“Oh, my dear boy, how are you?” She reaches Corban and gives him a tight, excited squeeze. “And you, little miss, how are you feeling?”

I glance over her shoulder at Rachel, giving her a small glare. How could she tell her mother before us? She needs a gag. It won't surprise me if she and Axel are actually into that stuff.

“We’re going good, Mom. I guess by your reaction that Rachel has already gotten to you both.” He looks between his mum and Athena, who just smiles and nods.

Wow, so she approves?

“Yes she did, and I’m extremely excited to become a grandma!” she squeals as she wraps me in an embrace. “Now you need to be taking care of yourself, dear. I’m sure your boss won’t mind if you drop back a few days, especially during the morning sickness stage.” She gives Corban a little glare.

“I’m all right for now, but if it becomes too much, I’m sure he’ll look after me.” I smile.

“My dear, what happened to your arm?” She instantly becomes concerned, the worry written over her face.

“We went out the other night—” I begin and I’m cut off.

“You were what? While you’re pregnant?”

“Stop, Mom, before you get too far ahead of yourself,” Corban interjects. “Keep going, Mel.”

“Okay, so I should say that this was all before we found out I was pregnant. We went out, I tripped up some stairs and landed funny, coming down on my wrist and breaking it, hence the cast.”

“How long are you in the cast for?” Catherine asks as she busies herself once again.

“About four to six weeks. I’ll get a check-up at four weeks and they’ll decide then what will happen.”

She nods and keeps preparing dinner. “How are you feeling? I know it’s early, but I do hope that it’s not too bad for you.”

I knew the pregnancy questions were coming sooner or later. “I’ve been all right. I think the sickness has started to kick in, but I guess that’s to be expected with twins, so—”

“Twins?” Catherine squeals in excitement. Rachel must have missed out on that tiny detail. “Oh my goodness.” She actually looks like she needs to sit down for a little while. If only she knew how I was feeling.

“Ah…yeah. Sorry, I thought that Rachel had already told you all the details.”

“I think that little piece of information was overlooked. Rachel!” she calls out, startling me.

Less than a minute later Rachel comes in giving her knowing smile. “What’s up, Mom?”

“Did you forget to mention anything…any tiny details perhaps?”

Rachel just keeps smiling and shrugs her shoulders. “Well, I couldn’t ruin it all for them, so I left the major details out,” she laughs.

I didn’t see Athena leave. Corban has stepped outside and is talking with Axel, who I hadn’t even noticed was there. I hear voices coming towards the kitchen. As I look to the doorway, my blood turns cold as I’m face to face with Jacob.

Why is he here?

Why is Athena cozy with him?

I look at her standing beside him and how she’s all caught up in what he’s saying. He looks up and gives me his most evil grin, as though he knew I’d be here and honestly, I can’t think why he’d be here. I don’t move from my seat. I just stare at him.

“Oh. Athena, honey, who is your friend?” Catherine is oblivious to what this man is capable of and, of course, has no idea of the devil that’s walked through her door. Athena has invited him in, allowing him access to Corban’s family, and me.

Before she can reply, a door slams behind me. I already know who it is and I’m sure I won’t be able to stop him, especially after what I’ve been put through lately with Abby showing back up and being threatened by him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Corban storms across the room and grabs Jacob by the scruff of his shirt, getting up in his face.

I move quickly, trying to defuse the situation. This is not that time, or place, to get revenge. Even though it would give me immense pleasure to watch Corban beat the living crap out of him. I don’t think his mum would approve since she’s already yelling at Corban to get off Jacob.

Once Axel has Corban held back and settled, everyone is in the kitchen now and Corban’s parents are oblivious to what vile creature has been welcomed into their home.

“Corban, you better have a good excuse for acting like that!” Catherine says in her take-no-crap tone.

“This is the man responsible for causing so much pain to my family and the loss of Abby, my sister,” I say before Corban gets a chance to reply. He’s just too angry to respond reasonably and as I say the words, I see the shock register on her face.

“Athena, how could you?” she breathlessly asks her daughter. Her shoulders slump as she heaves a heavy sigh and looks away from Athena, who’s unable to meet her eyes again.

I can just imagine what I must look like. I actually feel like I’m having an out of body experience. I kinda feel for Athena, because obviously he’s brainwashed her into thinking we are the bad guys.

“Mom, they’re the ones that are lying. Her sister is still alive,” she screamed at us.

Oh, my goodness, could this night get any worse?

That’s not something the world needs to know right now, especially Corban’s parents before my own. Catherine turns toward me, Corban, and Rachel. I cast my eyes down so I don’t have to meet her questioning gaze.

“Mom, there are things that we are unsure about yet and that’s one of them,” Corban has calmed down enough to speak in a reasonable tone.

Catherine looks like she has a million questions running through her mind. “Athena, darling, how can you trust this man after hearing about what had happened, and how her sister was treated by this man?” She gestures towards Jacob, who’s standing there with a wry smile on his face. He’s such a manipulator. He can twist things his way with ease. He has a gift for having people believe in him. Anger begins to bubble within me and I can’t hold myself back.

“You’re a twisted sick bastard, Jacob! Why can’t you just leave me and my family alone?” I yell at him from across the room.

“Melodi…I don’t know what you mean. I’ve kept my distance.”

I wish his lie burnt his mouth. “You’re a liar and a manipulator. I don’t know what you’ve filled Athena’s head with, but I’m sure it’s all lies like everything that dribbles from your mouth.” I turn toward Catherine. “I’m sorry the night has been ruined. But unfortunately, I can’t, no, I won’t stay a moment longer while he’s here.”

Corban walks towards me, taking my hand in his. A simple gesture but it speaks volumes as it’s the support I need.

“Sorry, Mom. We’ll talk soon. And Athena, I really hope you wake up and soon because that man right there is manipulating you.” With that said, Corban gives his mum a kiss on her cheek and leaves. Rachel and Axel decide to leave with us. I think Rachel might actually want to hurt her sister for the stupid mistake she’s making. I can only hope that Athena doesn’t get hurt, or even worse. I know he’s just told her lies and she’s young and stupid enough that she will believe him no matter what anyone tells her.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Abby

We finally arrived at our temporary apartment and things between Blake and I are, to say the least, tense. We haven’t spoken much about the whole Katie issue. I feel terrible not having told him, but with things the way they were it wasn’t high on my list of priorities to try to reach out to him and risk putting myself, and my baby, back in danger.

Katie is coping pretty well considering all that’s happened lately. She’s a bright little girl and has really taken to Blake, which makes me happy. He’s so sweet. When they play together, her happy little giggles fill me with joy knowing that she’s able to connect with her dad so easily.

Sitting in the unfamiliar place, I can hear Blake reading Katie a story. Thankfully, the apartment is furnished and we didn’t have to worry about all that stuff. My mind hasn’t had much time to process what’s been happening. When Blake showed up on my doorstep a few days ago, every emotion from happiness straight to fear ran through me. I couldn’t believe he was there. I thought it was a dream. He looked as good as he did those years ago, and my heart lit up with excitement as my nerves kicked in.