Worshipped (Worshipped Series Book 1) (12 page)

“I’ll tell you all about that when I come back in a few days.”

She was quiet for a few seconds, and then she tells me, “I met someone last night. His name is Josh Michaels. I went to Jake’s Bar and we had a few drinks. We are supposed to be meeting for dinner later.”

“Wow, Karen, you sound smitten with this Josh guy already,” I tease her. It has been a long time since Karen went out on a date. I’m happy to hear she met someone. I just hope he can keep up with her.

“Don’t tease me. I’m still pissed you forgot to invite me with you. I could’ve used a vacation too you know.”

“I’m sorry, Karen. I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get back. Okay?” I ask, hoping to appease her. It does and we make plans to go to the spa and have a day of shopping. After talking for over an hour, we say our goodbyes, and I go into the kitchen to make some coffee.

I have a nice pot of hot coffee ready to pour when Conner wraps his arms around me. I smile at him and give him a kiss.

“How did you sleep?’’ he asks.

“Like a baby,” I reply. I grab two more cups for Conner and Isaac. “I think we should go to down to the beach today. What do you think about that?” I ask Conner. He nods, taking a drink of his coffee.

“I’ll let Isaac know. He’s still out of it.” I’m surprised at that. Usually Isaac is the first to get up in the mornings. He needs it; he has been working his ass off on a business deal. Not to mention worrying about Dominic. I finish my coffee and give Conner another kiss. As I am walking away, I drop my robe for him. I laugh when he spits out his coffee.

An hour later, we are sitting on the beach. I’m enjoying burying my feet in the sand while the sun shines on my face. I lie on my towel, listening to the waves. It is peaceful hearing the waves splash on the shore and listening to the seagulls in the distance. Isaac and Conner are in the water, swimming and having a blast like little boys. I love seeing them laugh and playing together.

Isaac and Conner come back to our spot on the beach, soaking wet. I giggle like a kid when they both wring out their swim trunks on me.

“Hey! I’m all wet now!” I playfully tell them. Isaac gives me “the look” and Conner smiles back at me. They sit down on either side of me. I love how I am always in the middle. It is very comforting knowing they will keep me safe.

I sit up as Isaac grabs a beer from the cooler. I have been thinking for a while about how to tell them about Robert. It doesn’t need to be put off any longer, but at the same time I don’t want to ruin our trip.

Isaac must have caught on, because he asks, “What’s on your mind, Riley?’’ I’m still not sure how to talk to them about this. Karen is the only other one who knows the entire story with me and Robert. I take a deep breath, telling myself to stop being such a pussy. I know they won’t think differently of me and I also know they would never, ever hurt me the way Robert did.

“I’ve been thinking, and I think it’s time I tell you my story,” I begin.

Conner turns to me giving me his full attention while Isaac sat up straighter, letting me know he is listening as well. I start at the beginning.

“I met Robert in high school. He was a year older and a senior when we started dating. At the beginning of our relationship, he was the perfect boyfriend. Polite, gentle, funny, pretty much the All-American boy. My friends loved him, as well as my parents. For the first few months everything was great.

“After six months, I let him take my virginity. After that, he changed. I’m not sure really what happened, but he started being very controlling over me. I couldn’t go anywhere without a huge fight. I had to quit my part-time job. I never saw my friends anymore. If I wasn’t with him, he expected me to be at home with my parents. He would go out with his friends and get drunk. It was fine with him to go and do as he pleased.

“One night after he’d gone to a party, he snuck into my house. He was very forceful with me, wanting sex. I didn’t want any part of it. I tried to make him leave, but he wasn’t listening to me. I didn’t want to get into trouble with my parents so I lay there while he took me. After, he just walked out. Never said, ‘Sorry’ or even tried to make up for what he did.”

I take a moment. I don’t want to relive that memory, but I have to. I don’t dare take a chance at looking at Isaac or Conner. I don’t want to lose my nerve. So I continue my story.

