Isabelle smiles then nods. It’s funny how life gave me the exact thing I’ve spent years avoiding, and now that I have it, I’ll do anything to keep it.
****
“Uncle Kiran, I want you to move back in with me,” Callie whines. After we broke the news to Alex—who was slightly upset but still understanding—we made the trip over to Gavin and Kate’s to inform them of our plans.
“I know you do, sweet pea, but I’m not going to live very far from you. I’ll still see you all the time.” Callie gives me a sad smile before wrapping me up in a hug.
“Do you have a security system installed in the house yet?”
Gavin’s question causes Isabelle’s nose to scrunch. “I think we’ll be fine. I’ve been back in Denver for close to six weeks now and not once has anything happened.” From Isabelle’s tone, it’s clear she thinks we’re referring to her father—who I know she secretly hopes is alive—but Gavin and I are worried about that punk kid that screwed her family over.
“Isabelle,” I softly say, hoping to lessen the blow of my next comment. “Your friend spent years planning a life with you and you’ve robbed him of that. You could live ’til you’re a hundred years old, and as long as Manuel Ramos is still alive, we’ll need to be careful.” Isabelle’s mouth drops open and her breathing picks up.
“I don’t think we need to live our lives in fear, but I agree with Gavin. We should have a security system installed before we move in.”
Isabelle slowly nods her head. “Okay.”
“Can I name the baby?” Callie asks, causing everyone in the room to laugh.
“What’s your suggestion?” I challenge.
“Hans,” she proudly says as both Gavin and I groan at the same time.
“Sorry, kid. I’m not naming my son after the prince in Frozen.” Callie narrows her eyes and sticks out her lip. “The pouty lip isn’t going to work this time. When your parents start spitting out kids, you can try all you want for your own Hans.”
“No,” Gavin hollers, causing both Isabelle and Kate to burst out laughing.
Before we moved to Denver, Callie was on a Frozen kick. She watched—and by default, so did Gavin and I—that movie all the damn time. With the move and school, she doesn’t watch it nearly as often as she did, but she’s still stuck on the characters. Maybe for her next birthday I should find a new movie to buy her.
“Let’s go to lunch soon. We can go baby clothes shopping afterward,” Kate says, causing Callie to jump up and down. “Me too. I wanna go.”
“I would love that,” Isabelle tells both of them.
“Do you guys want to stay for dinner?” Kate asks, looking at the two of us.
“Sure, but we can’t stay long. I told Alex we’d be back soon.” I wish Isabelle could move past her guilt where Alex is concerned, but something tells me it’s going to take a while for that to happen.
****
“I think I want to learn how to drive,” Isabelle says as we’re walking out to the car. We’re going out for a quick lunch before picking up the last of the things Isabelle claims we need for our son.
“You want to drive,” I breathily say over the top of the car as my anxiety begins to increase.
Isabelle’s eyes narrow. “Yes,” she snaps. I swear my heart gets caught in my throat at the idea of her driving.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I stupidly ask, causing her to huff before sliding into the car and slamming the door shut. “Shit,” I mumble to myself.
In the last few weeks, Isabelle has finally dropped the last of her outer shell. Her cute, feisty, and very hormonal personality, is always front and center, and I’m almost positive I’m about to have my ass handed to me.
I open the driver’s side door and climb in, but I make no attempt to start the car. I glance over at the only woman who can make me angry and happy within the same breath, but she’s keeping her harsh stare pointed out the passenger window. After a deep breath, I reach out and take her hand in mine.
“If you want to drive, then I’ll teach you,” I say, hoping she’ll look at me, but she doesn’t. I sigh and try again. “There are crazy fucking drivers on the road and the idea of you and my son out on the streets with them scares the crap out of me. Once you learn how to drive, I know you’ll be great.” Slowly, she turns her head and gives me a small smile.
“Let’s wait until the baby gets here and we’re settled then I’ll teach you. I promise.” We have less than four weeks before Isabelle’s due date, and while I’ll never admit this to her, her hormones are all over the place. Teaching her to drive right now is a recipe for disaster.
