Worshipped (Worshipped Series Book 1) (23 page)

Isaac looks at me and I really don’t want to know anymore. “Isaac, you can stop, I don’t think you should tell me anymore.”

“No, Riley, you need to know. I want you to know. Okay?” Fuck. I nod my head. I guess Isaac wants to purge all his demons. If it makes him feel better, then I will get through this.

“When I was thirteen, my mother had a steady boyfriend for once. I think the only reason she kept him around was because he would buy her booze and anything she wanted. I knew the first time I met him something was off. He would stare at me, and act differently than all the other men had towards me. I thought I was just being paranoid, but I found out soon, that I wasn’t and I should’ve trusted my instincts.

“The first night he came into my room, my mother was passed out on the couch covered in her vomit. That night he didn’t do anything but sit on my bed and watch me. I pretended to be asleep, thinking he would just go away. He didn’t. That bastard stayed the entire night just sitting there. I didn’t go to sleep at all that night, afraid if I did he would do something to me. I didn’t say anything to my mother about him. I didn’t think she would believe me. For the next few weeks, he continued to come into my room and watch me sleep.

“One night, I was taking a shower, and he walked in. He sat down on the toilet, and stayed while I washed myself. I knew it wasn’t right, but at the same time I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I was thirteen, and I knew my mother wouldn’t care.”

I cry silent tears for Isaac while he continues his story. He is so engrossed in the past, he doesn’t realize I’m crying.

“On my fourteenth birthday, that’s when he touched me for the first time. My mother was passed out again. She didn’t even wish me a happy birthday. He came in at the same time as he always did. He sat on my bed, breathing harder than he normally did. He never said anything. He reached under the covers, and grabbed my dick. I jumped away from him, asking him what the fuck he was doing. He grabbed my arms, and held me down. I can remember he smelled of stale cigarettes, and of motor oil. I think he was some sort of mechanic. He had both of my arms in one of his hands, and the other he put on my dick again.

“I was so small for my age; it was so easy for him to take advantage of me. He would always stop after I would come. That’s what was so humiliating. No matter what I did, I would always come for that sick bastard. It was several weeks later before he did anything to me again. This time, he didn’t shut the door all the way, and I saw my mother watching that night. She never told him to stop, didn’t yell or say a word. She quietly shut the door and left me there.”

My heart breaks for Isaac. I hold on to him tightly, wishing I could erase his past for him. All this time I thought my past was horrible. Isaac had it worse. I thought he was finished telling me, but he continues to talk.

“When I turned sixteen, I left. I ended up staying with an elderly woman down the road from where we lived. Her name was Helen. She took me in without a second thought. Till this day I don’t know if she knew what my mother let happen to me. I know everyone knew she was the town drunk.

“Helen helped me with school and she made sure I was fed at all times. When I left for college, I thought I could forget the horrible things that happened to me. My second year in college, I went back to see my mother. I don’t know if I wanted to see if she was dead yet, or just to see if maybe she had gotten help. I walked into our shit hole of a home, and found her dead on the couch. She was lying in a vomit pile of blood.

“All those years of drinking finally caught up with her. I wasn’t the least surprised. I was shocked to see the bastard who made my life a living hell asleep in the recliner in front of the TV. I wasn’t some small boy anymore. I had filled out, and I worked out all the time to relieve some of my stress. I had a sudden rage come over me, and I walked in front of him, and broke his neck. He deserved way more than what I did. I just wanted the nightmare to be over. I walked right out the front door and went back to school. The police never suspected it was me who killed him. They assumed he died in his sleep. Shortly after, I met Conner, and he helped me put myself back together. And you know the rest from there.”

I’m glad it’s over. I hated his mother for not protecting him the way a mother should. I’m also glad Isaac killed that sick bastard. I know I should feel something more than what I do, but I don’t. I knew there was darkness inside of Isaac. I accepted him anyways. I didn’t know I was still crying for him until he wipes my tears away.

“Please don’t cry for me, Riley. I don’t deserve your tears.”

“Isaac….I don’t know what to say. I wish I could change that for you and take away your pain. I’m glad you finally told me. It makes more sense to me now why you are so controlling over everything. I don’t blame you for what you did. I’m actually glad you did. One less sick asshole gone from this world.”

“Riley, I promise to do better. I will try not to control everything and let you make your own choices. I just want to protect you from the world and keep you all to myself. I just need you to be patient with me. I’ve been this way for a long ass time; it will take some time to get used to not being a controlling ass.”

“I don’t mind you being controlling in the bedroom,” I tell him, trying to lighten the mood a little.

It worked. He smiles, showing his one dimple. I love seeing that dimple. I even lean in to kiss it. Isaac has both hands on my face and tells me, “You know I love you, right? You know I would do everything in my power to protect you from anything?”

I close my eyes, nodding my head. I know he would die to keep me and our babies safe. He holds me close, and we sit there for what seems like hours.

Conner comes in the living room a while later. I think he wants to check on us to make sure we are okay. Once he realizes we are indeed all right, he disappears into the kitchen and brings me chicken noodle soup and some ginger ale. I am very thankful he remembered my upset stomach. I hope I can keep the food down this time. Conner sits down on the other side of me and we sit back, enjoying the day together.

Another week goes by without a word from Karen. I am really starting to get worried. I had my appointment with her today and she wasn’t at the clinic. The clinic is her baby, much like the bakery is mine. When I see a friend of Karen’s taking her patients, I know something was wrong. I walk up to the receptionist and ask her if she knows where Karen is.

“Oh, she called last week saying she was taking a vacation. I think she deserves one. Lord knows she hasn’t left this clinic more than a few days. Don’t worry, Dr. Avery will take good care of you.”

