“I’ll be fine. How about I pick up lunch on the way home?”
He kissed my nose. “Okay. You win.”
I was all about cuddling with Stosh, but like all snuggle partners, it gets too hot to sleep in that position. Shortly after rolling out of his arms, I laid awake too upset with myself for being dishonest with him. So many lies had already been told. I couldn’t believe I was the culprit. It made me uneasy.
The next morning came too fast, and I knew I had to go through with what I had set out to do. I got dressed and headed out before Stosh could find reasons for me to remain close to him. I wasn’t used to driving my sister’s vehicle, but it was necessary. After doing a search on the internet, I had Rafe’s address and had plugged it into the GPS.
When I pulled up and saw the size of his house, I was in shock. My sister had picked him for a reason. I wasn’t sure what he did for a living, but he definitely had money. His house wasn’t a mansion, but it was damn near one.
I knocked on the door several times before he answered it wearing only a robe and pair of boxers. The smile on his face let me know I still had him faked out. It amazed me how all these people had no clue about the kind of person my sister really was. She’d told many lies to a lot of people.
“Hello, my love. Come in, come in.” I hated feeling him put his arm around me and lead me inside. “I’m making your favorite breakfast. I had hopes you’d be by this morning.”
“I can’t stay long. I have a doctor’s appointment.” Maybe I should be a professional liar. I was getting pretty good at it.
“We must discuss what is happening.”
I sat down on the other side of the kitchen table and tried not to look around the house. Ivy would have known where everything was, so I had to make it seem like I was comfortable. “Rafe, I appreciate how you stuck by me when things were at their worse. I can’t continue this with you. It isn’t fair to you.”
“But, you were the one who said we had to leave. You told me we were going to be a family. I’ve already paid for the house in Malta.”
Did he say Malta?
Holy shit! “My feelings have changed. I want to work things out with my husband. I owe it to him.”
He shook his head and approached me, crouching down on his knees. Rafe took my hands. “Please don’t say these things. I love you and you love me.”
I jerked my hands away from him, stood up and walked to the opposite side of the room. He was still on his knees, waiting for me to say something. I saw the pain in his eyes and I knew he was heartbroken, grasping at straws for something to hold onto. “I’m sorry, Rafe.”
He shook his head and looked down. He really was a gorgeous man. I could see how Ivy would want to be with him. “I won’t give up. You’ll come back, you always do.” Rafe stood and walked to the counter. He poured himself a drink, even though it was still early in the morning. I could see his hands shaking as he tipped it back and sipped from it. I’d forced a man to be an alcoholic. This was yet another reason my life was off track.
I wondered how many times my sister had told him it was over. Maybe she didn’t know who she wanted to be with. “Look, I came to tell you in person. I’d appreciate it if you let me move on. What we had was great, but it’s over.”
This guy couldn’t take a hint. He ran up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, keeping me from going anywhere. I tried to pull way, but he was too strong. “Please. I don’t want you to go back to him. He beat you and cheated on you. How could I be okay with that? You deserve to be happy. I can make you happy, Ivy.”
I kept my body as still as possible. Fear was overwhelming me. “Please get your hands off me.”
Finally, he let go. I ran out the door and didn’t look back. I have no idea if he’d followed me outside, but I didn’t want to take the chance and have him catch me. The man was creepy and obsessed.
I drove out of his private development and finally parked at a nearby grocery store. I needed to relax before I walked back into Stosh’s place all worked up. Besides, being stressed couldn’t have been good for the baby.
While I was there, I went into a pharmacy. While browsing around, I finally spotted what I’d come there to look for. I grabbed a bottle of prenatal vitamins and a bottle of Tylenol. Once I paid and got back into my car, I emptied the Tylenol into another half empty bottle and filled that bottle with the prenatal vitamins. Then I discarded the prenatal vitamin container so no one would ever know I’d purchased them.
I didn’t want to keep the secret much longer, but the timing had to be right for me to finally be able to tell people the news. I kept picturing Stosh’s face when I told him he was going to be a daddy. He hadn’t brought up the abortion, and I knew it was because it hurt him. My sister was the reason I was pregnant. I had to continue reminding myself of that so I’d stay focused.
Waiting was beneficial. It was going to make him happier than he’d ever been before.
I rubbed my stomach and thought about our little bean growing inside of me. I hoped all the stress I was under wasn’t harming it. The last thing I wanted was complications. I hoped he or she would be healthy and have a loving family to belong to. Stosh was a part of that now and I couldn’t wait to be able to be free of all this bullshit going on around us.
When I got home, it was nearly twelve. I’d stopped by and purchased two salads from a local deli. I could have bought one and been fine, considering they were enough to feed a small summer camp full of children.
I went inside and sat the bag down on the countertop. Stosh wasn’t in the living room. I knew he was home because his car was in the driveway. I checked the bedroom and the bathroom, but he wasn’t there either.
I walked to the main house and checked the door. It was locked, so I knew he couldn’t be inside. He wasn’t out by the pool or anywhere in the yard.
