The Withering Tulip

4.

"A-are yo-u-"

"Yes, I'm the one who rescued you." I kept my voice as calm as possible. Lucca had bought her to our farmhouse in Moscow. Aria had treated her. She was a surgery specialist. But had stopped her practice a year ago. Right know she was only concentrated on helping us. She would now and then treat Xavier, as he had been in risky situations, that often endangered his life.

"Thank you." The soft voice reached my ears.

Everyone had somehow calmed me down and agreed me to talk to her but the guilt was still too much. We got to know through her that she was one of the girls who were kidnapped, to be smuggled for slavery by Rowan's people, from Ireland and had somehow escaped but was caught again and bought to the deserted farmhouse. Must've caught the sick sadist's attention by that. There was just silence for a long time.

"Who are you, by the way?", when we bought her here, she was shivering badly, wasn't ready to talk to anyone. Aria had calmed her down. That was the only thing, I always admitted, she was best at. She had helped Adrian a lot too and I couldn't be more thankful to her for that. I looked at the frail child, wondering how much I should tell her.

"You know Kamen Galore corp.?"

"Huh! I've heard about it?"

"I'm the CEO."

"Oh!", her eyes bulged open. There was an awkward silence, again. "The- then how did you... "

I heaved an exhausted sigh. "I know what you wanna ask but there are something's that are better being unknown. He was a beast and somehow we've gotten you out. So just live your life and be thankful."

I cleared my throat, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"How... how long... have you been there?", I clasped my hands together firmly, to stop them from shaking.

"Which... month is is it now?", she asked slowly.

"February."

"Two months.", she said almost in a whisper. My lips thinned to a fined line. I poked the insides of my cheek looking away.

"Who... is he... to you?"

"Just someone... who used to be the most important person to me, once.", I looked down at my hands in my lap.

"I'm sorry. You must be hurt.", she said carefully. I looked up to her. Really? Was she even in a position to sympathize with me? I shook my head lightly.

I slowly patted her head. "Don't think much kiddo.", I looked back at her pale face. "I know it's gonna be hard, but everything's gonna be alright.", I assured her and she weakly nodded.

She was more thoughtful for her age. Poor kid. All because I let that beast walk free, she had to suffer all of this s**t. She didn't deserve it.

I finally observed her, more carefully. She was 14, as Aria had told me. She had a pointed round nose, more like a cartoon and doe eyes. Her skin was pale, quite a bit more than usual. It still suited her features. She was too fragile for her age. Her eyes were a medium shade of grey and with her chest nut hair, she looked more like a little doll, than a human. There was a bandage across her left cheek. Reality hit me hard, making me see facts. Pedophile? There were plenty of times, when I had been reported about Rowan's strange behaviour towards his juniors when he was in highschool. But I let it all pass. If only I had been thoughtful enough, she wouldn't have had to suffer.

"He- he is not coming back... right?", she asked in low voice, looking down. I hissed.

"Never.", and the awkward silence was back.

"What did he say to you?"

"About what?"

"Why was he keeping you?"

"He said I - when I look at him, scared, he likes it. He said I look like a lost puppy And that he would tame me. He- he told me to-", she looked away.

"To what?" She was shaking as I held her hands. "C'mon, you can tell me."

"He- he touched me-" she exhaled shakily.

"Huh?" I sat closer to her, holding her both shoulders. "Right, tell me."

"He... touched me." She was shaking.

"Aine, c'mon tell me. Did he touch you sexually? Did he force you?" I forced her to look at me, as her eyes teared up. "He-" I gulped the lump in my throat. "Did he touch you down there?" She lowered her head. While tears streamed down her face.

"He did. I- It was so filthy. He told me to moan and to touch him too, so- so that it ends faster. He would come and tell me to-o touc-uch me li-ke he does and then if I won't he- he would beat me." Her soft sobs wrenched my heart. Out of all the the things, I was sure he would at least never force someone. At least, not after he knew what happened to mom. But he was a monster after all. Just like our father. "I begged him to stop, b- but he kept o-on touching a- and r- rubbing."

"Shush!" I engulfed her tightly in my arms, like everything's gonna fade away like that. I failed. I failed to protect a woman, again. I felt like a loser. Just like that day. "Everything's gonna be alright."

"I begged him, but he didn't stop."

"Shush! Don't cry. I would never let him hurt you again. I promise."

And just like that another promise was made, just like the one made ages ago, but it wasn't meant to be broken. I would. I would protect her, even if it costs my life. I would protect her. I would not fail this time.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

It had been three weeks, since Aine came here. Her condition had gotten, quite a lot, stable. He body had healed almost completely, too. Xavier had looked up her parents. She has gotten quite friendly with everyone. Even though she was always coy and less talkative. Lucca has that that talent to befriend just anyone. We had sent Rowan to rehabilitation in Washington. It was good if he would be away from any black market and possibly innocent defenseless people. I had arranged quite a reliable security for him, there. We are gonna send Aine back to her home in Galway. Lucca and Adrian would personally send her home.

Through immediate tracking, we had found the ship which was supposed to depart for Dubai this month for smuggling. It seems that Rowan had been somehow without my knowledge, building pubs for a year. He had built the most of them in cities closer to remote areas. He had been planting all this s**t from so long, right under my nose. Other then Aine, a lot of girls had been rescued. Adrian had connections with some higher ups from Dubai. A lot of officers are working with him and I don't need to know how. He has a lot of connections, a lot with higher ups from many countries. It wasn't a big deal for him. We made it look like a police inquiry with a fake search warrant. Thankfully, guys didn't let Rowan's name go out and it was all settled. But Rowan will be punished the right way. And he's being locked up in Washington like he should be. But my responsibility doesn't end here. I had promised to protect her. I know why Rowan was obsessed with her. I had always known. He wasn't mentally stable. He liked for others to be pathetic. He liked to hurt fragile animals, since ever. His butler in Belgium had reported me plenty of times. It was all nerve wrecking. I rubbed my temple.

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