Polished Rust (Wilkins Brothers Book #4)

Chapter 20

ROSEMARY

“I’m sorry, Rosemary, did I mess up?”

I hold Mercy a bit closer to me and rub circles on her back. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. He shouldn’t have even been here. He had no right.”

“I just thought maybe if he knew that we were moving he’d leave you alone.”

‘It’s okay. I totally understand. He’s just trying to pretend like he still has power over us. Men like that don’t handle women not needing them.”

“What do you think he’s going to do?’

“Nothing, Merc. He’s got little dick energy. He knows that he has nothing on me and I don’t owe him anything. Now, how are you doing with your packing?”

“I think I have everything packed that I want to take with me. Do you think we can head back to the condo?”

I squeeze her again for comfort, “Of course. Let me touch base with the movers and make sure they know what is going where. I’m hoping that we can head back to Arizona by tomorrow afternoon.”

‘I’d really like that too. It is weird, this place was home, but now it doesn’t feel that way. Do you think Mom would be disappointed?”

I kiss my sister’s, shaking my head, “Never. Mom would want us to spread our wings and fly. She’d never want us to feel stuck in the same place if we both wanted to move on. All her memories are coming with us no matter where we go.”

“You always know what to say to make me feel better.”

“That’s what happens when you’re old.”

That gets a small laugh out of her which I consider to be a small success. I’ll be so happy when we can rid ourselves of the negativity that seems to surround this place and get back to Arizona. I didn’t realize how calming it was going to be to get out of this environment. When I was in it, I never saw or felt the toxicity, but coming back, even after being gone just a couple of weeks, it is clear that there is something here that just isn’t right for us.

The movers seemed very confident in the system we put in place for moving and storage. Mercy helped me load the boxes for donation into my car to deal with before we leave tomorrow. After a long day, I drew a nice hot bath and sunk down into it. The music in the background was just enough that I could hear it. I set the mood with a couple of my favorite candles as well. Feeling frisky and maybe a little courageous, I grabbed my phone from the towel rack and took two selfies. The first was just one of my hair up in a messy bun and tendrils falling down around my neck. The image stopped just below my neck. It was pretty clear that I was naked, but nothing could be seen.

The second picture was a bit more risque. I made sure that the bubbles were perfectly placed to cover my breasts. I snapped the picture, double-checked that there was no nudity, and then sent it off to Tate with no other context. Within seconds of the ‘read’ indicator showing up, my phone was ringing with a video call from Tate. Of course, I answered it without hesitation.

“Hey there, handsome.”

“Rosemary…..” His voice has such a warning tone that was a mix between a growl and a moan. It was such a turn-on.

“What’s going on? I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“You’re such a fucking minx. You can’t go around sending men pictures of you naked in a  bathtub.”

“Why the hell not?”

“First of all, what if I wasn’t alone? I could have been with one of my brothers or even worse Jetson.” I start laughing, but Tate is less than amused. “Rosemary! I’m serious. I don’t want them to see you like that.”