Page 57 of Rectify

They hadn’t found her cousin. Or the woman who’d called in the false report about seeing a little boy by the lake.

Even though her cousin had betrayed her, Natalya didn’t want to see her harmed. She just wanted to put this whole nightmare behind her.

“I need to pay you some rent.”

Rogan owned this apartment building. He’d insisted that if she wanted to leave, she’d have to move into one of his apartments.

And that she wouldn’t be paying rent. But she couldn’t allow that. Or at least she felt better trying to protest.

“No, you don’t,” he said firmly. “You need to focus on looking after yourself and Mateo. Don’t worry about rent or utilities. I’ll take care of that. I’ll bring up the rest of the groceries.”

She should protest again, but the truth was, she didn’t have the money to pay her way. It was humiliating to rely on others for everything. But there was no way she could work at the moment. She told herself that Mateo couldn’t handle the separation, but in truth, she was the one who was struggling. She was the one who sat up night after night, just watching him sleep.

Calm. Breathe. You can do this.

Rogan had found them a counselor, but she just couldn’t bring herself to go. She’d ended up canceling every appointment.

I wish Aedan was here.

He’s working. There was a crisis in the London office. He’d be here if he could.

At least, that’s what she told herself. She wasn’t sure if she believed it. Oh, he’d offered to stay, but she was hardly going to beg him to stay when he was needed elsewhere.

Although she wasn’t entirely sure what he even did now. Something about investments, but it seemed like he had a lot going on and he didn’t need to be worrying about her.

Still, she hadn’t expected him to be gone this long. Sure, he’d called a few times, but their conversations had been stilted and awkward. She missed him horribly. What if this was his way of telling her he didn’t want her? That he’d changed his mind?

Natalya attempted to smile at Rogan as he placed a few bags of groceries down on the kitchen counter. She fought against the urge to beg Rogan to take them home with him. She couldn’t keep relying on him. They weren’t his responsibility. She was a mother. She had to be responsible, strong. That meant she couldn’t rely on others for everything. So on the surface, she tried to appear tough and independent.

But on the inside, she was screaming desperately for help.

“What are you doing?”Rogan asked, walking into the kitchen.

“Uh, getting a soda?” Wasn’t it freaking obvious? Aedan popped the tab and took a long drink. He felt like shit; itchy eyes, stomach bubbling with nausea, and a pounding headache. His body was telling him that he needed sleep, something that had become increasingly elusive during the last three weeks.

“It’s three in the morning and you’re going to rot your teeth, but that’s not what I meant.”

“Jeez, Dad, you got anything else you want to tell me off about?” He was not in the mood for a lecture.

Rogan stared at him grimly. “Yeah, I have. Where the hell have you been?”

“Working.” He’d thrown himself into his work in an attempt not to think about Natalya nor to remember how beautiful shewas when she smiled or how sweet she smelled. How much he missed the feel of her in his arms.

“For three weeks?”

“I had some things to catch up on.” Not that he’d managed to get much work done.

“You’re an idiot.” Rogan rubbed his forehead tiredly.

“I’m out of here.” The last thing he needed was to have Rogan preaching at him. Couldn’t he see that Aedan was in a foul, fucking mood?

“Where are you going?”

“Home. Where there’s no one to nag me.” He shouldn’t have come here. He was in a crap mood and looking for a fight.

“Aedan.” Rogan reached out and grabbed his arm as he stepped past him.

Aedan swung around, forcibly pushing Rogan away. “Stop interfering in my damn life.”

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