Her Forever
(Book 2)- Chapter 9

Rosalie

Finally being back at my apartment, I decided to clean up what little there was to clean. Tony was able to help me carry my belongings back to the black SUV from the office, and he had a smug look on his face. Being so large and showing your power to some jerk can give you that bragging right, I guess.

Macaroni was eating the last bite of her food when I heard a knock at the door. I still had an hour before Mr. Storm arrived, and I was a bit hesitant to open it. Looking through the peephole, I saw that it was Amanda. I’m sure Jack told Amanda where I lived, how embarrassing.

I unlocked all the locks and opened the door; Amanda looked at me, confused. “s**t girl, think you think you have enough locks?”

“I could fit one more at the bottom if I wanted,” I laughed. “Let me guess, Jack sent you?” Amanda nodded, and I squinted my eyes at her.

“Come on, Lee, he just wanted me to make sure you had help if you needed it. It looks like you are already packed, though.” She sighed and sat at the edge of the squeaky bed. “Why didn’t you tell me, Lee. I would have let you be my roommate; this is too much. You don’t need to be here. The walls are basically falling down.” Amanda waved her hands to the walls. The paper was peeling, and plaster was slowly crumbling. I did my best to sweep every day and patch the best I could, but what could I do? The rent was cheap.

“I’ve been fine, Amanda. This is one of the better places I’ve stayed at anyway.” Her grimace turned into a scowl. I rolled my bag to the door and came back to sit on the bed with her while Macaroni hopped up to be petted. “I’m glad you are getting out of here. You are so damn stubborn I didn’t think you would accept the job.”

“You know I’m independent. I can’t rely on people; I’m used to it being that way.” I began to pet Macaroni, who instantly started to purr.

“That’s it, the one bag?” She pointed. I nodded and picked up Macaroni to put her in her carrier.

“I wish you would have told me, Lee. Some people are good. Do you at least trust me?” Her voice was soft, almost to where I couldn’t hear her.

“I do trust you, Amanda; I really do. I think you are the first person I’ve been able to trust. Plus, something is telling me to trust Jack, but I’m still a bit leery of everyone. One day I’ll tell you the whole story, I promise.” Amanda nodded her head, and we heard another knock at the door.

Amanda noticed my straight posture when I heard the knock. She put her hand on my shoulder and walked to the door opening it to reveal Tony and Jack. Both of them were so tall. Jack, being taller, made him look more intimidating, but something about him didn’t make me feel scared.

Tony and Jack looked around, I’m guessing they wanted to see more boxes or suitcases, but I stood up with the cat carrier and laptop case in hand. “I only have one suitcase.” I pointed.

“Only one? Where are the rest of your things?” Jack asked

“This is it. I know it’s not much; it’s all I needed.” I smiled.

Jack’s fists went into a tight clinch, and he had a slight frown on his face. I put my head down in embarrassment, only to have it quickly lifted by Jack’s finger under my chin. “Never again will you go hungry or not have enough clothes. Do you understand?” All I could do was whisper a quiet yes, and we all headed downstairs and piled into the stretch limo SUV.

The car ride was tense. No one was saying anything. Jack took the occasional business calls, but Tony and Amanda kept quiet. I was sitting beside the window and watching the trees go by. I wasn’t going to miss the city at all; I was excited to be out in nature, and the further away we got, the more light-hearted I felt. The tension was slowly falling away as I continued to sit in the silence.

I started to feel a slight burning on the backside of my head as if someone was staring, and of course, someone was. Turning my head, I could see Jack watching me look out the window. He gave me a quick smirk and ran his hands through his hair. He wasn’t sporting the man bun today, and his stubble was a bit more prominent. I couldn’t lie to myself; he was sexy as hell, and his white collared shirt rolled up his forearms were really attractive.

I gave him a quick smile and tried to break the silence in the car. “So, what is this community called exactly?” I tried to speak confidently, but I came out with a raspy voice from not talking the past hour.

“It’s called ‘Night Crawlers’, it may sound scary, but it really isn’t. It’s been around for a few hundred years, passed down from my descendants. Everyone that lives here is quite peaceful; we like to stay to ourselves and be closer to nature.” Jack said.

“We do have our parties, though!” Amanda chimed in. I laughed at her; of course, there would be parties.

There was light chatter about what I was moving into. The main house, called a “packhouse,” that some members lived in, but mostly there were homes spread out throughout the property. Everyone was very close in the community and often found themselves at the packhouse playing games in the massive game room, watching movies, or just hanging out and being with others. In a way, it was like a giant hotel and community center. The more I sat and listened to everyone, the more comfortable I felt about the situation, but with more people in the house, it also meant more people could try and get through the door.

I was then suddenly dragged headfirst into a piercing memory of my unfortunate past.

“Knock, Knock, Rose!” Came the sing-song voice through the door. “It’s time to come out to play!” Boisterous laughing went through the door as they pounded. Curling up under the bed, I waited for him to break down the door. Only a few kicks, and it would be off its hinges.

BAM

“Rose, Rosie, come on out.” I was pulled from under the bed with one quick grab as I let out a head-splitting scream. “Please no! I did what you asked! I cleaned the dishes!”

“Well, there was a spot on one, Rose, so you know what happens!” The man dragged me down the stairs by foot, and my butt hit every single stair. The men and women in the room all started laughing as they continued with their drinks.

“Ah, who is this sweet thing?” one of the men snickered.

“Back off, Allard. She’s still underage, won’t taste as good.”

“How old is she, Derek? Are you fostering again?”

“You could say that… extra cash plus some free manual labor at the bar until she’s old enough.”

“Too much work for me, but whatever you say, have fun.”

“Lee! Lee!” Amanda waved her hand in front of my face.

