“I hate her,” Jalen stated through clenched teeth.
“Tell me what happened,” he requested, wiping her tears, and Jalen recounted it to him.
“She’s a bitch,” she finished. “She doesn’t really want the twins; she’s just trying to make some man happy, trying to make herself look better.”
“And it was just for Omari and Nathan?” Rohan inquired, and Jalen nodded.
She thought about it for a moment and understood what he was asking. Her threat had included Mikal as well, and she wondered if she’d changed her mind, deemed Mikal too old after all for the family she wanted to create.
“How does she know where you work?” Rohan questioned. “And now that I’m thinking about it, how did she know where Mikal’s birthday party was?”
Jalen sighed. “If I had to guess, I’d say Kodi. She told me after the fact that she felt like she might have been responsible for Valerie showing up. She’d posted a few pictures during the party on social media. She and Valerie aren’t friends on there, but Kodi’s page isn’t private since she uses it to get new clients.” Jalen paused for a moment. “I know there are a few pictures of us all from a couple of years ago, when I first started working at the hospital. I’m assuming that’s how she found out.”
She reached for the glass of bourbon, only to have Rohan grab her hand and pull her up instead.
“Come on, I’ll run you a bath, and then I’ll call Kodi and tell her you’re staying here tonight because you don’t feel good.”
“I don’t lie to my sisters,” Jalen replied as he led her down the hall.
Rohan looked over his shoulder at her. “Do you feel good right now?”
She swallowed because they both knew she was pissed, but more than anything, she was scared. Scared that their egg donor may separate them. “No,” she whispered despondently.
“Then it isn’t a lie.” He sat her on the bed before going into the en suite.
Jalen took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure what she’d be doing right now if it weren’t for Rohan. She knew she’d probably be in a hotel room with that bottle of bourbon because she wouldn’t want her sisters to see the absolute mess that she hadn’t fallen into yet, that she knew it was because of him.
It didn’t matter what she was going through, how tired she was, or how stressed she may have been; he always made her feel as if she could conquer it all. Always took that load from her without her even realizing it.
Jalen felt a few more tears well up in her eyes as the realization hit her. She loved him, and maybe that was why she always felt invincible with him.
????????????
Rohan looked down at Jalen as she slept. It was barely after seven, but he knew she was emotionally exhausted. After running her a bath, he’d made her something to eat. He didn’t want her to get sick from drinking on an empty stomach.
After she’d eaten, he lay in bed with her, and she asked him to tell her about his day. He knew she just wanted to get her mind off of her mother’s actions, so he did so until she’d fallen asleep with her head on his chest. That had been almost an hour ago.
Rohan eased his way out from under her and exited the bedroom. He entered the kitchen and did the dishes he’d used earlier. As he did so, he thought about Jalen’s situation. There was no way he was going to stand by and allow her motherto separate them when she had been caring for her sisters for several years now. To his understanding, Valerie hadn’t wanted to take any of the girls or be much of a mother the few times she popped up over the past several years, from what Jalen had told him.
He figured she was doing this to spite Jalen rather than her actually wanting the girls, and he couldn’t help but wonder what had changed her mind about wanting to take Mikal. Or if that was a blow she planned to deal separately, dragging it out by first taking the twins and then Mikal at a later date.
Once he finished the dishes, he dried his hands and pulled his phone from his back pocket. He and Vega had exchanged numbers a couple of weeks ago, and he called the other man.
“Hey, Rohan,” Vega greeted.
“Hey, Vega,” Rohan responded. “I need your help.”
“What’s going on?”
“Valerie had Jalen served. They’re going to family court for Omari and Nathan.”
Vega was silent for a minute. “It seems she can’t let anyone be happy. Let me look into the man she’s married to. Valerie also has skeletons of her own. Let me see if I can bring them into the light.”
“Thanks,” Rohan responded.
“You don’t need to thank me. We’re all family, and she will not get the best of us,” Vega informed him. With that, the two men hung up.
Rohan scrolled through his phone until he found the name he was looking for. He hesitated for a moment because he knew his brother would probably kill him for what he was about to do. However, he’d let him if this call helped Jalen. The phone rang four times before it was answered.
