Tempting Her Best Friend's Father (5 page)

“You are not going back there.” When no one said
anything Kara turned to look at her father. “Tell her she isn’t going back there,
dad. Tell her she is staying here with us, where she is safe.” Kara was crying
now, her tears big and sincere and causing Mona to start to cry as well.

Isaac looked at Mona and then back at Kara.
After what Isaac had just told her when they were alone, Mona didn’t expect him
to say what he did.

“There is no way she is going back there. Don’t
worry.” He stared right at Mona. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again.”
At that he turned to leave.

Kara rushed back over to Mona again and wrapped
her arms around her. “I hope you kicked that drunken bastard’s ass.” Mona
couldn’t help but laugh.

“He looks worse than I do.” Mona was trying to
make light of the situation, but as Kara stared at her face and started crying
harder, Mona knew it probably wasn’t the best time for comedy.

They talked for hours, and Mona was finding it
easier and easier to tell Kara how bad her life at home truly was. The hours
passed by so quickly that Mona found herself dozing off as the two of them
steered their conversation toward more pleasant topics. Although Mona had told
Kara bits and pieces about her alcoholic family before tonight, she had always
been afraid for her best friend to see the real side of her family. She
couldn’t count the number of times Kara had wanted to come to her house, but
every time Mona had successfully persuaded her into
not
coming over. There was just no way she could have her best
friend see the disgusting drunken lives of her mother and father.

She wanted to ask Kara about her date, but the
sound of her best friend’s even and slow breathing confirmed that she was fast
asleep. Mona stared at the ceiling and contemplated what she should do next.
She couldn’t stay with Kara and Isaac, especially not after what had almost
transpired in the living room. She could never look at him the same way again.
He had already divulged his feelings to her. Well, somewhat.

 
She didn’t want to
burden them after everything they had done for her, but what was she supposed
to do? Where was she supposed to go? She had no money, no car, no family she
could go stay with. School didn’t start until the fall, and even that didn’t
guarantee her a place to stay given the fact it was a community college and they
didn’t provide student housing. Mona was screwed. Tomorrow she would need to go
get her things while her parents were at work. She contemplated talking to her
mother, but she was just as bad with the verbal abuse as her father was. Besides,
she always took his side no matter what the situation. It was as if Mona didn’t
have a voice in her own home. Frankly, she was scared to death of what lay
ahead of her.

Chapter Seven

The early morning sun was what finally woke
Mona. She blinked several times until her vision cleared. The spot beside her
was empty, and when she ran her hand across the sheets they were cold. It was
early, but Kara had always been the early riser between the two of them.

Mona pushed herself up in bed and groaned as her
head spun. She instinctively clutched the side of her face and winced as pain
shot through her skull. She needed a shower, but she was afraid to see what she
looked like in the bathroom mirror. Clothes weren’t an issue since she kept
several sets at Kara’s. This was like her second home after all. She eyed the
bedroom door, knowing she would have to face her reflection sometime.

She grabbed a set of her clothes and cracked the
door open. The hallway was empty, which meant she was in the clear. It wasn’t
that she was purposely trying to avoid anyone, but she didn’t want to see the
sympathy on their faces. The sound of plates clanking and hushed voices flowed
up from downstairs. It was the middle of the week and late enough in the
morning that she knew Isaac wouldn’t be home. The question was, who was Kara
talking to?

Mona slipped into the bathroom and shut the door
behind her. She turned and finally looked at herself in the mirror. The person
that looked back at her seemed like a stranger.
  
Her normally dark, curly hair was flat and
lifeless, and her skin was as pale as a corpse’s. The side of her face that
throbbed in pain was covered in an angry blue and purple bruise, and right
below her eye was some swelling. She had honestly thought it would have been
worse than it was. It sure felt a lot of worse.

When she couldn’t look at herself any longer,
she turned the shower on and adjusted the temperature until it was as hot as
she could stand. When she stepped into the spray she closed her eyes and
imagined everything washing away. All the bad and negative aspects of her life
just vanished. The water felt good on her body, but it didn’t do a damn thing
to get rid of the shitty predicament she was in.

She stayed under the spray of water until it
turned cold and goose bumps popped out along her flesh. She wanted to cry, but
a small voice inside of her told her to shut the fuck up, be thankful she had
what she had, and learn to live with what she got.

She wrapped a towel around herself and ran her
hand across the fogged over mirror. She stared at herself for several seconds
and then breathed out. “Things could be much worse. You could have no one like
Kara and Isaac in your life. Be thankful someone gives a shit about you.”
So much for a pep talk.
It was true,
though. She would go get her stuff and find a job. She was going to make
something out of her life. She was going to use this as an example of how
things could be better.

When she was dressed and somewhat presentable,
she headed downstairs. She didn’t wear makeup, but she tried to cover up the
nasty bruise with some of Kara’s foundation. It hadn’t helped much, but it was
better than nothing. When she stepped off the landing the hushed voices
stopped. Mona rounded the corner and entered the kitchen. Kara sat at the table
and Isaac sat across from her. They both looked over at her. She could see how
their gazes kept going to her mangled face, and it took every ounce of
willpower not to turn away. She was ashamed, but she held her ground and showed
the little strength she still had.

“Come and get something to eat.” Kara pulled out
the seat next to her. Mona had a feeling there was something more going on than
just getting something to eat.

When she was seated, Isaac set a plate of food
in front of her. The smell of pancakes, eggs and bacon wafted up to her, and
despite the fact she wasn’t hungry, she knew she had to eat something. She
could feel their gazes on her.

