Worshipped (Worshipped Series Book 1) (15 page)

“Are you sure that’s who you saw?” Isaac asks me. I told Isaac and Conner as soon as Lance left.

“Yes. I’m definitely sure that was him.”

“Okay, Conner will you go tell one of the cops what’s happened, and I’ll take Riley home.” Conner kisses me goodbye and I follow Isaac back to his limo. I sit close to Isaac, thinking that this isn’t a coincidence to see Lance at my home and at the bar. I have a feeling he started the fire. I just can’t figure out the why behind it. Of all the times Lance took me to place to place, he never once put off a bad vibe or said anything inappropriate.

“What do you think he wanted?” I ask Isaac. I want to know what he is thinking. Does he know something?

“I honestly don’t know. It doesn’t make sense him being at your house, then at the bar tonight. The way you described it, he was watching his handy work. But why burn the bar? I wish I had the answers, but I promise I will get to the bottom of this.” I also have a bad feeling we will, even if we don’t want to.

The rest of the way home we are both quiet. I wonder if Conner learned anything new, or if he had any ideas with Lance. Right as we pull up at the house, Karen calls me. Shit, I just left. I was a crappy friend sometimes.

I quickly answer, “Hey, Karen, sorry I took off. I just was ready to go.” I hope she doesn’t want anything more. I don’t think it is a good idea to involve her in our shit mess.

“That’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Josh and I left right after you. Some night, huh?”

“Yeah, you could say that. Did the police say anything else to you about the fire?”

“No, just asked a lot of questions, and told me I could go. I still wish we hadn’t gotten there before it happened.”

“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. Take care, I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we could make up for this night.” Karen agrees and I hang up.

We get out of the limo and I instantly feel like I am being watched. “Isaac, I think someone is watching us.” He nods, trying not to make it obvious he is searching if we are being watched. He leads me into the house and locks the door. “Did you see anyone? Is it Lance?” I ask him. God I do not like this.

“It’s too dark to see. Don’t worry; there goes the patrol car now.” I relax a little, thankful the police kept up with the patrols. I go to change while Isaac calls Conner to see what is taking him so long.

I am changed and makeup free when Conner comes back. Isaac and Conner are talking when I walk up. “They know for sure?” Isaac asks him.

“Yeah. The fire chief saw it himself. The fire was started on purpose.”

“Did you tell them about what Riley saw? Are they looking into it?”

Conner shakes his head, replying, “They said they would look into it, but they didn’t seem to really care about Lance. The guy is clean. No record pays his taxes. Yeah I checked, don’t look so surprised, Isaac. I know some people too.” Wow. Conner is on a role tonight. I am disappointed that the cops weren’t taking the whole Lance deal seriously. But what can we do?

“All right, I’m calling it quits on this mess. I don’t want to hear anything else about it. Let’s just hang out or whatever,” I tell Isaac and Conner. Both agree and we spend the rest of the night together, not thinking once about anything.

Two months later……

My life couldn’t be better. Everything is going perfectly. I have Isaac and Conner all to myself. They ended up moving in with me a few weeks after the fire. The bakery is doing great, as is Isaac and Conner’s company. Karen and Josh are still together, which to me, is a surprise. They still haven’t come over nor have we been out again since that night. I don’t complain. I am happy with the way things are going right now.

About a month ago I started feeling different. I don’t know how to explain it. I wasn’t sick or didn’t feel bad. I had strange food cravings and I hadn’t had a period in well, I don’t remember. It isn’t uncommon for me to skip a period or two, so I gave it little thought.

Conner still follows me to work every day. I feel bad he is missing his work, but he never complains. He began to bring his laptop with him so he could help Isaac as much as he could.

At times I still feel we are being watched, but I could never actually see them. I write it off as me being paranoid. I most likely am.

On Saturday, I wake up earlier than I normally do. Isaac is gone to work, of course, and Conner is still sleeping. I get up and do the morning routine and decide to run some errands in town. I don’t wake Conner. We haven’t heard any more about Dominic so I felt like it was all right to get groceries, right?

As quietly as I can, I shut the front door and get into my SUV. I make it perfectly fine to the store. I do my shopping actually enjoying having some “me” time. I haven’t gotten a lot of that since the boys moved in. I love them being with me all the time. It is comforting having them there, especially when we have fun. I shake my head. I do not need to be thinking about our kinky sex right now.