“I tried ignoring him after that night. I told myself I didn’t need him and I wanted to move on. He on the other hand, refused to let me go. He started stalking me, following me everywhere. He left notes, mostly love notes, saying he would do better and he would change for me. I held off for about three months before I gave him another chance. It was on prom night when I decided to take him back. He was once again the perfect boyfriend.

“After his graduation, he proposed. I, of course, said yes. That was every girl’s dream. The dress, and all the planning. I thought I was so happy. I ended up taking summer school to try and finish school early. Robert was not happy about leaving for college without me. I did end up getting my diploma early, I just wouldn’t walk with my class.

“A few weeks later, that’s when my parents died. Robert was right there with me, comforting me and being the perfect fiance. I thought he had changed for me. That fall we moved into an apartment while he went to college to be a lawyer. Now that I look back, I should’ve left when he started hitting me. I was stupid to believe him when he apologized and cried while holding me. I know it’s no excuse, but I know he was stressed from all his classes. It wasn’t an everyday occurrence. It happened maybe every six or seven months.

“Our sex life became nonexistent. I got to the point where I didn’t want to be in the same room as him. Of course he would go the extra mile, to make it up to me. And every time, I forgave him. After the wedding we bought a house. Well, his parents did. We barely had enough money to pay our rent, let alone buy a house. He agreed with his father if they bought us a house, Robert would go to work at his father’s law firm.

“So that’s what he did until he graduated college with his law degree. He started his own law firm, and he was very good at his job. I wasn’t allowed to work or go to college. I wanted my business degree and I also wanted to get my culinary degree in decorating. It took a while to convince him I could be the perfect housewife and take my online classes. I finished with both degrees early of course. Robert made sure I finished as soon as possible. Even after I earned my degrees, he would not let me work. His reasoning was it was time to have a baby together.

“I absolutely did not want to have his child. Or a child with him. I just knew he would be abusive to him or her. I was able to put it off for a while. I stayed on my birth control. One day I came home from the store, and he was sitting in the living room. I could tell something had put him in a mood. I knew by then what to say and what to do. I carefully walked up to him, and sat down beside him.

“I waited until he started talking first. He’d found my pills I secretly been taking. I hid them because I didn’t want to become pregnant. He didn’t say a word to me, he just slapped me across the face. He busted my lip and I could already feel the bruise forming. He got up and walked to the bathroom. I followed, knowing what was about to happen. He quickly emptied all my packs of pills and flushed them.”

I really didn’t want to tell either of them this part. I nervously tucked my hair behind my ears, noticing my hands had become sweaty.

“Tell us the rest, Riley,” Conner says.

I nod my head and sigh deeply. “After he flushed my pills, he came after me again. He punched me in the nose, breaking it. He grabbed my arms leaving more bruises, yelling at me about being a selfish bitch. I thought I was going to have brain damage from him shaking me so hard. I could handle the beatings. I couldn’t handle when he threw me on the bed and raped me. I tried everything to get him off me.” I can’t help the tears that start to fall. Going back to those horrible years really hurts.

“I begged and pleaded for him to stop. He didn’t. He was so focused on having his baby he didn’t care about me or what he was doing to me. Of course this happened on more than one occasion. Every month I wasn’t pregnant, he would rape me. He knew I would not have sex with him otherwise. After about a year of the abuse, he decided something was wrong with me. He made all the appointments with the fertility doctors. Turns out I didn’t really need birth control. The doctors told me I had uterine fibroids. The doctor explained that the fibroids were benign tumors inside and on the outside of my uterus.

“They were the reason I was infertile. I went through many surgeries to remove them. No matter what they did, they would always come back. After about a year, I finally was free of the fibroids. The doctors decided to try IVF. We tried for two years to conceive. It never happened. I was glad it didn’t happen but also saddened by it. I just knew I would never be able to carry a child. That’s when I started noticing Robert wouldn’t come home for days. He stopped hitting me and raping me. I was grateful for both but at the same time I wondered what had brought on this change. I found out a couple of weeks later.