“This summer. I want to learn before the snowy season hits.” Growing up in Mexico, Isabelle acts like the world stops for snow, and in Denver, I assure you it doesn’t, but I would rather her not get out when the weather is bad so I won’t push the issue.
“Perfect. Now please forgive me for being an ass.” She cracks a smile before leaning over and kissing me.
I didn’t know couples could fight this easy. Growing up, my parents screamed and yelled, and my mother always stormed off crying. On the rare occasion when I imagined what my life would be like if I had a family of my own, I pictured my childhood, which was reason enough to never want a family.
I haven’t known Isabelle for very long, and life can always throw us a curveball, but I think if you pick the right person from the start, then even the bad days are ones worth remembering.
Isabelle
“This crib is beautiful,” Kate says, rubbing her hand across the edge. “You still haven’t picked out a name yet?” she questions with a smile.
I shrug. “Not really. We both come up with ones but end up hating the name within a day.” I chuckle as I waddle my ass to the kitchen for something to eat.
Kiran and I moved into our house about a month ago. I know Kiran will always worry about my safety, but it seems like my old life has moved on without me, and thankfully, that’s caused everyone to relax. We have an alarm on the house that Kiran keeps set at all times, but other than that, our life feels almost normal.
Alex still stops by more than an average brother probably does but I think that has less to do with my past and more to do with the future he’s building with me and his soon to be nephew.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Kate finally says as her voice cracks. “I barely knew him, yet his death was almost as hard on me as my own parents.” Kate looks away from me and out the window. I could ease her pain and tell her what I think—that Damian is alive—but even if he is, there’s a good chance neither of us will see him again. While Kate is in pain, she appears to have accepted his death. Giving her false hope will only hurt her more in the long run.
“What was he like?” she finally asks, turning her eyes back to me.
A small laugh escapes me. “I used to hate you—or I wanted to hate you. Did you know that?” Kate’s eyes flash before she shakes her head no.
“I wanted to hate you because Damian fell in love with you from the day he knew you existed.” Her eyes water. “That’s the kind of man he was.” I pause, pushing down my own tears. “A lot of people might call Damian horrible things, but to me, he’ll always be my daddy.”
Kate sniffles. “I love that. I love that he was everything you needed him to be. And thank you ...” I give her a baffled look. “Thank you for being everything he needed in return. He might have taken the wrong baby, but he didn’t regret you for a second because you were and always will be Damian’s little girl.”
I wipe away a tear and chuckle. “You always make it so darn hard to hate you,” I joke.
“Good, because you might have to beat me off with a stick after that baby is born,” she adds with a smile.
“I’m sure we’ll need all the babysitters we can get,” I tell Kate as she starts walking toward the door. She picks up her purse and gives me a serious look. “Thanks for listening to me. It’s hard to talk about him with Gavin. He sees everything so bla
ck and white sometimes,” she adds with a shrug.
“Damian lives in a gray world. Believe me, I understand.”
Kate gives me a weak smile. “I need to get going.”
“Thanks for coming over.” I give Kate a hug before she walks out to her car.
I eat a light snack before wandering back to the baby’s room. I’m sorting through all the thousands of things everyone has purchased for him when I hear a knock at the door. I glance out the window but I don’t see anyone. I start to walk away when I hear a knock again. Deciding Kate must have returned, I open the door. Instantly, my heart sinks to my stomach. Standing before me is Manuel Ramos—my childhood best friend, the man who threatened to kill me—and I just willingly opened our front door.
“What?” I barely get out before he slams his hand over my mouth. Manuel starts dragging me out of the house and toward a dark van. Panic sets in as I realize what’s about to happen. I latch my teeth down on his hand, causing him to scream before he backhands me.
“You bitch,” he yells as another man I’ve never seen before jumps out of the back of the vehicle and helps Manuel drag me into the van.
