Insatiable (16 page)

"I know it's hard," Aurora said. "But no harder than what you've been living through." And Mari knew that she was right. Even the attorney had told her that.

"If your spouse is violent, you must take all steps necessary to protect your safety. Only after you’re safe is it time to focus on legal issues.” And at
Aurora's Place
, she felt more than safe, she felt loved. Since her husband violated the restraining order by showing up at
Aurora's Place
, the attorney told Mari the exact procedure that secured Ronnie's release.

"Since Ronnie was arrested for violating the protective order, he wasn’t able to be released on bail or on personal recognizance until first appearing before the court. The court also issued an order prohibiting him from having any contact with you, the victim.

And for all domestic violence convictions, including violation of a protective order, Mr. Carr must participate in a batterer’s intervention program, at his expense, and pay a $125 special fine."

"Well let's hope that it does him some good," Mari said.

"And what if it does Mari? What would you do if he said that he was getting help and that he wanted to give things another try?" Rosie asked her friend.

Mari shook her head intensely. "For me, there is no going back. Ronnie may want to get help, but it would only be because there was no other alternative, not because he wants it for himself. The last time he beat me I thought I was going to die, no let me rephrase that, I wanted to die. I wanted the pain to just go away, nothing else mattered. But when the police showed up and called an ambulance I knew that this was my way out. Even they couldn’t ignore how badly Ronnie had beaten me this time. I was never so glad to see those flashing lights, and while they were wheeling me into the emergency room, I was already thinking of where I was going to go after they released me. And when that nurse, your friend Renee told me about your place, well I took that as a sign. She was my guardian angel and I knew that she'd been sent there just for me. So to answer your question Rosie, hell no I won't go!" Mari chuckled lightly and hugged her friends.

"What about you Rosie? What would you do if your boyfriend Landon asked you to come back?" Aurora needed to ask that question. She was almost positive of the answer, but she needed to hear the affirmation from Rosie herself.

Rosie put her hands out and made a sweeping motion. "Ladies, there is no way that's going to happen. Why you ask? Well I'll tell you. I might be a little late in coming out, but I've seen what's out there, and I like it far too much to take a step backwards. I know now that not everything around me is bad. Nothing and I mean nothing will make me want to go back. The part of me that I chose to ignore is no longer in me, and I have no desire to go back to being half a woman. I feel whole now, and that's the way I want to stay, now and forever."

"Well," Aurora grinned. "It makes me very happy to see how far you two have come in such little time. Just imagine what the rest of your lives are going to be like now that you have gotten over the most difficult of hurdles."

"It's our time to find peace and happiness," Mari said.

"Ladies, from here on out, anything that happens to you will be a piece of cake compared to what you've both been through. There are going to be times when things may get a little hairy for you both but always remember that you're stronger than anything that stands in your way."

Aurora needed to find something to wear for the dinner that Liam was taking her to. When Mari and Rosie asked if she wanted them to come with her she declined. She needed the time alone and thought it better if they stayed behind. She didn’t want them to get the impression that she was becoming too reliant on them. Although the three were getting along wonderfully, Aurora knew that the time would come when Mari and Rosie would want to spread their wings and fly. She didn’t want them to feel guilty about it when they did. She wanted nothing but the best for them but she had to admit, she would miss them when they decided that it was time to leave.

Walking through the mall, she got caught up daydreaming about Liam. She was surprised that he'd wanted to introduce her to his friends, and she hoped that they were as down to earth as Liam seemed to be. Because if they weren't she was sure she'd be doing a lot of tongue biting just to make the evening go smoother. She chuckled to herself when she thought about how nervous Liam was when he'd asked her out. She hoped the evening wouldn’t last too long because she couldn’t wait to get him naked and in bed.

The feeling of being watched came over her and tossing a look over her shoulder she spotted a man wearing a baseball cap skimming the newspaper. He appeared to be distracted by whatever he was reading in the paper, but she couldn’t help but notice that the man seemed a little too distracted. Remembering what Nick had told them about what to do; she casually turned around and headed back in the direction she came from. She was walking in measured steps, not running.
Don’t want to make things obvious
. Just then it occurred to her that she had never been in this kind of situation before. She was used to outright verbal abuse, not silent stalking. Maybe the guy isn’t even following me, she thought to herself. Her cell rang just then, and she hastily reached in her bag to answer it. "Hey, I just wanted to confirm our date for tonight."