I thank the sweet lady for telling me and walk over to Isaac and Conner. “I think something has happened to Karen,” I tell them.

“Why would you think that?” Isaac asks.

“I haven’t heard anything from her in almost two weeks. That isn’t like her. And the receptionist told me she went on vacation last week. Karen would not just leave and not tell me about it.” I have a really bad feeling, and I am going to trust it this time. Something is wrong, and I will find out.

I hope and pray nothing bad happened to her. I would never get over losing her. “Don’t panic. I will call Detective James after your appointment and see if he can’t run a trace on her cell phone. We will figure this out.”

I’m glad Conner is being so calm about this. My best friend might be missing or worse dead somewhere and I had no clue.

My name is called and we make our way back to the room. I’m told to lie down on the table and get comfortable. The doctor comes in a few moments later.

“I’m Dr. Avery. I’ll be here for a bit to take care of you. So, we are here to see if we can’t see the sex of the babies, correct?” I nod, suddenly becoming nervous.

“All right, let’s see what we have here,” Dr. Avery says. She puts a bluish gel on my stomach, which, by the way, is colder than ice. She moves the probe around on my belly, trying to find our babies. Isaac and Conner stand close to me, not wanting to miss a second of this. I smile thinking about our bet we have going on about the sex of the babies.

Conner still swears his baby is a boy. Isaac says it doesn’t matter the sex, as long as the baby is healthy he would be happy. I agree with Isaac. Yes, it would be nice to know if the babies were a boy or a girl so I could start decorating their room. I already have their cribs picked out. I just want to paint the room before we buy the furniture.

“There they are,” Dr. Avery says.

She turns the monitor to us so we can see what she was seeing. She shows us where the heads are and we see a little foot. I honestly can’t tell what from what without her telling us.

“Let’s see if we can get baby A to move so we can tell if he is a he or she.” Dr. Avery puts a little pressure on my stomach to get baby A to cooperate. It must have worked, because she tells us baby A is a boy.

Isaac’s face is priceless.

I know he is one proud dad. He kisses me and thanks me. I am the one who should be doing the thanking. Without them I don’t think I would be here right now.

“What about baby B?” Conner asks. Poor Conner, he is ready to know what the sex of his baby is. Dr. Avery moves the probe around some more, and finally tells us baby B is a...Girl!

Conner turns white while I laugh at him. Isaac puts his hand on his shoulder to keep him standing. “Both babies are looking wonderful. I’ll print you a picture and get you cleaned up so you can go spread the good news,” Dr. Avery tells me.

Dr. Avery gives us our picture of our babies and tells us she will see us in a few weeks. Conner is still in shock. He was so sure his baby was a boy. I tried to tell him not to get his hopes up because it could go either way.

I want to stop by the bakery on our way home to tell Sharon the good news. Isaac calls Detective James for me asking him if he could trace Karen’s phone for me. I hope she is all right, wherever she was.

We park in front of the bakery and I get out to find Sharon. I am glad today is rather slow. Isaac and Conner order themselves a cupcake to go while I tell Sharon about the babies.

She is ecstatic for me. She knows I have been trying for a long time to have a baby. She also informs me the whole bakery will be giving me a baby shower. Sharon tells me how the bakery is doing and I am proud it is doing well.

Soon after I say my goodbyes and we make our way home. Isaac and Conner eat their cupcakes without a word. I laugh at how fast they eat them.

Guess that means they were good, right?

I’m shocked to see Detective James waiting for us on my front porch when we pull up. I’m beginning to hate seeing that man. Every time he comes around, nothing good ever comes out of his visits.

We get out of the car and walk up to him. “I’m starting to hate seeing you at my home, Detective,” I tell him.

“I wish I didn’t have to be here Miss Blake, but Isaac asked about tracing your friend’s phone and I thought I would come by and tell you in person what I found.”

I invite the detective in, and we all sit down in the living room.

I just want to know if Karen is okay and alive. I’m not thinking about anything else. “What did you find?” Isaac asks Detective James.

“It was strange. I could only find the last place your friend was. According the trace, your friend is just outside of San Antonio Texas.”

I look over to Isaac and Conner with a confused look. Why in the world would Karen be in Texas?

“Didn’t Josh tell us he was from Texas?” Conner asks Isaac and me. I have to think back to that night, and yep sure enough, I remembered that conversation perfectly.

“I don’t understand. Did he take her to Texas? This isn’t making any sense. Karen wouldn’t just leave without telling me, or not call for weeks,” I tell them.

Detective James tells us he will keep an eye out for anything more, but there isn’t much he can do at this point. He leaves shortly after.

“Something isn’t adding up with Josh. I know I’ve seen him somewhere. What do you think, Conner?”

I could kiss the shit out of Isaac right now. He is really worried about Karen too. The only lead we have is Josh. I wonder how I can get in touch with him just to see if Karen is with him. I swear I will throat punch that bitch if she is okay and chose not to call me. She knows how I worry about everything. Plus with Dominic still on the loose, I have even more reason to worry.

“I think we should go to the office and call in a few favors. Maybe we can run a background check on him and see where that takes us,” Conner tells Isaac.

“Will you be all right here by yourself for a few hours?” Isaac asks me.

“Yes, I will be fine. I promise not to even go outside.”

“Thank you. We will be back soon.” They each give me a kiss goodbye and leave to do some detective work of their own.

I’m proud of myself. While Isaac and Conner are gone, I manage to clean the entire house and finish all the laundry. I just finish cooking supper and they still aren’t back yet. I try not to worry, because that’s what I do. I’m not sure why I worry so much about nothing. Could be parts of my past, or hell it was probably just all the stress of dealing with Dominic. Whatever the reason, I was sick and tired of worrying about every little thing.