Page 59 of Protection for Rowan

"Oh, crap. It won't get you in trouble, will it?" Shine asked.

Thario shook his head. “No. I’m being careful. He’s not emailing anyone, or if he is, he is deleting the messages before I have a chance to look.”

“I don’t like that we can’t find any information about him.”

"It's concerning." Thario laced his hands behind his head. "I don't think he's staying in a hotel or anything that would send a confirmation. He hasn't gone home. Maybe he headed to his parents' house. Or he could be with a friend."

“Maybe. I stopped by Rowen’s place to check in, and it didn’t look disturbed. Maybe I need to install a camera on the door. See if I can pick up any activity.”

“That’s a good idea. Get a doorbell camera and give me access to the alerts. I’ll watch it during the day.”

“You don’t?—”

"Are you kidding me? You guys have given me life. If I didn't have you around, I'd be dead. I know you bunch have your own lives, and now that I'm useless, you still treat me like I'm someone."

Shine shook his head. “Thario, you aren’t useless. You’re a great friend.”

Frog had moved so he was half on Thario’s lap. Shine could tell the dog was getting stressed out by the emotions flowing through Thario. He didn’t want to make things worse, but Thario had admitted that he’d been hit hard bysomething that happened at a bar. It wasn’t fair, but life never was.

"Listen, buddy, you're important. And not because you do stuff for us. I like hanging out with you. And I want you to remember that we're not bringing you around because you help us out. We truly like you. I know the guys on Wild's team think of you as a friend."

Thario wiped his hand over his face. "I hate not being out there. The other night, I woke up thinking I was on a mission."

"I get that. What happened isn't cool, and I'm sure your mind still takes you back to before the accident."

“It’s a bitch. I probably should talk to my therapist about it.”

"Absolutely. You should absolutely speak to your therapist. I want you to actually do that this week. You aren't a robot, even if you have terminator-worthy legs."

The laughter from Thario sounded good. He needed to make sure Thario never felt like he was being used. He was a good friend, and it had nothing to do with what Thario did for them.

He needed to see if any of the guys wanted to do pizza and movie night with Thario. Maybe they could plan it for this weekend.

Chapter 43

Rowan felt betterafter a few days of intense therapy and meditation. Her mind was clear, and her thoughts more aligned with what she wanted out of life. She couldn’t wait to get back home and spend time with Shine. She needed more time to get everything right, but she felt hopeful.

Moving in with him hadn’t been a mistake. How could she approach the subject with him? She didn’t want to be too clingy. Maybe he didn’t really want her living with him, but that was probably her overactive sense of failure operating and not the truth. He hadn’t given her any reason to doubt his desire.

After her morning session with the therapist, she decided to head out for a walk. The fenced-in area was starting to feel a little cramped, and she wanted to walk a longer distance, but that meant going out into the open. She was safe. Charles wasn't close by, and she could walk in the fields. The men who worked the farm knew not to approach the women. This working winery was much saferthan the world at large, but still, the fear of what happened weighed heavily on her mind.

The first time out, Rowan didn't stray too far from the gate. She was safe, and she was learning self-defense techniques. It wasn't just therapy that happened here. They had a class in self-defense that taught them how to get away from an attacker.

She was proud of her progress. There was no way she could fight off a man who was physically bigger than her, but she could run. Getting out of situations was half the fight. If she could escape, then getting away was an option.

Blaming herself wouldn’t do any good, but she recognized she hadn’t done enough to escape from Charles. She’d thought she could rationalize with him, but a person in his frame of mind wasn’t rational. She knew that now and could better defend herself.

As a psychologist, she tried hard to maintain a certain decorum, but once someone like Charles decided to attack, she had to respond in kind. It did her no good trying to remain calm when the person attacking wouldn’t stop when she raised an objection.

Coming to this retreat had been an excellent decision. Now she had to take what she learned here out to her real life. It wouldn’t be perfect, but she could do it.

Chapter 44

Charles hadto find Doctor Kays. It was all falling apart and everyone misunderstood everything. The police wanted him now all because they didn’t get that he was trying to get Rowan to fix the situation at work. He’d had her, and then the cops had come and ruined everything. They were being totally unfair.

He let out a feral scream, drawing the attention of people on the beach. Worry took over, and he dashed off the beach and ran down the street, hiding from prying eyes. Other people needed to mind their own business and leave him alone. He should go back to that beach and teach those people a lesson, but he didn’t have time for that. He needed to find Rowan.

The only way to find her was to head back to her house. He could figure something out. He was smart, much smarter than that bitch. She’d tried to ruin him, but he wouldn’t let her. If only she really knew him, then she wouldn’t have denied him his job.

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