I pay for the food and leave to put the groceries in the car. When the bagger finishes, I feel that all too familiar feeling of being watched. I am sick and tired of feeling like this. I call Karen when I get home to get her to prescribe me something to help. Usually when I get a bad feeling, I trust it. This is the one time I ignore my gut telling me not to get in my car. I write it off as another crazy moment and start to leave.

Almost halfway back to my home, I notice a black van following me. Every turn I did, every stop light, it’s there. The windows are so tinted, I can’t make out who is driving. I fake going left and when the van picked up on it and followed me right, I knew I was definitely being tailed. I dial Isaac right away hoping he isn’t busy. His secretary answers and says he is in a meeting. I try explaining this is an emergency, but she will not put me through. She is so getting fired later. I try Conner and his goes straight to voicemail.

I am freaking out by this point. I have no idea what to do, or where to go. I don’t want to go home, fearing Conner left to find me or went to Isaac. The only thing I can think is to get to the freeway and gun it like a bat out of hell.

I did make it to the freeway, and I’m sure I am going to jail after this. I hope I didn’t cause any wrecks. I didn’t have time or a chance to think about anyone else. I was worried for myself. The van is right on my ass.

I thought I was doing good, keeping a good distance from this psycho. When the van rams into the back of my car, I scream. I almost lose control, but at the last second I swerve left to miss a car. God that was too close. I try calling the boys again, but get the run around with Isaac and Conner’s phone has to be dead. The van hits me again and this time I do lose control. Right as I go airborne, I black out.

I wake hours later in the hospital. A nurse is standing beside my bed charting my vitals. She looks down at me and asks, “How are you feeling?”

“What happened?” she smiles and explains I was in a car crash. She leaves to go get my doctor. I am sitting up to get more comfortable when Isaac and Conner bust through the door. A nurse yells at them, saying they aren’t allowed in my room. They ignore her. I have to tell the nurse that it is okay. She does not like that. I try smiling at them, but it hurts too much for that so they get half a smile.

“God, Riley! Do you realize how worried we’ve been?” Isaac is very unhappy with me. Well tough shit.

“Isaac, will you shut it. She is fine, and alive. That’s all that matters.” Oh, sweet Conner coming to my rescue.

“Please don’t be upset, Isaac. I tried calling the both of you. Isaac, you need to fire your secretary,” I tell him.

“Trust me, she will never work in this town again.” I figured that much.

“What happened with the van? Did the police catch him?” I ask.

Isaac starts cussing and sits down. Conner replies, “The police wanted to speak to you first before they did anything. They think it was an accident.”

“Are you kidding me? That asshole purposely ran into me over and over until I lost control of the car. Not to mention the fact he or she followed me all the way from the store.”

Conner doesn’t get a chance to respond. My doctor walks in and tells them to wait outside. Dr. Thomas Daniels reminds me of the fat Santa at the mall during Christmas. He has the rosy cheeks, the white beard, and hell, even the small round glasses. Only difference, he doesn’t reek of alcohol. He starts with the routine questions; how does this feel, how much pain do I have. I have a slight concussion, a few bruised ribs, and a fat lip.

“You are very lucky, Miss Blake. You should be fine after a few weeks of recovery time, and your baby is doing great as well.”

Wait, what?

“What baby?”

He pushes his glasses up as he says, “We took some blood and ran some tests, we won’t know how far along you are until you have an ultrasound.”

“I….I uh.” I am utterly speechless.

“You didn’t know you were pregnant?” Dr. Daniels asks. I slowly shake my head no.

I clear my throat a few times before saying, “I have uterine fibroids. I was told it was impossible for me to conceive.”

“Well, Miss Blake, who ever told you that lied. It is very possible after surgeries and if the fibroids are removed then you would be able to conceive. You will have a healthy baby.”

Dr. Daniels gives me directions on what I need to do, and recommends several OBGYN’s for me. I tell him I already have one and I thank the Santa doctor and he leaves.