She pushed her plate away. “Let’s just get this
over with.” She knew a heavy duty conversation was about to take place and she
wanted to get it out of the way.

Isaac sighed and Kara shifted in her seat. “I
called the Chief of Police last night.”

“What? Why?” That was the last thing Mona
expected to hear. Didn’t he realize that despite everything, the police getting
involved was the last thing she wanted?

He pushed his chair back until the wood scraped
against the tile floor. “I have certain obligations where you’re concerned.”

“Yes, but you didn’t…”

He held up his hand for her to stop. “I didn’t
do it to hurt you. I did it to protect you.”

Mona looked over at Kara. She kept her eyes on
her plate and wouldn’t meet her gaze. Mona turned her attention back to Isaac.
He watched her intently, most likely gauging her reaction. She wasn’t a fool. She
knew why he felt he had to call the police, but now she would never be able to
push this behind her. Things would just get drug out.

“What did they say?”

“They arrested your father last night. Your
mother started to fight them when she realized what was happening. She is now
being held for assaulting a police officer and obstruction of justice.”

Oh God.
This just got so much worse. Mona rested her head in her hands and
fought off the tears. She felt a light touch on her shoulder and looked up.
Isaac watched her with compassion and concern in his green gaze.

“If I hadn’t done this, things would have just
escalated.”

He was right, but she didn’t want to admit it
out loud. “So what happens next?”

Isaac took a deep breath before continuing.
“Your parents have several DUI’s on their record as well as numerous other
strikes that most likely will not win them any points with the Judge.”

Mona looked at him with shock. Of course she had
known all of that, but hearing someone else admit what losers her parents were
was icing on the cake. “I won’t have to testify about anything, will I?” She
didn’t think she could go that far.

“I don’t think it will come down to that. They
have enough going against them that I have a feeling what’s on their record
will be plenty.”

“I know what you’re thinking, Mona.” Kara placed
her hand on top of Mona’s in a comforting gesture.

“They will get the help they need and hopefully
learn to change their lives around. Trust me when I say I have seen this all
too often. It would have only ended up worse.”

Mona knew Isaac spoke the truth. She knew he had
to have seen domestic violence cases like these on a regular base. She just
wished she wasn’t one of them.

“You’ll stay here, Mona.” He held up his hand
when she was about to speak. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Besides, you
don’t need to stay at your house alone. You are part of this family.”

She couldn’t help it. She cried because she
really did feel like a part of their family. Even though it had been awkward to
see him this morning after what they shared the previous night, Mona knew, deep
down and despite her inner feelings, that it was best to keep her distance. She
just hoped she had the willpower to do so. Or did she?

Chapter Eight

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into
months, Mona was starting to become more and more comfortable with her new
situation. The judge on her parent’s case hadn’t been lenient in the slightest,
and although she had felt guilty at first for the lengthy amount of time they
had received in jail and in rehabilitation, she was starting to see a positive
difference in her parents when she visited them.

Every time she saw them there would be tears,
apologies, and promises to make things right. She wanted to believe everything
would work out that way, but her parents had been in rehab before and then had
relapsed. It was a sick and sad cycle that she prayed would end happily, but
she didn’t keep her hopes up.

The smell of nail polish wafted around Mona as
she put a second coat of Kissable Red on her toenails. It was going on six at
night and Isaac was still at work and Kara was on another date with Marcus.
Mona admitted she was surprised by Marcus and how he acted with Kara. Her best
friend had even brought him over for dinner and introduced him to her father.
Mona still had her reservations about him, though.

With each passing day Mona was finding it harder
and harder to keep her thoughts clean concerning Isaac. He on the other hand
seemed to be oblivious to the chemistry that was going on between them. Or
maybe there was no chemistry. Maybe Mona was letting her emotions run away from
her and control her? Either way, instead of time making it easier to be around
him, she found it harder and harder.

For instance, as she sat on the end of the couch,
the soft glow from the table lamp illuminating the living room, she couldn’t
stop thinking about how he had looked this morning. His hair had been
disheveled yet had looked incredibly sexy, and he had been bare-chested. The
sweats he’d worn had ridden low and that delectable vee of muscle on the sides
of his hips had stood out in stark contrast.

Oh God.
Her pussy was so incredibly wet. She contemplated touching herself
and relieving the ache that had been slowly building since their kiss, but as
she set the nail polish down to do just that, the sound of the front door
opening stopped her.

“Anyone home?” Holly’s annoyingly pleasant voice
filtered from the foyer.

Mona turned around on the couch just in time to
see Holly peek her head around the corner. The smile that the look-alike Barbie
had fell slightly when she saw it was Mona and not Isaac.

“Oh. I thought Isaac would be home by now.”

“He’s working late.” She assumed Holly would
have known something like that given the fact she worked in the same law
office, but it wasn’t uncommon for things to go over her head, even if those
things seemed pretty obvious.

“Oh. Well, I brought over Thai, but only enough
for the two of us. I assumed you girls would be out on a Friday night.”

Of course
you only brought enough for the two of you.
Mona
pasted on a smile but didn’t comment. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway
since Holly presented her back to her. She could hear the fridge open and close
and several cupboards banging together. Ever since Mona had moved in she
noticed Holly became more and more hostile toward her. Not that Mona gave a
damn one way or another, but it was almost as if the blonde was jealous. Maybe
she was because Mona knew Holly wanted more from Isaac than he was obviously
willing to give, like say a big, fat diamond.