Page 7 of The Preachers' Promise
My heart fucking stalls in my chest. Someone wrote to her from that damn cult?
I'm not sure how much Dominic knows about Ophelia's past, and I don't want to tell him what happened to her. That's her story to tell, not mine. The news, however, that she was contacted by someone from the cult makes my blood run cold.
I debate telling him all I know, reluctant to, but wondering if he’ll have more information. However, he speaks before I can come to a decision.
“Do you know where she was … before she was here?” His green eyes regard me cooly.
I think he’s going to tell me what he knows so I don't say anything, I merely give a shrug and a non-committal grunt.
Dom is clearly keen to show off that he knows more about our girl than we do. “According to my father, she was taken and held in a secretive, hidden away, religious commune. A deranged cult. Well, it seems a letter arrived at her home from a girl there. As you can imagine, it completely freaked her parents out as they thought the cult had possibly found them. They decided they wanted her back home under armed guard, twenty-four-seven.”
Malachi punches the wall in frustration, making me jump.
“That's bullshit,” he says. “She stays here. We can keep her safe. There's a perimeter around the college, ever since all that crap went down with your stepmom, which I'm really sorry about,” he adds as an obvious afterthought. “But ever since that, there's been heightened security here. I don't think anyone could just waltz onto the college grounds and take someone right from under our noses.”
I turn and glance at Mal as I consider what he’s said. As much as I want her here, he’s wrong. “I don't think that's true. It’s happened before. Didn’t Lex get taken while he was on the grounds? The college covers a massive area; you can't police all those acres every second of the day.”
Mal narrows his eyes at me. “They have drones.”
“Cain is right,” Roman interjects, speaking for the first time in a while. “The college grounds are huge. Even with drone coverage, there's going to be dark spots.”
He turns to focus on Dom. “The security your father put in place is excellent. I’m not denying that, but I’m merely pointing out that somewhere with as much acreage as this college has is never going to be as safe as having somebody back home. Under lock and key.”
“Yeah, well, that was her parents’ conclusion, too,” Dom says. “My father wasn't happy about it, but what could he do? He couldn't guarantee her safety one hundred percent. Not now people from the damn cult can track her down. From what her parents told my dad, the place she was held was led by a guy who was completely insane. The fact that someone from there knows where she lives must have them in a state of terror.”
“You’re all missing the fucking bigger picture. Jesus.” Mal digs his hands into his hair, making it messy and tussled. “Her parents, too. They’ve taken her back to the one place someone in that cult knows the address of. It doesn't make sense.”
“My dad says that her father mentioned moving somewhere for a while. Somewhere the cult won’t find them.”
Shit, this is bad. If we don’t find her soon, we might lose her forever. Would her father run with her, or decide to protect her from his house? I remember their house is easy to guard. He has men. Then again, he’s not as powerful as he once was. Waning power makes a person fearful, less in control.
“He’s fucking idiotic,” Mal mutters.
“Listen, I'm a father now,” Dom says.
I manage to suppress my eye roll. I’m not in the mood for a ‘You’ll understand when you have your own kids’ lecture.
She’s not our child; she’s our fucking everything. And just because we don’t have a toddler or whatever the fuck Dom’s daughter is classed as now, doesn’t mean we lack all imagination about how to look after someone or keep them safe.
“Spare us,” Mal mutters.
I bite back my smile because this time I’m in full agreement.
Dom’s eyes darken. “Listen, fucker, I'm telling you that if there was a threat againstmybaby girl, the only place that I'd want her to be iswith me, under my roof. That way, it falls on me to keep her safe. I’d die before I let anyone touch a hair on her head.” He sighs, some of the aggression bleeding out of him.“The college can't provide that level of care. It’s as simple as that. Her father knows he will give his life for her. The college can’t.”
No, the college can’t,but we can.
I look around the old water tower, and an idea forms. It’s a vision of the future I want. In the immediate moment, we simply need to find her and make sure she’s safe, but longer term, would she move in with us here?
If she came back, we could all move into this place and make it our home. Even if we somehow neutralized the threat from the cult, her father’s waning influence means she might not be safe from other mafia families either, but with us, she’d be protected at all times. We could ensure the tower was guarded, and that she was never without at least one of us by her side. Who would protect her better than the three men who have fallen for her?
And we have fallen. We may not have fully discussed everything, but I know I'm right and we’re all head over heels for our Pet. She belongs to us. She isours.Nobody messes with what belongs to the Preachers.
As I look around with a critical eye, I realize we’ll need to put some work into the place, but that is doable. We have the basics; it just needs fancying up a bit and a room designed purely for her.
“Fuck this. We need to get her back with us,” Malachi says. He's the one pacing now. Up and down, around the couch, and back again, repeatedly. “I don't think she'll be safe at her parents’. Not if those people from that damn cult know where she's living. And if they move her, we’ll never see her again. We need to call, speak to her parents, and reason with them.”
Dom barks out a laugh. “Oh, I can see that going well. Go and have a talk with the father and let him know that three of you are screwing his precious daughter. I'm sure he'll let her come back then.”