I started to panic, thinking back when I felt like he’d betrayed me in the worst way. There was one more room to check, and I was too afraid to open the door. What if they were in on some kind of master plan? What if he’d been lying to me the whole time?
The more I stood on the other side of the door wondering, the more upset I made myself. With my hand on the knob, I took a few breaths and opened the door. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when it opened. The pain I felt was unbelievable, and I didn’t know what I was going to do.
Chapter 19
What the…
I stared for a few moments, trying to picture what I was seeing wasn’t actually happening. Stosh was lying down on his back. His eyes were closed, as were Ivy’s. She was lying on top of him, but that wasn’t what alarmed me.
Ivy’s hands were undone and next to her was a baseball bat.
I ran over toward them and pushed my sister off of Stosh. She didn’t wake up.
“Stosh, can you hear me?” I put my head against his chest and heard his heart beating. That was my first concern. I needed to know he was still alive.
Upon further inspection, I noticed he had a gash on the side of his forehead. It was bleeding down onto the carpet, and there was a puddle already there.
I looked around the room and saw it was in disarray, like she untied herself and waited for him to come in. What she must not have figured was how he would have fought back.
He started to stir, and I leaned in close to his face. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” he whispered, seeming to be in an extreme amount of pain.
“Oh my god. I thought you were dead. I was freaking out. What the hell happened?”
Before he could respond, I watched his eyes get big. Just as I turned around, I felt my sister’s fist punching me right in the face. I went down hard, landing next to Stosh and right in his pile of blood.
I could see him trying to focus enough to stand up and help me, but it was obvious he had a concussion. He needed to get to a hospital.
I put my hand over my face to block any more blows were coming my way. “Ivy stop!”
S
he shoved me out of the way and made a dash for the door. Unfortunately, I was just as fast. I grabbed the leg of her pants and sent her falling face first. She landed hard on the floor, and it must have taken her breath away. While I stood up and rushed for the door, she remained still, trying to regain strength. I held her by the hair and pulled her back in the bedroom. “Get the fuck off of me!” She screamed.
“Shut up!” I shoved her down in the corner. “What did you do to him?” I was pissed I threw myself on top of her and started smacking her in the face. She put her hands up to protect herself.
I felt someone tugging me off of her. Stosh had blood running down his face, but he was alert enough to know what was happening. When Ivy saw he was conscious, her eyes got huge, and she began to plead. “Stosh, please. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He grabbed her by the hair and shoved her against the wall. “Get her hands.”
I looked down on the floor and obtained the zip ties before rushing over and wrapping them around my sister’s wrists. Once her hands were bound, it was easy to get her sitting down and attach each of her feet to the chair. It was barbaric, but necessary.
When I knew she couldn’t move, I rushed over to Stosh’s side and helped him get into the living room. “I feel like I’m going to pass out. That bitch hit me with a bat.”
“I saw it.” I ran over with a wet towel and started cleaning him up, so I could assess the injury. “You’re going to need stitches, babe. The gash is pretty deep and you’ve lost a ton of blood. I’m positive you have a concussion.”
Even while he was in pain. He managed to smile. “Listen to the doctor’s daughter go.”
I shook my head. “Stop joking. Are you able to walk to the car?”
I helped him stand up, found a clean shirt for him, and led him to the vehicle. The hospital wasn’t far from the house and thankfully we were there in just a few minutes. Stosh kept closing his eyes, dozing off.
“You have to stay awake.”
“I can’t. My eyes feel heavy. I need a nap.”
I was extremely worried about him. Head injuries were serious. Someone could be talking to you one minute and dead the next. Losing him would crush my soul. I couldn’t even let myself imagine it. “Seriously. I need you to stay awake.”
I ran into the hospital and got some attendants to come out and help Stosh. From there, they put him on a gurney and took him right into the emergency room.
It seemed like forever went by before I heard from someone. When the nurse came out to look for me, she had this look on her face like she didn’t have good news. My stomach dropped, and I felt like I was going to hurl. I covered my mouth and ran toward the ladies room.
She’d followed me in there. “Ma’am are you okay?”
“Just give me a second.”
I was beginning to cry and I couldn’t get myself calm enough to face her. Finally, after a few minutes, I made my way out of the stall and saw her standing there. I looked her right in the eyes and waited for her bad news.
“You can come back and see him now.”
My face lit up. “He’s okay?”
“The doctor will explain everything. He has a concussion, and we had to give him a few stitches due to the size of the injury. He’s lucky you were there when he fell. A head injury like that could be dangerous.”
When he fell?
Stosh told them he fell?
I followed behind her until we got to his room. His head was bandaged up, but he looked okay. His reaction was priceless when he saw me walking in. “There’s my girl.”
I was happy to see him in good spirits. I rushed over and wrapped my arms across his chest.
He struggled to breathe for a second. “Easy now. I’m a little beat up.”
“I’m sorry I left. You don’t know how worried I was when I got home and found you like that. I was scared.”
“It could have been worse. I got one blow in as I was going down. I know the hitting a girl rule was broken, but she deserved it.”