She let out a puff of air, she hadn't realized that she was holding her breath.

"Six o'clock right?" She asked. The unnatural tone of her voice hinted that something was wrong.

"Aurora? What's wrong? You don’t sound like yourself."

"Liam, I think someone's following me." She hated sounding so desperate.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the mall. I could be overreacting, but I don’t think I am. He was sitting there pretending to read the paper but when I got up so did he and now I…"

"Aurora, stay where you are, I'm coming."

"No," she almost shouted. "I'll be fine Liam, I'm not an idiot. I can take care of myself."

"Aurora we'll talk about it later, right now I'm on my way. Go into a store and stay there, don’t move!" He shouted into the phone.

She heard the click of Liam disconnecting. Suddenly she was aware that the stranger was still there, and he was following her closely. Liam had told her not to move, but she had to, she had to move to a more populated area. Separated by thirty or forty feet, she came abreast of him, then walked past but made sure not to glance behind her until she walked into a clothing store. Only after she was inside, did she dare a backward glance.

Still too close to the entrance of the store, she made her way towards the back. Heedless of the curious stares of salespeople and shoppers, she found herself power walking towards the nearest freestanding rack of dresses and slacks. She parted the hangers a crack and peered through just in time to see the strange man race past the storefront window. She still couldn’t make out what he looked like or who he was. Probably one of Ken's cronies, she thought to herself. Or maybe it was a friend of Mari's husband Ronnie, someone he'd sent to stalk me. Sick bastard. Shit! What if it was Rosie's boyfriend Landon? Just because I don’t know what he looks like doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know what I look like. He and Ronnie could be in cahoots for all I know. I've got to get some photographs of these creeps. She was still hiding in the rack of clothes when a salesgirl interrupted her thinking.

"Is everything okay miss?"

Aurora looked up. The young salesgirl was hovering over her, and she wondered what the girl must be thinking. "Yes, yes I am." She replied breathlessly. As she made her way out from the rack she realized that all the women in the shop were staring at her.

"I'm okay," she announced directly to the salesgirl and customers. "Someone's following me and I just need to wait here. I'm so sorry about this; I don’t mean to cause any trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," the salesgirl replied. "You can stay right here for as long as you need. Would you like me to call mall security?"

Just as Aurora was about to reply, she felt her cell phone vibrate, Liam was calling.

"I’m here, where are you?"

"I'm in." She cast a wild glance around the store and across the counter. She was searching for a receipt with a name, but before she could ask the salesgirl whispered an answer. She repeated it to Liam.

"I'll be right there."

She hated to admit it, but she was glad to see Liam's familiar face. He'd stopped what he was doing to come and help her. She would repay him tonight.

Chapter Ten

"Are you alright?" It was the first thing out of his mouth.

"I'm fine," she gasped with relief.

"Where is this creep?" Liam asked looking around.

"I don’t know, I think I lost him when I came in here. I saw him go racing by when I was hiding in the clothes rack."

Liam couldn’t help but smirk.

"What's that smirk for?"

"Nothing, just the thought of you hiding in a clothes rack that's all." He tried to lighten the mood. He didn’t want to tell her that she'd scared him half to death. He knew that her pride would get in the way if he made a fuss.

She playfully punched him in the arm. "Ha-ha, very funny. The creep caught me off guard alright?" She replied.

"Did you recognize the guy?"

She shook her head. "No, but he had a baseball cap on and dark glasses. It could have been anybody. I'm sorry you had to come all the way down here."

Liam nodded a thank you towards the salesgirl and placed his hands around Aurora's waist. "Let's get out of here." On the way out of the store he leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Aurora Collins, you don’t have to apologize for anything. The only thing that matters is that you're safe and I'm going to see to it that you remain that way. Now let's get you home, I hear you have a hot date," he smirked and walked her to her car.

