CHAPTER FOUR
“Sgt. Major, you know this woman?” asked one of the men.
“Fuck yes, I know her. Take care of the others. I need to speak with her,” he said gripping her wrist and pulling.
“Don’t hurt Sister Irene!” yelled a boy. Grayson turned to stare at her.
“Sister Irene?” he frowned.
“Ouch,” she whispered.
He stopped, looking down at the raw marks on her wrist. He wasn’t sure where to touch, where to avoid, so he did what seemed natural, he lifted her and carried her out of the cave. In the cool night air, the moonlight shining down on them both, he stared at her familiar face.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he grumbled.
“Well, I was waiting for Door Dash with my takeout order,” she smirked.
“This isn’t fucking funny, Jennifer. Do Moose and Erica know that you’re here?”
“No. I mean, yes, and no. It’s not what it looks like, Grayson. I work for an agency that stops the trafficking of women and children. I’m obviously not a nun. It didn’t start out this way but, but something changed.” She looked away from him and his frowned deepened, if that were possible.
“What changed?” he growled.
“The priest that was with us, he was selling the women and children. He gave us up. But that’s not all.”
“Tell me,” he said gripping her shoulders. She hissed through her teeth and he frowned.
“I’m bruised everywhere, Grayson. Could you maybe use those big hands to bandage me?” He nodded, pushing her toward a rock near the cave opening. Immediately, he began cleaning and bandaging her wounds.
“Talk while I do this.”
“Six years ago when I came to France for college I was attacked.” He stared up at her with a fierce expression.
“What? And you didn’t tell us?”
“Grayson. Focus. My friends and I went to a club, the thing stupid college kids do. I left the club. I was uncomfortable. I was followed, dragged into an alley, beaten and raped.” She said it as if she were reading a story line from a novel. No emotion.
“Jennifer,” he whispered.
“I’m good now. I did get counseling, mostly from the Sisters in there. I knew that there was something else happening and the Sisters knew it as well. A few months ago, a new priest arrived, Father Kyle.”
“Father Kyle? That seems an odd name for a priest,” he said taping the wrist.
“It is. Something was off from the start and the Sisters knew it as well. When the soldiers came into the village four nights ago, we ran. He told us to hide behind a boulder. A very obvious bolder.
“He then gave us to those men at the bottom of the mountain.” Grayson stared at her, the marks on her face doing nothing to hide the exotic beauty. “He was one of the men that raped me, Grayson. I always felt like there was something familiar about him. I didn’t realize it until it was too late.”
“Sgt. Major? We have to go,” said one of the men. He nodded.
“Are the others alright?” he asked.
“Thirsty, hungry, scratched up but nothing like what she endured. The Sisters said you took every beating, every punishment for them. Brave.”
“Thank you.”
“I wasn’t complementing you,” frowned the Marine. “It was stupid.”
“Well, I can see where he learned his bedside manner,” she said with a smirk.
“This isn’t funny, Jennifer. I need to call your father.”
“No!” she said gripping his hands. She held them tightly, too tight for her small body. Grayson looked at their joined hands, then at her face. Too young. She was too young. “No. Please, Grayson. Not yet. They didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t want them to know.”
“Do you forget that this is what our family does?” he said under his breath.
“I know. I know, you’re right but this is different. I want to, I need to get that priest. I need to bury him,” she said.
“So, this is all a vendetta? Fuck no, Jennifer. It’s not happening!” he said standing.
“Sir, no offense but if you could keep your voice down and not give us away, we’d all appreciate it,” said the corporal. “We’ll be walking down, as planned, on the back side of the mountain. If you two follow, that would be ideal but please sir, no disrespect intended, shut the fuck up.”
Grayson raised his brows at the young man and chuckled. Jennifer gave him a small smile.
“I’ll explain it all, Grayson. Please don’t give me away. Not yet.” She stood from the rock and he realized that she wasn’t wearing a full habit. He looked her up and down and then at the other Sisters.
“They burned my habit as they were attacking me. Thank goodness I was wearing a thermal long-sleeve shirt beneath it.”
“Thank goodness?” he frowned. “In case you haven’t noticed you’re barefoot, wearing nothing but white panties and that damn shirt that’s too tight for you.” Her brows lifted as she stared up at him. He was so much larger than she was and time had only made him more handsome, more rugged.
“Unless you have a spare dress, I have nothing else to wear,” she said softly.
One of his men had a child on his shoulders, another held by the hand. He tapped the kid on his shoulders on the knee and the little boy handed her something in the dark.
“I had an extra pair of sweats in my pack,” he said softly. “They have a drawstring waist. They’ll be big, but you’ll be warm.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as he walked away.
She shoved her feet into one leg than hurriedly attempted the other leg.
She hadn’t realized how much that was going to hurt, how much her inner thighs and groin were bruised.
She started to tip forward and then felt the big hands of Grayson Michaels grip her upper arms. He stood her up and then kneeled in front of her.
He placed her hands on his shoulders and then held open the leg of the sweatpants.
“Thank you,” she said staring down at him. He nodded, then began rolling the legs up so she wouldn’t trip. Mindlessly, she lay her hands on his head, feeling the thick dark hair beneath her fingers. His breath quickened and her heart began racing.
“We have to go,” he said standing. She only nodded as he grabbed her hand and began walking down the mountain. Realizing she also had no shoes, he stopped and cursed under his breath. He crouched once more, tapping the back of his pack.
“Get on.”
“Grayson, it’s too much. I’ll be fine,” she said attempting to walk by him. His gripped her waist, pulling her back.
“Get on my fucking back or you won’t like the way I carry you down this mountain.”
She thought about all the snide comments, the retorts moving through her head. She thought about how her heart had nearly pounded through her chest when he was standing in the back of the auditorium at her high school graduation. She thought about her parents and that did her in.
Silently weeping, she climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He pulled her tighter to him, then held her hands.
“Where are we going?” she whispered, suddenly exhausted.
“Home.”