Page 41 of The Preachers' Promise
She jerks back. “What? No! God, no.” She sniffs and looks down at her lap. “But he’s scary. Really scary when someone makes him truly mad.”
“Did you make him mad?”
She lifts her head and meets my gaze head on. “No, he didn’t hurt me, Mal. Now, drop it, please.”
I sigh but nod my acquiescence and turn back in my seat. The other two come out of the house and wave us in. I jump out of the driver’s seat and jog around to get Ophelia’s door and help herout. She’s shaky and, as soon as her small hand rests in mine, I can’t resist. I pull her into me and hug her.
She goes stiff and still in my arms.
It hurts that she doesn’t hug me back, and I let go. She tucks her hands into the pockets of the pink patient scrubs she’s still wearing and puts her head down, no longer wanting to meet my eye.
“Let’s go inside,” I say, trying not to take the moment personally.
The front door of the safehouse opens into a double height entrance hall with a staircase in the middle. To the left, a door leads into a bright eat-in kitchen, and the right appears to be the living room. Behind the other doors are most likely an office or small den, or perhaps a utility room. We’ll find out soon enough when we explore.
Cain and Roman are waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.
“It’s clear,” Cain says, though I assume only to reassure Ophelia as he already waved us in.
It feels like we should have bags with us, but we haven’t brought anything. We even abandoned Ophelia’s few belongings at the facility. I grimace at Roman in his bloodstained uniform. I hope Cain’s friend will have some clothes for us to change into.
Ophelia smiles brightly at the three of us. Too brightly. “I’d like a bath, if that’s okay.” Her gaze travels up the stairs. “I’m sure I’ll be able to find it.”
“Ophelia, do you need to talk about what happened?” Roman asks.
She holds her hand up, cutting any of us off from further questions. “I’m fine. I would just really like a bath and a bit of time to get my head together. Thank you for coming to get me.”
Then she brushes past Cain and Roman and disappears up the stairs, and I’m left puzzled and pissed off. This isn’t the reunion I was envisioning.
I turn to the other two, taking in Roman’s blood-soaked clothes again. I’m about to demand he tell me what happened when he speaks up. He keeps his voice low so Ophelia doesn’t overhear.
“I walked in on a guy bending her over the bed, her pants down, and his dick out, about to rape her.”
My blood freezes in my veins. “What?”
“Yeah.”
“So that explains the blood.” Cain’s face is a mask of fury as he pounds his fist into his opposite hand. “I’m glad you hurt the fucker, but I swear to God, I want to go back there right now and tear that son of a bitch limb from limb.”
I feel the exact same way. The thought of another man so much as putting a finger on Ophelia makes me rage. I’m seconds away from jumping back in the car and returning to the facility to find him. Blood rushes in my ears as my adrenaline jumps, and I squeeze my fists so tight I know my black-painted nails have left moon shaped crescents in my palms. I speak from between gritted teeth, doing my best to control myself. “Did you, like, gut him in front of her or something? Leave his entrails hanging out? She’s kind of spooked, and I don’t think it’s just from the attempted rape.” I don’t say that she seems scared ofRoman,but it’s what I mean.
Roman drags his hand through his blond hair. “I lost it, and I … I um … I might have cut his dick off.”
I stare, not having a fucking thing to say to that.
“And then I choked him with it,” he finishes.
I blink at him. No wonder Ophelia is so freaked out. Not only was she almost raped, but she watched a man having his cock cut off then shoved down his throat. I’m sure she’s pleasedRoman stopped her assault in time, but it’s hardly surprising she’s fucking traumatized.
“Fucking hell, Rome,” I sputter. “You couldn’t have just stabbed him in the guts or something?”
He shrugs. “It seemed appropriate, considering the circumstances.”
Anger roils inside me. Perhaps it isn’t Roman I’m angry at—it’s most likely the asshole who tried to hurt Ophelia, but he’s not here anymore.
“Didn’t you think about how that would affect Ophelia, witnessing something like that? You know how vulnerable she is.”
Roman glares at me, his green eyes hard. “No, I didn’t fucking think. I just knew that any man who touches her without her permission deserves to choke on his own cock.”