The door slams shut as a third man drives us away. Manuel looks down at my stomach with disgust on his face. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me. You of all people.” He shakes his head and clenches his teeth. I suck in a breath as fear sets in.
“I had plans for us. I was going to make you fucking happy,” he growls. I learned a lot of things growing up in my father’s home, and one of them was to know when to keep my mouth shut, which is what I’m doing now.
“Everything is screwed the fuck up and it’s all your damn fault.” The vehicle continues racing down the road as my eyes spot the man next to Manuel pointing a gun at me. I swallow and bring my eyes back to Manuel.
“You knew he was alive, didn’t you?” Manuel frantically asks, but again, I stay silent. This is the second conversation in the last hour I’ve had about him, only this time I have no idea what in the world Damian has done.
The vehicle slows down then comes to a complete stop before the back door is opened. “We’re here,” the driver says in Spanish.
An evil smile crosses Manuel’s face. “It’s time we finally have some fun, friend.” The other man grabs my foot, drags me to the edge of the van, and then yanks me out of the vehicle as hard as he can, which causes me to fall to the ground. I scream as pain shoots up my back.
The driver starts ranting in Spanish about keeping me quiet as Manuel grips my hand, forcing my arm painfully behind my back. “Shut the hell up,” he breathes into my ear before shoving me in the direction of the other two men.
My eyes scan the area around us but nothing looks familiar. I’m guessing we weren’t in the van for more than ten minutes so we can’t be far from home, but seeing as I don’t drive anywhere, everything still seems foreign to me.
I step into a building that looks like an old warehouse that’s been abandon for years. Boxes and papers are scattered everywhere, cobwebs and dust are on everything, but it’s not until I see an old mattress in the middle of the room that panic sets in.
“What are you doing, Manuel?” My voice cracks with fear as one of the other men twists my arm and shoves me on the mattress
“Shut up,” he growls. My eyes find Manuel again, hoping like hell the boy I once knew is still somewhere inside him. Manuel watches me, his eyes almost sad before he shakes his head, trying to clear whatever thought he had.
“He needs to pay for what he did!” Manuel screams at me. “An eye for an eye.” His eyes travel down to my stomach before he exhales loudly.
“It didn’t have to be this way. You belonged to me...You always have. Even that worthless piece of shit father of yours knew you belonged to me. Then you come up here.” He shakes his head while his eyes burn into mine. “You come up here and spread your legs like some fucking whore. The woman I was going to marry.” He pauses as his chest heaves with anger. “I was going to make you happy...so fucking happy, but you ruined it.” I’m watching Manuel so I don’t notice the other two men who crawled up next to me. They both grab a hand and cuff me to a bar at the end of the bed.
“I’m sorry it has to end like this...I loved you, Izzy,” Manuel says with more compassion than he’s showed me all night.
“I love you, Manuel. Don’t do this,” I plead as tears start falling down my face. He pauses long enough that the men standing over me start arguing in Spanish. I’m only catching every couple of words, but I heard enough to know they plan to kill me and they’re worried their boss wants to back out.
Manuel shakes his head and shouts, “Stop!” The room goes silent before he squats down next to me. “I’m sorry,” he says again before one of the men shoves a towel in my mouth. I panic, struggling for air until a tingle passes through my body. My arms and legs start to feel heavy. My eyes move back to Manuel’s sad ones for only a second before the room goes black.
****
Kiran
“I’m done,” I tell Alex as I rub my hands over my face. Hill Software, Gavin’s company, is merging one of our own programs with a company that’s hired Gavin to monitor their system, and it’s been anything but easy.
Gavin worked with us for most of the day but he went home to have dinner with Kate and Callie, then he plans to return. Now, I’m thinking he had the right idea because going home to Isabelle sounds great.
“I’ll stay until Gavin gets back,” Alex says, sounding just as tired as I feel.
