Wanting Mr. Barkley (Book 2)

Chapter Fourteen . . . Reliving

Chapter Fourteen . . .Reliving

Derek's POV

We sat at the table in silence.
Garrett and I could both tell that something was wrong and kept giving each other glances as we watched Karen play with her food like she was sick.

"Karen are you okay?" I asked, but she didn't respond. "Karen?" I asked again.

Her head popped up showing her pale face.

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." She said shakily and stood up from her seat. "I'm going to go sit down in the living room for a minute." She said before quickly leaving the room.

"What's wrong with her?" Garrett asked, staring at the door where his mother left.

"I'm going to find out." I said standing up and went into the living room where Karen was sitting staring blankly at the wall. "Karen?" I called and sat next to her.

"I guess now is the time to tell you about me, huh?" She laughed humorlessly.

"You don't have to." I told her.

"No, I have to now that he's found me."

"Who found you?" I asked calmly so that I didn't scare Karen, but I wanted to yell and scream to find out who was hurting her. She shook a little bit, but still didn't answer.

"Karen, please?" I begged.

"Garrett's father, he's not dead." She whispered.

"What do you mean, he's not dead?" I asked confused. I grabbed her hands and she looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

"It's really hard to explain."

"Just start from the begining."  I said, wanting to know what caused her so much pain.

"I had a nice family when I was younger. My mother, father, and I had a little sister." She started easily. "Daddy owned a farm and that was our only way of eating and getting money."

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, but I didn't say anything. I needed to hear this from her, but I wanted her to go at her own pace.

"Daddy had a gambling problem. He blew his money on card games and whatever he could play. My mother and him were always fighting about it, but he would say, 'you don't understand the thrill.' What does that even mean?" She asked sadly.

I watched her eyes and it was like they were darting back and fourth between the past and present.

"One day we ran out of money, but that didn't stop him from playing. He-he bet the farm to some man, and he lost." She whispered and I stayed silent. "He came home that day in a limo with the man with him. Daddy was so heart broken to lose the family farm, but he couldn't do anything about it. I remember my sister was too young to understand why we were packing our things, and my mother just sobbed uncontrollably as the man explained what had happened. He was so grim and dead looking until he saw me-"
She stopped talking and looked at me ashamed. "He offered my father a deal, he could keep the farm and his business if the man could have me."

"Your dad traded you, for his damn farm?" I asked angrily.

She shook her head.

"No, daddy said no, but I went with him anyway. The man, Max, told me that he would burn down the farm with my family in it."

I put my arms around her and pulled her in tight.

"I didn't even get to say good-bye." She sobbed lightly.

I rubbed her shoulders gently hoping that it would calm her down or give her some sort of comfort.

"After I left we got married. He held a gun to the preacher's head and forced him to marry us, and then he killed him. I remember that he got blood splattered all over my wedding dress."

"Karen . . ." I tried to stop her but she continued.

"He took me back to his place and we -"

"Karen stop!" I said shaking her slightly. "You're not there anymore."

"He beat me and called me useless. He wanted me to be the perfect wife but I couldn't."

She was in a zone that I thought I couldn't get her out of until she blinked a couple of times. She then brought her knees up to her chest and tried to get me away from her, but I wouldn't budge.

"After I found out I was pregnant he was happy. He brought me home flowers and candies. It was like finally I was doing something right in our 'marriage'." She spit the last word. "He stopped beating me, but after I had Garrett he was so angry at me again. He actually dragged me out of the hospital right after I had Garrett and took me home." She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "He beat me that night, and that's when I decided that I was going to leave, and I did." She explained with a sigh.

"I got off of the bus, and I had nothing. It was going to rain and I panicked, but then your dad found us and I remember rambeling like an idiot, trying to find us a way to survive."

I smiled sadly at the thought of my deceased father. He was truly a great man, and he literally brought home the woman of my dreams.

"He said that I reminded him of his wife, and brought me to your house. You know the rest of the story."
She looked up at me and expected me to say something, but I was speechless.

I was never good with my words, and this is something that I didn't want to mess up.

"If you want to leave, that's fine." She said sadly looking at the floor.

"No, absolutely not. Karen, that wasn't your fault. You were protecting your family at your own price. Have you even spoke to your family?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No, it's too risky." She explained. "But he found us anyway." She whispered.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

She pulled out the card from her roses and handed it to me. I read it over before crumpling it up in my hand.

"I'm calling my brothers."

"No!" She yelled.

"Why? We can protect you!"

"You don't understand Max is a powerful man. He will kill anyone in his way and hide the body without anyone ever knowing." She explained.

"You think he scares me?" I asked standing up.

"He should." She said standing up with me and crossing her arms.
I shook my head.

"I'm calling everyone, and you can't stop us." I told her while pulling out my phone.

"What are you going to do tie me up?" She asked totally outraged.

"If you really want me to." I winked trying to lighten things up.

"Can you take anything seriously for once!" She yelled at me and then fell into a coughing fit. "Thi-this is-isn't over." She coughed before stomping into the kitchen.

Man did she have fire in her.

I looked down at my phone and began dialing my brother's number.

"Hey Dylan, I have a situation and need your help."