“I was on my way home from shopping and I notice an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. I didn’t think much of it at first. It wasn’t uncommon for Robert to have clients come to the house. I walked in, and that’s when I heard the moans. I watched as Robert fucked his secretary from behind. The strange thing was, I wasn’t even mad, or upset. I wasn’t jealous; I was just numb by this point. Robert had done so much shit to me that I just didn’t care anymore. I quietly shut the door and went to put the groceries away. When they came out a while later, I was waiting at the kitchen table.

“I had called Karen, the only person I still had, and had her waiting for me outside. When Robert saw me, he didn’t try to explain, or anything a normal husband would do. The secretary, Vanessa, looked horrified. Or maybe she was embarrassed they’d gotten caught. I calmly told Robert I wanted a divorce and I wanted nothing to do with him. I didn’t want anything out of the divorce either. I had my parent’s inheritance after they died, and I had more than enough to get me by until I had a plan. I was surprised he let me leave. I walked out of the house and left with Karen. The next day I had divorce papers. I was glad I was done, and finally moving on with my life. I did good staying with Karen. She was doing her residency and was planning on opening up her own clinic. I was doing great on my own; I started my business, and had bought a house. About a year after my divorce, I found out that Robert had gotten married and was expecting his first child. It was with Vanessa.

“I wasn’t upset with the fact that he was getting remarried, I was upset that she was pregnant. That was the one thing she could do that I couldn’t. That’s about the time I met Cammie, and started IVF on my own. Obviously it still didn’t work. And now here I am, happier than I’ve ever been, because of both of you, I have a reason to be happy and love life again.”

I feel better, lighter really after I tell them. I didn’t realize how much better I would feel after telling my life story. I take a chance and look at Isaac first. He’s tense. He jaw is tight, and he looks ready to hurt someone.

I look over at Conner and he looks sad. Conner leans over to me and caresses my face. “Thank you for telling us. I can’t imagine what that was like for you, but I am glad it’s over. We will never let anything like that happen to you again,” he promises me.

I believe him with all my heart. They both will kill to protect me. Isaac gives me a quick kiss and he gets up. He starts walking around the beach. I’m worried, thinking maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. Conner senses my worry.

He pulls me in-between his legs, holding me while he say, “Just give him some time. It’s hard for him to hear how much you were hurt and not do anything to the bastard.”

I understand that. Karen was the same way once I told her. I had to make her promise not to act on anything. I didn’t want to be responsible if she couldn’t become a doctor because she went crazy on Robert. He just wasn’t worth it.

Conner and I sit on the beach, enjoying our time together. It’s starting to get late when Isaac finally comes back. He looks better having had some time to process everything I told them.

“Let’s head back to the hotel. I saw a carnival and I want us to go, to have fun and forget the past,” Isaac tells us. I am more than happy with that idea.

After we have dinner at the hotel restaurant, we head back to the beach where they have a mini carnival set up. They have rides and cheap games that take your money. It’s actually fun to watch Isaac and Conner compete against each other to win me a small stuffed animal. We all are having so much fun together. We ride the crappy rides, and eat bad carnival food. We walk hand and hand, not caring at the odd looks we get from the locals. No one is ruining our night of fun.

I patiently wait by a picnic table for Conner and Isaac to get through with the bathroom break. I am in my own little world, when I notice none other than my ex-husband standing in line for tickets. Fucking hell. I didn’t think it would be a good idea if Isaac or Conner saw him here. And I also think, what are the odds of this? Out of all the places in the world to be, why me? And just because my luck is just that horrible, he turns his head and sees me. Wonderful. Please just ignore me, I think over and over. But no, he starts walking over to me. I don’t know what to do. Should I just leave and go back to the hotel? I decide we don’t need a reunion, but I don’t get far.