Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 93: Like A Brother

**Rosalie‘s POV

My necklace was beautiful, I couldn‘t help but stand and stare at it

in the mirror. While I‘d every reason in the world to pawn it the way that I had and try

to get Ethan out of my life forever–

after the confession her had made to me the night before, I knew the necklace was back where it belong

ed.

The only problem was, I couldn‘t let anyone else see it.

Seraphine had been there when I‘d pawned it, so she‘d

want to know how it had curiously gotten back around my neck, and Lola had probably found out that I‘d

sold it as well. If I tried to lie to them and

tell them I‘d gone back and bought it back, they wouldn‘t believe me.

So… I‘d have to hide it.‘ But for now… I could stand here and admire its beauty and think about

the handsome man who had given it to me– again.

I still couldn‘t believe all of the things that Ethan had said to me the night before in

the garden, how he‘d poured his soul out to me and told me how he‘d felt when I‘d left.

How he‘d talked about his pain, and how he’d told me that he‘d thought he‘d never be capable of

feeling anything again until he‘d met me.

He‘d said that he loved me….

“I believe she‘s in her room,” I heard Lola say, and I

realized that the other set of footsteps I heard echoing in the hallway belonged to Soren. Quickly, I

took my necklace off. As much as I wanted to keep it on always, as I used to, I couldn‘t take the risk.

Once it was off, I slid it into the top drawer of my dresser under some clothing and pretended to be brushi

ng my hair. “There she is, my beautiful flower,” he said, extending a bouquet of pale yellow jasmine to me

.

“Oh, those are so lovely!” I said, the scent of the flowers filling the room. “Thank you!”

I met him halfway across the room, and he kissed my cheek as I wrapped one arm around him and took t

he flowers with the other.

It seemed a bit strange hugging Soren now. Not that I‘d ever considered him anything more than a friend,

but with Ethan back in my life, hugging him seemed… misleading.

It just felt wrong

When Soren gave me a kiss on my face– which I was

used to and which he probably didn‘t mean as anything more than a kiss for a dear friend–

I just felt like I was doing something wrong to Ethan,

“I‘ll just take these into the other room to put them in a vase,” I said, and he followed me,

I noticed that the window in the living room was open, and it made me smile.

“You look so beautiful today,” he said. “There‘s something.. different about you.”

“Thank you,” I replied as I reached the kitchen and opened a cabinet to get a vase out. “I got a lot of

sleep last night.”

I wasn‘t lying. I had actually gotten much better sleep for the first time in days. Thinking about Ethan and

wondering when I might see him again made me feel happy and safe.

I found a spot for the flowers near the kitchen window. I had

been keeping all of the flowers that Ethan gave me hidden in my room because I didn‘t want anyone else

to see them and realize they didn‘t come from here.

“What are your plans for the day?” he asked me.

We talked about how I was hoping to finish the blanket

I‘d been working on, get some crocheting done, and maybe work in the garden. He said that he had a fe

w meetings and phone calls he had to make. It all sounded painfully boring to me, but I knew he had so

much responsibility as the leader of the island.

We moved into the living room, and sat down.

“It sounds like you have a lot to do,” I commented as Lola brought us some lemonade.

“I do,” he said with a sigh. “I can‘t stay long, but I wanted to come and see you.”

I noticed he had bags beneath his eyes, and his clothing was wrinkled a bit and not as well–

pressed as it usually was. It was odd for Soren to ever look out of sorts and not completely put together.

I was beginning to feel a bit worried about him.

“Are you all right?” I asked him, my brow furrowing as I studied him more carefully. “Have you been sleep

ing enough?”

He chuckled under his breath. “Funny you should ask about how I‘ve been sleeping,” he murmured.

Confused, I asked, “What‘s that?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Never mind.”

But I really wanted to know. “Why wouldn‘t I ask about how you‘ve been sleeping, Soren? I‘m concerned

about you. Ever since that first day I arrived here, when I got beaten up

and you found me, you‘ve treated me with nothing but kindness. I‘m worried that you‘re not feeling well.”