“Dude, take a break. Go home, eat something, and unwind for a while,” I say through a yawn. The last two days, our lives have been consumed with this merger. As long as we don’t hit any snags, everything should be up and running by the time the baby arrives, which is what all three of us are hoping for.
After my son is born, I plan to take a few weeks off, and I expect Alex will miss a few days himself. “Nah. I’ll stay until Gavin gets back. We’re so damn close to having this done. It will be nice if I can go out and celebrate before Isabelle goes into labor,” he adds with a smirk. I’m sure his idea of celebrating includes a woman, probably Brooke.
“It might not hurt you to take a break and go see Brooke,” I add as I grab my phone off my desk.
“Things didn’t work out with her.” Alex shrugs. I haven’t known him for long, but long enough to know he doesn’t go through women as fast as I once did. He’s definitely had his fair share of hook ups since he’s moved to Denver, but he also seems like he wants a relationship—something I thought he was building with Brooke.
“What happened? She seemed nice.” I saw the way they got along when I went out on a date with them. They acted like two people who were most definitely falling for each other.
“She’s nice but ...” He takes a deep breath. “She upset Isabelle.” He pauses again. “Telling her about you and Kami and making it sound like it was a bigger deal than it was...that pissed me off.”
My eyes narrow from his comment. Isabelle didn’t act like Brooke was trying to cause problems. She just happened to mention something I should have told her about. “I don’t need a catty woman in my life...so we’re done.”
“Sorry, man,” I add before pulling out my keys.
“It is what it is. Go home to my sister and I’ll see you tomorrow,” he adds, cutting off our conversation about his love life.
“See you tomorrow.” I make my way outside only to discover it’s already dark.
Shit...how long have I been working? I glance at my watch, realizing it’s almost nine o’clock. I can’t believe Isabelle didn’t send me a text wondering when I would be home.
I push my hands-free button on my steering wheel and connect a call to Isabelle on the drive home, but she doesn’t answer. I’m guessing she’s already asleep. I hate that I’m working these crazy hours, but I’m doing it so I won’t leave Gavin and Alex in a bind when the baby arrives.
I pull in the drive of our new place, and as I was expecting, the house is d
ark. But as I step up on the porch, ready to unlock the door, my heart drops to my stomach when I see the front door slightly ajar. I swallow down my nerves as I push it open. I move from one room to the next, but everything appears to be in place, except for the fact that Isabelle is nowhere to be found.
I call her phone again, hoping like hell that she left with Kate and forgot to tell me, but my hope is crushed when her phone lights up on our kitchen table. My heart thumps wildly as my anxiety completely takes over my ability to think.
I hit Gavin’s number on my phone and it rings until I finally get his voicemail. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This can’t be happening. There’s no way Isabelle would have left again. She knows how much I want her and our child. We’re building a life, a family together. If she’s not with Kate then...someone has taken her.
Isabelle
My head is pounding as my eyes slowly open. I’m still chained to the filthy mattress, but I don’t see Manuel and his disgusting friends. I attempt to swallow, but my throat is dry and scratchy. I have no idea what they gave me or how long I’ve been here, but I’ve been out of it long enough that my bladder gave up. Now I’m not only lying on this nasty bed, but I’m also lying in my own filth. The only positive I can muster up is the fact that I can still feel my baby moving.
Tears form in my eyes as the thought that he won’t be okay for much longer sets in. In the thirty-six weeks I’ve been pregnant, I’ve put my child at risk more than a drug addict probably has, and now he’s more than likely going to die right along with me.
I close my eyes, fighting my tears, when I hear someone next to me. I hold my breath, waiting for something to happen, when I hear Manuel’s raw, almost exposed voice.
“It was never supposed to turn out like this. I spent my entire life loving you. Waiting for you to grow up enough that he’d accept us, accept that you weren’t a little girl anymore.” Manuel sighs but I’ve yet to open my eyes. I think it’s possible he believes I’m still out from whatever they gave me because this is a nicer version of the man who unwillingly dragged me out of my house.
Locked Away (Living With Lies Book 2) Page 22