Chapter 7

Rose slowly opened her eyes, her chest still aching where she had been kicked and her back a little sore. She abruptly sat up as the room she was in now was familiar and she had to get out of here fast.

"About time you woke up," Graham said, taking a mouthful of the rum he had been distracting himself with. "Gave me a fright with how many hours you were out of it. At least it looked like you were having a good dream."

Rose looked down at her body, relieved to see that she was still wearing the clothes she left the brothel in. 

Graham put the bottle down on the table beside him. "It was tempting to undress you to see what damage was done but I was thinking of how I would kill the bastard who harmed you. Have you been meeting with a man when I sent you back to your room at night?"

"I have not-"

"Do not lie to me!" Graham yelled, wanting to wrap his hands around her neck. He was good to her yet she dared to have another man? "I have made it clear that you are mine. Why is it that you ran to a soldier? Have I been too kind to you? Have I been too kind to a whore?"

Rose flinched because of how loud his voice was. She looked away from Graham but knew it could be misinterpreted so she looked back at him. "I do not have a man," she answered.

Rose wished she had been awake when Henry told Graham what happened. She had been kicked and ignored. What man could she have? She was already hurt over Mathias refusing to remember her, why did she have to go through Graham berating her as well?

Rose didn't feel safe here in Graham's bedroom. 

Graham stood up to go to his bed where he had placed Rose. No other woman had the pleasure of laying here. That was how special she was yet Rose would run to another man. "I do not believe you, Rose. Henry didn't lie about what he saw and you returned here unconscious. So tell me, who did you run to?"

"A soldier," Rose answered, leaving out the name.

She felt foolish for protecting someone who kicked her and treated her so poorly, but her heart just felt like she had to. Perhaps there was a chance that Mathias truly did not recognise her. What reason did he have to ignore her? 

Graham glanced at Rose's slender neck. It would be so easy for him to break it. "I am to be your first. If you want me to be your only, I suggest that you do not lie to me. You called out to a soldier named Mathias. How did you come to know him? Is he a customer here?"

Rose was about to answer but the sound of a man screaming in pain outside the room distracted her. Rose panicked, thinking that Graham had captured Mathias, but after the man begged someone to stop, she learned that it was Henry. 

Rose gripped the sheet covering her. His cries were heard to ignore. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"Well," Graham said, sitting beside Rose. He picked up a handful of her hair, enjoying the softness. "I couldn't hurt you and he failed at his job. Why did he bring you back here in his arms? I was jealous."

Graham couldn't think of the last time he had carried Rose. Why should Henry get away with doing it?

Rose flinched, both from Graham moving his hand to touch her hair and from the sound of Henry being flogged. "He carried me because I fainted. I am having the dreams I spoke of again. The one with a field."

"A dream wouldn't cause you to faint. I heard that the soldier kicked you. Where?" Graham questioned, attempting to open her dress.

Rose touched his hand and pleaded, "Please do not."

"Then tell me the truth. Who was that man?" Graham asked.

"Mathias," Rose revealed. Graham had to have known all along since Henry would have heard her calling that name. "I answered so please, stop hurting him."

"Not so fast. Who is this Mathias?" Graham questioned, unable to put a face to the name. Plenty of soldiers came in here and unless they were important, he didn't care to learn their names.

Rose thought Graham would have remembered Mathias and Alexander but it made sense that she was the only one to know. Graham no longer had to think about the young boys who got away. He had bought plenty of children since that time.

"An old friend," Rose answered. "He looked like someone I knew."

"Friend? You won't warm up to any of the women here but you have a friend who is a soldier. Do not test my patience," Graham said, refusing to believe her story. When did Rose have time to make friends with a soldier of all people? "I have been too kind to you, haven't I?"

"It is true. He reminded me of someone I saw in the past. I do not have a man. I have never lied to you," Rose said, hoping he would believe her.

Graham stared at Rose. She was quite honest when she spoke to him. She never repeated the things he wanted to hear all the time because it wasn't what she felt. "That is true. Let us say that I believe you, when was he your friend? You once confided in one of the women that you don't have a single memory of your past."

Graham was starting to think that she told the truth, but something was missing from this story. Did she remember her past? Was the field she spoke of real?

Whatever it was, Graham didn't like knowing that she chased after a man when she had never done that with him. Rose should know his jealousy by now. 

"Don't tell me," Graham smiled, thinking of two young boys he remembered Rose being close to. The same young boys that almost got her to slip from her fingers. "Ha," Graham chuckled.

Money that slipped from his fingers was finally back in town. He still owned the two young boys. It didn't matter what they had become.

"It is, isn't it? Thought he would come back here to take you from me? Understand it quickly, Rose. I own you and there isn't a man in this world who can take you from me. Get some rest," Graham said, standing up as he had some old slaves of his to visit. "You'll have a new guard in the morning."

Graham couldn't let Henry get away with holding Rose.

"Please don't," Rose begged, not wanting another death on her hands.

"Then kiss me," Graham replied.