“I‘m feeling fine, Ro, thank you. Believe me, you don‘t need to worry about me. I‘ve been sleeping well. T

here‘ s just a lot going on with the business right now. That‘s all.”

His eyes met mine. “And of course I was going to take care of you. We‘ve been over this.”

“I know,” I said, not wanting to hash it all out again. “It‘s just…”

“It‘s nothing, Ro,” he said, waving his hand to brush me off as he took a drink of his lemonade.

“It‘s just, you’re like a family to me now, and I also feel the need to take care of you,” I finished.

He turned to look at me, but his gaze made me a bit uneasy.

In a rush, I tried to explain, “you know, like a brother…”

He sputtered, the lemonade coming back up a bit as he choked.

I tried to get up off of the couch and go to him to help him, but being so pregnant and having sunk into th

e cushions, I couldn‘t quite get up.

Lola got there first. “Are you all right, Mr. Soren?” she asked.

By then, Soren had coughed a few times but had regained his composure. He put his glass down.

“Yes, yes, I‘m fine,” he said. “I just… choked on an ice cube.”

I wondered if it was something I had said that had gotten that reaction out of him.

Should I have not told him he was like a brother to me? Did he not

appreciate that? I nag meant it to be a kind remark.

It wasn‘t as if he had ever given me any reason to believe that he

wanted something more from our relationship. If he had ever thought about wanting more from me, he ha

d hidden it very well.

Well I should probably get back home,” Soren said, pushing up from the chair. “I have a meeting soon, a

nd I need to go over my notes.”

“Oh, okay.” I said

I hoped I hadn‘t offended him, but

I couldn‘t take it back now, and going back and trying to apologize would seem odd. It

took me a moment to pull myself up off of the couch to walk him out. “It‘s too bad you

couldn‘t stay longer.”

“I know,” Soren said as we walked toward the door. “But… there‘s so much for me to do.”

He didn‘t sound like that was really the case. He sounded like he was making excuses.

“Will you be back for dinner?” I asked him.

“Uh… I don‘t know,” he said. “Probably not. You know, there‘s just… so much to do.”

“Right,” I said, shaking my head.

Thad messed up.

I needed to be more careful about what I said. Soren

had been so kind to me, and until I figured out exactly what Ethan had planned for me, I didn‘t

want to make him mad.

Soren pulled the door open, but before he turned to tell me goodbye, his nose wrinkled up, and he made a

‘What the h*ll is that smell?” he asked.

He hardly ever cursed in front of me, so I knew that it really had to be bothering him. And I knew what he w

Not that I was going to provide an answer for him.

“That skunky smell is awful,” he continued, sniffing the air. “It reminds

me of something I smelled in a dream.”

“In a dream?” I repeated. “What are you talking about?”

Soren stood there for a moment with the door still open, but he didn‘t answer my question. He only peered

in the distance with his hands buried deep in his pockets.

“Listen, Ro, there‘s a lot going on right now in the world. The war is heating up, and it‘s not safe. I want yo

especially at night. All right?”

It wasn‘t all right. I didn‘t agree with what he was saying at all..

But I couldn‘t tell him that, so I found myself saying, “Okay.”

“And I‘ll be sending over another detail of guards to make sure you‘re safe.”

My eyes bulged, “I don‘t think that‘s necessary, Soren. I‘ll be just fine with the men that I have.”

“I insist, Ro. Your safety and the safety of the baby are

extremely important to me. I‘ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”

Chapter 93: Like A Brother

I took a deep

breath and nodded, knowing there was nothing I could do to dissuade him. “Okay. Thank you.”

“I‘ll see you later.”

I told him goodbye and closed the door, leaning against it for a moment.

It was already difficult enough for me to see Ethan with

just the few guards Thad. Now, there were going to be even more out there for us to avoid.

How would Ethan be able to get in?

I didn‘t know, but there was no way for me to get a message to him… unless….

I went over to the living room and closed the window.

I wasn‘t if it would work or not, but I had

to do whatever I could to try and prevent Ethan from showing up and getting himself in trouble.

Not to mention, I had clearly hurt Soren with my careless remark.

He had been nothing but kind to me.