I lie there in the hospital bed in complete shock. Is this real? If I am dreaming I am going to be super pissed when I wake. I look down at my belly, wondering if I look any different. I haven’t gained any weight, but I am having weird cravings. Not to mention how different I’ve been feeling. Is that pregnancy symptoms? Hell, what do I know? I place my hand over my stomach, hoping to God this is real. I want it desperately to be real.

I decide not to tell Isaac and Conner about the news until I know for sure if I am pregnant and how far along I am. Then there is the problem of whose baby it is. Shit.

Isaac and Conner come back into my room a little while later after the good doctor left. I tell them what he said, omitting the part about the baby. The police want to talk to me, and I make sure I tell them every detail I can. I hope they will find whoever it was soon. I silently say a prayer, thanking God my baby and I are going to be fine.

I have to stay overnight at the hospital, for observation. The nurse says they just want to make sure I don’t have any more complications with my mild concussion. I am discharged the next morning with strict instructions to take it easy and get plenty of rest. I think I will manage that perfectly. No matter how comfortable the nurses or staff tried to make you, it just was not possible to get any rest in a hospital.

Conner stays with me while Isaac goes to get the car. I was told my SUV was totaled. Apparently, I rolled it several times, and was hit by another car. Now I have to go look for another vehicle.

“Are you sure you’re doing all right with all this?” Conner asks me.

“It could’ve been worse. I’m just happy to have come out of it with a few scrapes and bruises.”

“I don’t know what Isaac and I would have done if we lost you.” I can tell this hurts Conner. The death of their lover, Caroline, years ago still haunted him. More so than Isaac. I wonder why that is, but I decide against asking him. Isaac pulls up to the curve, getting out to help me get into the car.

“I want to punish you so bad for doing what you did. Unfortunately, I can’t right now. Not until you’re healed.” I must have not gotten as hurt as I thought. Isaac’s threat makes me twitch for his hands on me.

Isaac drives us home with me in the back with Conner. I have a feeling neither one of them are going to give me room to breathe after this. I am fine with that. I get comfortable laying my head on Conner’s lap and drift off to sleep.

The next day I have a hard time getting away from Isaac and Conner to make the phone call to Karen. Finally, after I tell them to let me pee in peace, they give me only a few minutes. I am thankful Karen answers on the first ring.

“Thank God! How are you? How bad was it? I wanted to come to the hospital, but Isaac told me it was best to wait for you to come home.”

“I’m fine, Karen, just a few bruises and mainly sore. I wasn’t calling about the wreck. I need an appointment, tomorrow if you can.”

She is silent for a minute then she says, “Riley, you had an appointment just a few months ago. You shouldn’t need another for another six to eight months.” I sigh and whisper just in case I am being overheard by my guard.

“Karen, I might be pregnant. Dr. Daniels ran a blood test. He said I was definitely pregnant.” I don’t hear anything from Karen. I even had to check to make sure I hadn’t accidently hung up on her.

“Karen? You still with me?”

“Oh yeah, sorry I just...I, well, Riley, I am shocked. I mean I am so happy to hear this. Yes I have an opening first thing in the morning. How are you going to explain this to Isaac and Conner?”

I have no idea yet.

“I’ll figure that out once we know where I am.”

We talk for a few more minutes before Isaac come in the bathroom to check on me. I tell her I will see her tomorrow and let her go. “Checking to make sure I didn’t fall in?” I tease him.

“Ha-ha. Very funny. Come on. Conner cooked us something. It looks…interesting.” I have to see this. As long as I have known Conner, he didn’t cook. I am surprised when I walk into the dining room; it is all set up with candles, and my nice china setting out. The way Conner has it all set up I expected a turkey dinner. But no, he cooked spaghetti and what was that? Meatballs? I take a bite, and yeah it is meatballs.

Conner did really well on cooking. The noodles were a bit overcooked, but he tried. I eat two servings just to show my appreciation. Plus, I am eating for two now. I smile at that thought. I have no idea how this will play out with Isaac and Conner, but I am very happy I will finally get the one thing I’ve always wanted.

A baby.

I help Isaac and Conner clean up after we finish eating. Once the kitchen is back in order, I grab Isaac and Conner’s hands and lead them to the bedroom. I know it has only been a few days since I had them both, but I really need them now. Maybe that is another symptom of being pregnant. I don’t care, I just want one of them inside me.