeah. I sometimes think that it would have been better if I were used for sex rather thanfighting. Maybe then the people I had to kill in those matches would still be alive.”

“It’s not your fault,” I murmur, reaching out to take her hand.

“I’m the one who gave the death blows.” Tears shimmer in Rosemary’s eyes.

“You did what you had to do to survive,” I tell her squeezing her hand and leaning in. “You had to fight to live. You had to make the choice of ‘either them or me’. You chose yourself, which is good because it means you’re here now. I’m sure the people you fought against understood where your head was at, they were fighting for the same thing. They died so you could survive. You’re here because they allowed it. Don’t let the deaths of the other fighters bring you down. Honor them as you would a soldier. They might not have been soldiers or even good people, but they were put through the same as you. They trained to survive. They lived for the next breath, not knowing if it would ever come.”

Rosemary blinks, then blinks again, and finally whispers, “I never thought of it that way. It makes sense. How did you come up with that with what little I shared?”

Releasing a heavy breath, I draw my hand back and look away. “I had to think about my own survival for so long I hate myself for what I’ve done. For what I allowed to happen. I did what I did to protect those I love and care about, but I didn’t have to. I could have run far away, however, if I did, I would’ve been leaving everything behind. Along with the major possibility of those I hold close to my heart being killed. Roger wanted Aries dead, but he bargained to get what he wanted. So long as I was his. I did what I was told, and he’d leave Aries alone. Him and everyone else I cared about.”

“Roger’s a weasel,” Rosemary remarks.

“Yeah, he is. He’s conning, will stab you in the back in a heartbeat, looks out for what’s in his best interest, and doesn’tplay games when it comes to getting what he wants. He calculated every move he made in getting me to agree with him. He stole my baby from me,” I murmur, my hand moving to rest on my flat stomach. “He took everything and made me suffer for it. I would always rebel against him and ended up paying for it. I only just had the strength to make my escape when he took me to New York City. I’d been able to slip away from them thanks to the crowded streets at the time.”

“I hate you went through all of that, Rory,” Rosemary says softly, leaning forward and taking my hand in hers. “Seems we’re all a pair. The ol’ ladies club filled with survivors.”

“I’m not an ol’ lady.”

“Yeah, you are. You just don’t have your cut yet. In fact, I think I’m gonna get some patches made for all of us that claims us all as survivors. A reminder that we’re not victims. We’re survivors.”

“That actually sounds pretty cool,” I tell her, a small laugh escaping.

“It does.” Rosemary smirks and clears her throat. “Back to what you were asking me about, and I was telling you. The club saved me, but they traded themselves to finish out the contract that the guy who took me refused to let me out of. Each member of the club took a fight.”

“Wow.”

No words can mark what the club did for her. The loyalty is remarkable. I’d never known such a feeling.

Though Aries is offering that to me, giving me him. Just as he said, I’m his, and he’s mine.

It doesn’t mean I’m not scared that he’ll go into this match and I lose him all over again. I’m sure Roger will agree to it. He’ll agree to anything for a chance to kill Aries. The hatred Roger holds for Aries, I’ll never understand. I never did.

“That about sums it up,” Rosemary murmurs.

Clearing my throat, I straighten in my seat and nod to the menus. “I guess we should figure out what we’re going to do for dinner tonight, then.”

I change the subject not just for Rosemary but for myself. If I didn’t, I’d end up losing my mind with worry. I’m going to have to trust Aries on this and believe that he’ll win against Roger because it can’t be any other way.

Aries is back in my life, and I can’t lose him again. Losing him this time around will destroy me completely. I’d be left a shell of the person I once was. There would be no life left in me to go on.

Admitting that to myself scares me.

Rosemary smiles, picks up a menu, and twists it toward me. “How about pizza and wings?”

“Perfect.”

CHAPTER 24

ARIES

Hearing Rory talk to Rosemary, I’m not ashamed to admit I eavesdropped on the conversation, but I’d left the two of them alone. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t hear Rory telling Rosemary about how fighting made Rosemary a survivor.

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