Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 111

NADINE’S P.O.V

The meeting was held inside Solomon’s house.

I thought they’d hold it outside but it seemed like they were trying their best to keep the news contained. So far, it was just Solomon, Sam, Edith, Lilian, Joshua, Rowan and I.

They were all seated, except for Solomon who was pacing behind the desk.

Rowan and I exchanged a wary glance before slowly lowering ourselves into the only two available chairs left. No one spoke. I wasn’t sure if it was fear, or just because they didn’t know what to say

"Can he really blow up the bunkers?" Lilian asked finally, her voice soft and careful.

Everyone turned to me, almost as if they expected me to have an answer.

"I don’t know," I admitted. "I wasn’t privy to any of his plans."

"But your father is his right hand man."

"I don’t think even my father knows about that."

There was another bout of silence. I could feel the disappointment permeating the air and I couldn’t help but shuffle awkwardly in my seat. I wished I could be of more help, but I had no idea.

Trent was a sadistic bastard, but he was also careful. If he had any form of ammunition, he’d make sure to hide it from everyone else.

"So what do we do?" Edith asked. "Do we let him blow it up?"

"We can’t," Joshua cut in. "There are innocent people in there."

"What do you suggest we do? There are hundreds of bunkers all over the country. We can’t save them all."

"But we can warn them," Rowan spoke up for the first time.

Everyone turned to him, but it was Solomon who spoke. "Warn them how?"

"We could let them know what Trent is planning. They’ll be able to defend themselves."

"Do you really think they’d believe us over the people who have protected them for years?" Edith asked, her voice dripping with amusement. "They’ll call us rebels and come for us."

"They may not believe you, but they will believe me and Nadine."

She snorted. "I understand Nadine, but why you?"

I grabbed onto Rowan’s arm and shook my head slightly.

He didn’t have to tell them anything, not unless he wanted to.

He met my eyes and gave me a soft smile before turning back to the others. "Because I’m his son."

Everyone went silent at that.

No one dared to speak. I could’ve sworn that they even stopped breathing. Only Solomon looked mildly amused at the whole situation. He already knew who Rowan was.

I could feel the distrust seeping off everyone, and I didn’t miss the way Sam tugged Lilian’s chair a bit closer to himself. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at that. If Rowan was selling us out to Trent, we’d all be dead by now.

"Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t kill you and send you back to him," Sam ground out, his eyes harsh but Rowan didn’t even seem phased.

He leaned back into his chair. "Probably because he wouldn’t care. He’d see it as a blessing."

"Why didn’t you mention that you’re his son?" Edith asked.

She regarded him with the same skepticism that Sam did, but she seemed less likely to pull out a weapon and attack him. Still, I kept my hand on the knife at my hip. I couldn’t trust that someone wouldn’t try something stupid, and I needed to be prepared.

"Why would I? I don’t know shit about any of you. Why would I go around telling you who I am?"

"You lied to us," Sam frowned and Rowan snorted.

"Would you say it’s a lie when you tell everyone that you’re the father of her child?" Rowan asked, gesturing to Lilian.

A gasp ran through the room and once again, everyone went silent.

I turned to Rowan with raised brows. I hadn’t said a thing about what Jen told me, but I wasn’t surprised that he’d managed to put the pieces together before he. He’d always been the more observant one.

"Nathan is my son," Sam growled.

"That might be true, but he isn’t yours biologically. He looks nothing like you and he looks nothing like her. It’s not hard to put two and two together."

"Our son has nothing to do with this," Lilian spoke, her voice surprisingly stable.

Sam on the other hand looked pissed. The vein on his temple pulsed and his hands clenched into fists over the wooden table. Still, Rowan didn’t let up.

"I have no intentions of dragging your son into this." He turned back to Sam. "You didn’t father the boy, but he’s yours. Trent may have fathered me, but I owe him no loyalty."

"How do you expect us to believe that-"

"Enough already!" Lilian snapped.

I’d never have thought that she was capable of raising her voice.

She pinched her nose between her fingers and exhaled deeply before turning to Sam. "Let it go, Sam. He isn’t guilty of existing. He cannot control who fathered him."

To my surprise, the large man didn’t protest or fight her. The tips of his ears turned a light shade of pink as he nodded slowly.

Lilian turned to Rowan next. "You can make the announcement. We’re choosing to trust you, Caine, we have a family here, and family doesn’t deal cheap blows. Leave my son out of whatever argument you have."

"I will," he paused before adding. "I’m sorry."

She looked taken aback by the apology, but nodded nonetheless before finally turning to me. "You can let go of your weapon now. Your man isn’t in any danger."

I had no idea how she’d realized what I was doing, but I slowly let go of my dagger, letting it slide back into the sheath.

"We cannot leave the people to die. If we do, we are just like him. We make the announcement, we try to get them out. We help them get to us."

"How?" Edith asked. "We can’t save everyone."

"True, but we can try. We have cars. We can get people."

My brows furrowed in confusion.

Cars?

How did they have cars? And how were they working?’

"The cars draw a lot of attention, Lil," Sam spoke softly. "The monsters may follow. It would put us at risk. We’d lose as many people as we save."

"It’s worth it though, don’t you think?’

Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but notice that Solomon had been watching the whole thing with amusement in his eyes.

"Don’t you have something to say?" I asked and he turned to me with a raised brow. "You’ve been silent all through."

"Sometimes I find that it is best to observe," he mused before turning to Sam. "Find out how we can broadcast a message. Until then, we can keep thinking about whether or not we’ll risk our lives to save them."

Lilian frowned, but said nothing.

She merely stood to her feet and walked out without another word.

Everyone else filed out as well- Joshua included. Rowan and I were the last to leave, but just as we got to the door, Solomon spoke.

"Nadine, a word please."

Beside me, Rowan stilled.

"Alone," Solomon added.

I could tell Rowan was not pleased by that, but I offered him a small smile. "I’ll be fine, I promise."

He frowned, but nodded. "I’ll be outside waiting."

I watched him leaves and couldn’t help but note that he didn’t shut the door all the way.

"He’s protective of you," Solomon drawled, his back to me. "Did that start before or after you lost the baby?"

I took a deep breath. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing," he admitted. "You know the bunker better than anyone."

"That’s not true. Joshua does."

"Right," he turned to me slowly. "He went against his father for you."

"He went against his father because he was wrong. This has nothing to do with me."

"Is that what you tell yourself?"

"It’s what I know."

"Then you’re more stupid than I thought. I know men like him, and he is wholly devoted to you."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "What’s your point?"

"My point is that men like him are dangerous because he’d sell us all out for you. If Trent gave him an offer today to live in peace with you, he’ll take it and let the rest of us die."

"No, he won’t. Rowan is better than that."

Solomon laughed. "You’re either blind or naïve. I’m not sure which is worse."