Chapter 19
Morgan
Some moments change everything forever.
The second my father found me in a church parking lot, with a man between my legs, I know nothing will be the same.
A gun points at Jack. He claws at the opposite door handle and rolls back out of the car. He’s gone.
“Are you okay?” Dad says and puts his firearm on the car floor. He searches around anxiously, checking if passerby’s saw the weapon or a man flee from the vehicle.
I sit up and hold my chest, my heart pounding. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
“Did he hurt you? What happened?”
“No, he didn’t hurt me. I... um.”
“He tried to rape you, didn’t he? Those Killborne brothers are obsessed with you! I’ll call the police. We’ll make both of those boys pay!”
“Daddy. He didn’t try to rape me,” I explain with painful angst in my voice.
“He was attacking you! We are getting you a bodyguard. Full-time. This will never happen again.”
Tears run down my cheeks, and I force myself to spit out the truth:
“I love Jack.”
He stares as if I just hit him across the face with a crowbar.
I twist my fingers nervously. I don’t know how to get out of this.
But his eyes sear, demanding an answer.
“Nothing happened, though. We just kissed.”
Shoot. Now I’m lying.
“This is why you stopped seeing Gabe, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I lie again, cringing.
The only truth I’ve spoken is the one I needed to say aloud.
I love Jack.
I really do.
The tension in the air thickens as he tries to digest this devastating information.
He pinches the bridge of his nose for a long while, then lifts his gaze to mine.
“Morgan, you will listen to me, and listen good. You will never see that boy again, got it?”
It isn’t like I have a plan with Jack. Quite the opposite. I never know what I am doing when it comes to him, but being told by someone else what I can and cannot do is jarring.
“I am an adult,” I reply with conviction. “You can’t say who I can see.”
His eyes darken and he drags his thumb along his peppered jawline.
“Do you honestly think adults can make any choice they wish? That’s juvenile thinking. You belong to a congregation that depends on you. You’re more than a leader. You are the embodiment of what our fellowship strives to be.”
“We are all flawed, though! Even you. We are sinners.”
“Yes, but your sins cannot be akin to breaking the ten commandments! You cannot commit grave depravity and expect the world around us not to crumble. The daughter, and future leader of this church, cannot have premarital sex. She cannot date an atheist. She cannot be caught in a parking lot like a goddamn jezebel.”
I hold myself tightly as the weight of expectations squeezes the air from my lungs.
“I know him,” he growls low. “Can you imagine how quickly you would be canceled if you were seen dating a nonbeliever? What a tremendous hypocrisy. They would question your faith. Think we are all an act.”
A tear rolls down my cheek and I wipe it away. He draws in a deep breath and points at the church.
“We have over a hundred employees who depend on us to feed their families. When we open the new megachurch, that jumps to three-hundred. We will only grow from there. You want a choice? You are choosing to ruin many lives for desires of the flesh. Is that what you choose?”
I shake my head.
“Say it, Morgan. Say it and mean it. I don’t want you ever talking to Jack again.”
“I won’t,” I assure, but the words taste awful on my tongue, but refusing feels worse.
He nods, approvingly. “I want you to pray for forgiveness tonight. Then, you will date Gabe and Blake and choose the one you like best.”
“Dad! That’s crazy.”
“No, that’s making an adult decision. Your twenty next week. The path you are on isn’t to go to college, party through your twenties, get a career, and then maybe have family. You wed early and start a family, and as husband and wife, you two will follow in my footsteps whenever I retire.”
I sniffle softly. I knew that expectation, too. I just thought my future husband would be an easy choice that happened naturally. Not one set up by my father.
“Okay,” I whisper.
He walks away.
And I die a little inside.
In just a few days, that moment reshaped my life.
I have bodyguards. Paul, Greg, and Owen. They take shifts. It’s suffocating and annoying.
Bailey has been tasked with giving my dad a daily rundown of my schedule and what happened the day before. She is no longer my assistant. She is his assistant.
My phone wasn’t taken from me so much as it was wiped clean. For my safety. And to ensure I stay safe, it is cloned to my father’s phone so he can see my messages.
“I am not worried about you talking to Jack. I trust you,” he explains. “It’s to make sure bad actors don’t scam you as we grow.”
I’m more tech savvy than my dad, so I’d catch a scammer before him. He just wants to be my gatekeeper from Jack.
Next, Eugene has been assigned to manage my personal finances.
“I don’t need an accountant, Dad.”
“You do. He will keep track of your spending and make sure you remain wise and frugal.”
No. It’s to better track me, but I just nod, otherwise I look suspicious when I am just trying to be my own person.
Lastly, he orders me to arrange dates with Gabe and Blake. At least one in the next week.
“What if Blake says no?” I complain.
“He won’t.”
“I don’t like Gabe that way.”
“God will show your best choice. A date is harmless. Set them up or I will.”
Dad hugs me, and it is suffocating. Not in the tightness of his hold, but in the power he wielded to upend my life. It happened so fast and effortlessly, like his mortal hand was God’s will.
As I lay my temple on his shoulder, I have never wanted to be further from God than I do now.
I am an awful person.
I should’ve begged Daddy to drop the charges against Noel. I asked, but when he gave his first, “No way in hades,” I accepted it without a fight.
Because I want to see Jack.
The courtroom is quiet. Everything echoes in here. Something as simple as a door shutting is amplified. It’s bright and formal.
I sit beside Dad in the front row behind the attorney.
The door swings open and Jack and Noel walk in. As they pass, Noel gives me a shy smile. Jack ignores me.
I stare openly because I can.
They sit beside the public defender and the judge starts.
It’s all over my head. Lots of legal jargon between the lawyers. Topics bounce around. Noel reads a statement apologizing and swears he will never contact my family again.
Then, I hear words like minor, guardianship, public figure, responsibility, then plea deal.
The judge gives her ruling.
“Noel Killborne, I have listened to the circumstances and read the prosecutor’s plea offer, which would find you guilty of trespassing and dismiss the other charges.
I accept these conditions and sentence you to pay a fifteen-hundred dollar fine and serve a hundred hours of community service in lieu of thirty days detention. ”
Jack slams his fist on the table. “Fifteen-hundred dollars!”
“You can make payments,” the judge says dismissively.
There is conversation between the parties and then it’s over. Dad grumbles, but he contains his frustration.
Before anyone leaves, I tell Dad, “I need to find a restroom,” then slip out. I wait outside the doors, praying for the perfect moment to act.
When the doors open, I glance away so Daddy doesn’t see my frown. I move to follow him, but Jack appears next.
It’s the second I need.
As slyly as I can, I slip a piece of paper into his hand and walk on without a second look.
“Please God,” I whisper. “Please.”