I laughed and kept holding him. Letting go was not an option. “I wanted to kill her. Seeing you laying there, looking all lifeless was horrible. I felt like picking up that bat and ending her existence.”
He reached his arm up and put it around my back. “That would have messed up the plan.”
“Yeah, but at least we’d have another option to fall back on. Running away with you seems better by the second.” It was true. We would be giving up our family, our friends and Stosh’s job, but we’d be together. Somehow, that was all I cared about.
“You know, I tried to call you. I wanted you to get creamer on the way back. When you didn’t answer your phone, I called your parent’s house. It was disturbing when they said they hadn’t seen you.”
I felt sick. He’d caught me and I was going to have to tell him how I went against his request and met Rafe. “Stosh, I’m sorry. I was trying to take care of the problem. I thought if I could talk to him alone, he would back off.”
“So, where were you? Him who?”
I sat up, seeing he wanted details. I could understand how he wanted us to be honest with each other. After everything, it was the only way our relationship could work. “Please don’t get mad at me, but I went to Rafe’s house.”
“You what?” He tried to sit up, forcing me off the bed, and him to fall back down on the bed. “Willow, you’re smarter than that. He could have attacked you, or raped you. For Christ sakes, you have got to be more careful.”
“I know. I know. I wasn’t thinking.”
He took my hand and squeezed it. “I’m glad you’re okay, Will. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”
“It wasn’t even worth it anyway. Rafe couldn’t take no for an answer. He said he won’t give up on our love.” I was sarcastic when I said it.
“Great!”
“I told him to leave us alone. He said he’d already bought a house in Malta. They were going to move there and raise our baby after Ivy stole it from me and took it from you. With her living out of the country, we’d never freaking find her.”
He kept holding my hand. “At least there isn’t a baby for her to steal. I would really kill her if she tried that shit.” He shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong. I know why you did what you did, but I do want children. Someday, I guess.”
“Yeah, someday.” I felt like more of an ass.
He pulled my hand up to his lips. “Just promise me no more lies, Will. I can’t keep worrying about you like I did today. It killed me. I think it’s why I let my guard down. I couldn’t think straight.”
I stood up and froze. I had to tell him about the baby. If I waited, he was never going to forgive me. I tried to open my mouth to speak, and I started to get dizzy. Before I could even grab the edge of the bed, I went down.
I woke up in a hospital bed. Stosh was sitting beside me and he didn’t look happy. The bandage was still on his head and he was also dressed in the same hospital gown as before, which meant it was probably the same day. “What happened?”
He gave me a funny look. “Apparently, when you’re pregnant, it’s important you eat breakfast and take vitamins.”
I didn’t know what to say. I just started to cry.
“Cat got your tongue?”
“I was going to tell you. I just…”
“You let me think you had an abortion. Do you have any idea how much that hurt me?”
“Stosh, it wasn’t like that. I went to the clinic, but after talking to the counselor and thinking about what I was doing, I couldn’t go through with it. When you came back, I needed to be sure your intentions were good. The timing never seemed right.”
I could talk to him until I was blue in the face. He was hurt and pissed. The more I pleaded the more frustrated he became.
“I’m angry at you for lying to me. I’ve been messed up since you told me what you’d done. The decent thing would have been to tell me the truth. I hope you get that.”
“I do.” I re
ached for his hand, but he pulled it away. “Stosh, please. I wanted our baby to be safe. You have to understand how I had to know you weren’t plotting anything with Ivy. She wanted our baby and I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let her find out.”
“The nurse said the baby is fine.” He sat the sonogram picture down on my stomach.
“Please, don’t be mad.”
He stood there for a second, just looking at me. Then, without saying anything, he walked out of the room.
I was still hooked up to the monitors, so it wasn’t like I could get up and follow him. Obviously, he needed time to be upset with me. If my sister hadn’t tried to smash his head in earlier, I would have still wondered if he would run and tell her. Now that she’d done that and I’d talked to Rafe, I knew he’d been telling me the truth when he said he hated her.
This wasn’t how I wanted to tell Stosh about our baby. I’d pictured being in bed and celebrating after everything had calmed down. I thought about showing him a sonogram picture and being happy together.
Now, he’d found out while I wasn’t even conscious. How long had I been out of it?
The nurse came in to check my vitals. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine, I guess.”
“We are going to give you some fluids and vitamins. After we monitor you for a couple hours, you’ll be free to go. It’s best if you make an appointment with your OBGYN. Health care during a pregnancy is very beneficial to both the mother and baby.”
“Okay, I will. Thank you.”
“Your husband is in the room next to you. He’s very happy about the pregnancy. I assume it was unexpected?”
“You could say that.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be too worried. He seems over the moon.”
That was the reassurance I needed. He was mad, and I didn’t blame him. I deserved that. It was still good to know, while mad, he was just as happy about it as I was.
There was one thing I knew for sure. That was the last secret I was ever going to keep from him.
Twinsequences Willow Page 14