Aurora was flustered; she couldn’t remember the last time that a man had made her feel this way. And she certainly wasn’t used to it. But she kind of liked having Liam come to her rescue. But more importantly, who the hell was that strange man and why was he following her? Liam had wanted to follow her home but when she threatened to call off their date if he did, he reluctantly went back to work. "You are one stubborn woman," he told her.

"I never said that I wasn't," she replied. As she made her way back home, she made sure to check her rear view mirror. Now was not the time to think that she was out of danger. Before she'd even put the car in park she was on the phone with Nick. "Maybe I should cancel my plans for tonight so that I can keep an eye on things here," she told him.

"No Aurora, you'll do no such thing. Mari knows it's my night off so she's invited me over; she and Rosie have dinner plans with Martin and me. So you see we've got our own plans, you just go and have a good time. Martin and I will keep an eye on things, don’t worry."

Aurora smiled. "Well I guess I couldn’t ask for better protection. But do me a favor, let's not tell the girls about this, I don’t want them to get upset or anxious alright? They've come so far, I'd hate to scare them for no reason."

"No worries there Aurora, I read you loud and clear."

"Thanks Nick."

Aurora stood in front of her closet, now she was angry. Her date with Liam was in a few hours and thanks to some creep there wasn’t time to go out in search of the perfect outfit. "I'll have to compromise," she said and started digging.

Liam was still at work when Gary popped his head in. "We still on for tonight buddy?"

"Yes, looking forward to it," Liam grinned and finished clearing his desk.

On the way home, he thought about his upcoming date with Aurora. He would tell her tonight about his upcoming business trip to New York, he would be spending a couple days there and planned on asking her to go with him. He was pretty sure of what her answer would be, but he figured there was no harm in asking.
Maybe she'll surprise me and say yes
, he thought to himself.

It was early evening when Liam arrived to pick up Aurora. Nick and Martin were already at the house and had settled in the kitchen helping Mari and Rosie. When he saw Aurora coming down the stairs, Liam felt that familiar flutter in his stomach, the one he developed every time that he saw her, he wondered if she felt it too.

"You look stunning as usual," he said and gave her a kiss, this time he kissed her on the lips. When she didn’t object, he kissed her again, this time it lasted longer.

"Is it me or is it getting hot in here?" Mari teased and fanned herself. "You guys have a great time and don’t worry about us, we're in good hands," she grinned and nodded towards Martin and Nick.

"I know you are." Aurora playfully nudged her before leaving with Liam.

Ronnie was getting ready for his usual Thursday night out with his buddy Mark. He hadn't seen Mark since the night he got arrested for violating the restraining order. When the cops asked him how he found out where his wife was staying he remained a true friend and had not given them Mark's name. He simply told them that he'd done some digging online and the cops bought it. But now that his ordeal was over he was ready to get back into the swing of things, he was ready to get good and wasted.

Hell, maybe he'd get lucky and get laid tonight, the last woman he'd been with was his wife, and that wasn’t anything to write home about. She always seemed so frigid whenever he initiated sex. "Prudish bitch," he mumbled and splashed on a bit of cologne. Tonight was going to be his lucky night, he could feel it. A loud thud in the basement immediately brought Ronnie to attention. "Goddamn raccoon," he cursed and unlocked the safe. Inside he retrieved his nine millimeter. "Get rid of that fucker once and for all," he muttered and made his way into the hallway.

As he started to flick on the light above the basement stairs he quickly withdrew his hand. Better get the flashlight, he thought to himself. If it was a raccoon he didn’t want to spook it by turning on the overhead light. After making sure that the flashlight worked he carefully made his way down the stairs. He couldn’t help but notice that there was no more sound, in fact there was no sound coming from anywhere. It was eerily quiet. When he'd reached the middle of the stairs he felt something reach out from underneath one of the steps and tug violently at his ankle. As his body tumbled down the stairs, he lost the grip on his gun and it along with the flashlight made a clattering sound as they spun across the floor, far beyond his reach. Ronnie didn’t even have a chance to shake the haze from his head before the hand holding a blunt object reached out from the darkness and knocked him out.