“Sorry, Amanda,” I shook my head. “Started thinking about something and got a little lost. Sorry about that.” I laughed, and everyone was staring at me. How embarrassing. “Are we close?” I tried to change the subject.

“Yeah, we are pulling up on the gates now,” Jack spoke. His hand came over mine and gave it a slight squeeze. It felt so nice; I wondered if he would keep holding it.

I needed to stop this though; this was becoming too much; I’m just an employee. But why would a boss hold an employee’s hand? No one has ever held my hand; it is kind of nice, kind of comforting.

We rolled up to the gate, where several men without shirts began talking to the driver. “Amanda you might want to close your mouth over there or drool might come pouring out.” I laughed at her expense. She turned around and stuck her tongue out at me. I kept laughing at her. The one she was staring at was a burly man, not as tall as the others. Tattoos covered his entire upper body, and he had a scruffy beard. He looked like a lumberjack and also had a piercing in his left eyebrow.

“Did some new people move in?” she questioned Jack. He nodded, and her eyes grew large, and a smile stretched across her face. Amanda practically jumped up and down in her seat until we finally pulled up to the front door.

“Welcome to the packhouse, Lee! I have to go, but I’ll catch up later, OK? OK! Bye!” Before I could say a word, she was running back out to the gates, but before she got too far, the lumberjack that had let us through the gate came barreling into her. They started hugging each other and whispering something and then kissing.

“Jack, did you know she had a boyfriend? I didn’t know that!” I laughed as they continued to make out on the lawn. Butt and boob grabbing was going on, and I couldn’t help but turn around and cover my eyes. “Oh, my virgin eyes, I yelled.” Tony and Jack started laughing hysterically and guided me into the house.

“Just so you know,” Tony started, “There are couples here that are very open to PDA. Just a warning.

“Good gracious,” I said, whispering. Jack had a smirk on his face as he led me into the mansion.

With all the commotion outside, I didn’t get a good look at the front of the house, but inside was something to behold. The walls were bright, light tans and whites adorned the main living area. There was a large fireplace that could easily fit two Santa Clauses with room to spare.

The chandelier in the middle of the foyer was extravagant; it didn’t look like it belonged in this community in the middle of the woods. “Even though this house has been in my family for generations, we just recently upgraded,” Jack spoke up.

As we walked to the large stairway on the right side of the foyer, the cast iron railing led up to what seemed to be 3 open floors. Each floor we stepped on was long hallways with many rooms lit with elegant light fixtures. The rugs on the darkened floors were intricately designed with swirls of leaves on a beige background.

“What do you think so far?”

“It is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it,” I said in amazement. His eyes twinkled as he continued to lead me.

Jack held his hand close to my back, always trying to touch me in some way. I didn’t replace it weird or out of place; I really liked him being close. Feeling my face heat up, I had to remind myself still that he was my boss and I couldn’t have feelings for him. This community was just filled with a lot of people that were touchy and nothing more.

We rounded the stairs and headed up to the third floor. “I’m going to be getting a real workout every day if I keep this up,” I thought to myself. We walked down the hallway, which was not quite as long as the one on the 2nd floor. “My room is there,” he pointed. It was right across the hall from another set of double doors. “This will be your room.” My face red as I held my laptop close to my chest. Why would he have me so close to his room? I don’t see many other rooms here on this floor.

Jack opened the door; the room had stark white walls with a pale grey comforter on the king bed. Many decorative pillows were askew on the bed of greys and pinks. The carpet was thick and lush that was around the bed. The hardwood floor didn’t even seem cold as I took off my shoes. I didn’t want to dirty anything in this room; it seemed so pure.

My eyes widened as I looked at the other doors in the room. One was a bathroom and a closet; it was deep and filled with clothes from casual to fancy ballroom dresses. I turned to Jack to give him a questioning look, and he just smiled at me. “W-why? I-I don’t need all this?” My mind was blank; why would I need all this? “There are many functions around the estate as well as in the city. You will need a wide array of clothes for those activities. I told you I would take care of you.” Jack walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Relax, kitten, you will be taken care of, I told you. We will be working,” he bent closer to whisper in my ear, “very close to each other.” His warm breath tickled my ear as I lightly gasped. My questioning looks faded while my blush went down to my toes. I have to keep reminding myself that nothing lasts forever, and I’m sure some unbending doom lurked around the corner; I nodded my head. It won’t last; nothing good ever does. I may just be a toy.

Jack put his hand down and turned around. “I’ll let you get settled; everyone is going to be downstairs and having a late dinner and watch some movies. Would you like to join us?” His blonde hair that reached his shoulders swayed as he turned around to close the door. The sunset from the window graced his perfect jawline. His eyes showed a bit of mischief in them. Before I could speak a word, he laughed, like he knew something I didn’t.

Realizing I had been staring for too long, I cleared my throat and put a hand to my beating heart. “Um, yes. That would be great. I’ll be down in a few.” He gave a quick wink and shut the door. Being close to the bed, I fell on my back and let out a sigh I didn’t know I was holding.

This was going to be so hard. I was falling for my boss, and I hadn’t even started working yet. He would never accept who I am; I was broken. I was trash. If he ever saw my tattered body, he’d run for the hills. A man like him deserved more.

I walked over to the full-length, elegantly adored framed mirror. I generally avoided mirrors; in fact, the only mirror in my old apartment was a compact to put on foundation in the morning. Pulling my shirt over my head, leaving me in just my plain bra, I winced. Just looking at the cuts, branding, cigarette burns, and the name of my foster parent of a father etched into my side made a single tear run down my face.

Right. Never going to be good enough.

“You dumb w***e, no one will want you. You will just become mine when your b***d is of age.”