Page 114 of My Vows Are Sealed

“You have no fucking room to speak, Judas!” my father growled. “You defiled her! Planted a demon inside her! Conspired to hide her from her father!”

“Iprotectedher!” Brendan spat back. “And I’lldieprotecting her if I have to!”

The sound of sirens echoed in my ears as I rolled over, looking just in time to see Brendan knee my father in the groin and then push him backward the second he doubled over. Brendan looked completely unharmed, but I noticed a trail of blood coming out of my father’s nose.

Oh, thank God.Brendanwas the one who had thrown the punch, not my father.

“You raped my little girl! Sheneverwould have defiled herself like that!” my father yelled as Brendan straddled his chest, pinning his arms down, and threw another punch.

Wait. Just a minute ago, he was telling me how I was a whore who wanted it so badly that I would seduce my own father, but now he was saying I wouldn’t have defiled myself? What kind of game was he playing?

Four police officers walked in the open door, and the reality of this situation came crashing down on me. My father had heard the sirens too. He’d known the police were coming. And Brendan was the only one without a scratch on him.

He’d just set my fiancé up to get arrested for rape.

Before I could say anything to the contrary, my father looked at the police officers, his entire demeanor changing in a split second. One second, he was maniacal and sadistic, and now he looked helpless and victimized.

“Please help me, officers,” he sniveled. “This man kidnapped and raped my daughter and I walked in on him hurting her. I tried to pull him off of her, but he was too strong.”

“No!” I screamed. “No, he didn’t!”

“She’s confused,” my dad countered, continuing his charade. “I came here to take her back home. She’s only seventeen.”

“No! He was protecting me!” I cried.

The police officers pulled Brendan off of my father, and my father got up and rushed over to me, pulling me into his arms. This time, there was no stopping the bile that rose in my stomach, and I threw up all over him.

Why weren’t the police listening to me? Why were they acting like Brendan was the one who was in the wrong here?

Jesus, make them listen to me,I begged.Please, God, don’t let them take him away. I need him. Please.

My father’s eyes hardened and he looked like he was about to spit fire as he looked down at the vomit on his arms and shirt, but instead of yelling at me or trying to hit me again, he kept up the charade.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he murmured, almost sounding human. “You don’t have to lie for him anymore. You can tell them what he did to you.”

“Brendan didn’t do anything,” I sobbed. “He didn’t. He was trying to help me.”

“Get her some help. Please. Can’t you see she’s hurt?” Brendan rasped, his voice thick with tears.

“Don’t you worry. We’ll take real good care of her,” I heard one of the police officers mutter, and the sound of handcuffs clinking shut echoed in my ears. “I’m going to need you to come with me and answer some questions.”

“You don’t have to restrain me, officer,” he said calmly. “I’ll come with you. Just please help her.”

I leaned out of my father’s arms and looked at Brendan, and he half-smiled at me.

“I’ll come meet you at the hospital as soon as I can, baby,” he tried to assure me, but I could see my heart-stopping terror mirrored in his eyes. “I love you.”

“Okay, Romeo, let’s go,” the officer snapped, grabbing his arm and leading him toward the door.

“Don’t arrest him,” I begged. “Please don’t arrest him. He didn’t hurt me.”

More tears spilled over my cheeks as my pleas fell on deaf ears and two of the officers escorted the man I loved out the door in handcuffs. They were taking the man who was trying to protect me away and leaving me with the man who had been beating me to a bloody pulp. How was this protecting and serving?

One of the remaining officers came over to us, and he looked at me and my father, then crouched down in front of us, smiling at me.

“Can you tell me your name, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Darla,” I choked out. “Darla Jones. Don’t arrest my fiancé. Please. He didn’t do anything. He was trying to help me.”

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