Chapter 76 He Has Moved On

**Rosalie‘s POV

Soren and I fell into a bit of a routine. He‘d come over almost every night, if he was at home and not away on business, and I‘d play the piano and sing a lullaby or other soothing song, and most of the time he would return to his mansion, but once in a while, he‘d end up falling asleep on my sofa.

When that happened, we‘d have breakfast together, and then he‘d go off to work or to his business trip, and I‘d

go on about my day.

No matter how late it was when he came over, or how busy his day was, he always brought me a gift of some sort. It amazed me that he could be so thoughtful. Books, accessories, chocolates, once even a teddy bear, which I thought I‘d save for the baby but ended up putting on my bed–all of those gifts graced my shelves. Usually, though, he brought me flowers, despite the fact that I had an entire garden of them outside of my door.

“What are you planning to do today?” Soren asked one morning over breakfast. He normally asked that over breakfast, but this day ended up differently than I expected.

“I don‘t know,” I told him, which was how I normally answered. I had just finished buttering a piece of toast and was preparing to take a bite when he folded the newspaper he‘d been glancing over and set it aside, putting it near me. I have been making a blanket for the baby, but I‘m almost out of yarn.”

“Oh, do you need to go to the shop in town and get some more?” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Probably,” I said. “I know you don‘t like for me to go into town without you. Are you going to be around today?” There were a few shops on the island, but not many. Usually, if we needed something, we had to go to a different island, which I hadn‘t done much of. Only the seaplane ride. Other than that, I had only left the cottage a few times.

“I have a really important meeting off the island today,” he said, his tone disappointed. “But I‘ll send a few of my best men with you.”

“Soren, that wouldn‘t be necessary.” It reminded me of being back at the Drogomor pack. I did like some of those guards and often wondered how they were and if they‘d gotten in trouble for me escaping. But that didn‘t mean I wanted to be followed around again.

“I can tell them to stay at a distance, and you can take Seraphine with you,” Soren suggested.

I compromised. “Okay, that will be alright.”

Soren reached over and squeezed my arm. “I know you‘re safe here, Ro. I just don‘t want anything to happen to you again, like what happened on the other island.”

I didn‘t want that to happen either. If anything happened to the baby….

I decided it was worth it to have someone follow me to make sure the baby was safe. “Thanks,” I said, smiling.

Soren‘s hand lingered on my arm for a few moments, and I didn‘t pull away. It was comforting, and I knew it was only there because he cared about me as a friend–nothing more.

“I‘ll be back early this evening,” he said, “Maybe we can have dinner together?”

I was curious. “Any special occasion?” | asked.

“Every day is special with you,” he laughed. “By the way, there‘s a dress shop between the general store and the pawnshop. Why don‘t you get yourself a new dress?” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, grabbing several large bills and dropping them on the table in front of me.

I stared at the money for a long moment, not knowing what to say.copy right hot novel pub