Mastermind

Chapter 16

A/N: So much happens in this chapter and so much tea is spilled here....and so I must warn you of a few things. There are some trigger warnings for this chapter and mentions of sexual abuse and past attempts of assault. Don't come for my head??? Anyways, other than the warning, I'm excited to hear your thoughts and please let me know what you think!

Chapter Text

Getting her brother to acclimatize was easy. All it took from her was the promise of the Sharpe competitive spirit and the fact that surely, she was going to decimate him in croquet. A smile had broken out on his features as the two siblings, oldest and youngest, violently fought over the croquet mallets and who would be what color.

That seemed to jar some of the other men into relaxing a little bit—and given Abe's resilience and youthful spirit, he represented a bright and shining moment that they could relate to and get back to. Ruth would consider it a win. The only person who stayed out of their particularly vicious croquet game was Robby, though she had an inkling as to why.

The two of them were cut from the same cloth. And if it had been Ruth who had gone up in the air and survived and done those things, she would have wanted to throw herself into work as well. But there wasn't work to be done here, not in the same way that Robby would have a purpose with.

"You're making that face again," Abe advised quietly—this time was the second go around for croquet and he was bound and determined to make certain that his sister lost.

But Ruth wasn't really paying attention to the game. She was paying attention to the walkway, where Robert Rosenthal was currently walking. If she could just get him to let loose and relax a little bit—to let go of the handles and let someone else drive for a change—then maybe these men stood a chance at escaping the burnout.

"Hmm?" Ruth questioned, gaze falling back on her brother. "You didn't steal my turn, did you?"

"No, we're just waiting on you," Abe said, gesturing emphatically at the hoops on the ground.

Ruth lined her mallet up and gave a grin as the mallet collided with the ball. It went straight through another hoop and she smirked at the men. "I believe that's another point for me."

"Ugh, we're never going to stop her. She's more formidable than the Germans," Pappy exclaimed.

"As lovely as that is," Ruth replied. "I'm a bit parched. I'm just going to grab a drink and then I'll be with you gentlemen." Before they could so much as protest, considering the fact that they were in the middle of a game, Ruth was off and out of sight. She was a woman on a mission and if that mission entailed getting Robby Rosenthal's head screwed on straight, then she'd be damn sure that she'd do it correctly.

Ruth's heeled feet clicked against the pavement and then the sounds stopped as she hurried onto the grass. It didn't take her long to catch up with Robby, catching him by the arm and giving an innocent smile.

"Take a turn around the grounds with me?"

"What is this, a regency novel?" Robby said, swatting her arm away in annoyance.

"Maybe I just want to talk to you."

"Okay, Miss-Always-Has-An-Ulterior-Motive," Rosie nearly snorted at the thought that she just wanted to talk. The last time that Ruth had just wanted to talk, the two of them had nearly ended up verbally murdering each other in the hallway after a deposition.

A slight frown curled on her lips and she glowered at him for a moment. "Fine. The therapist here says that you're being uncooperative."

"And he thought that talking to you was going to make that better?"