Sweet Temptation

by K. C. Lynn

  “You should have told him where I was.”

  “Hell no! Look at me, girl!”

  I lift my head and stare into his swollen, beaten face through blurry eyes, “Nothing he could have done to me, Grace, would have made me tell him where you were… nothing.”

  I shake my head in regret. “You lost everythin’: the diner, almost your life, all of it because of me.”

  “No darlin’, if I would have lost you, then I would have lost everything.” His gruff words send a mixture of love and pain tearing through my already shattered heart.

  “The diner is just that, Grace. It’s just a building. Listen, I’m going to tell you something. I had planned to shut that place down and retire a while ago. But I never did, because almost two years ago a beautiful, sad, broken girl walked into my diner for a cup of tea and messed with my heart like no other. She made me want to wrap her in a protective bubble and find the son of a bitch who made her look so damn sad. Then she told me she needed a job and could make pies. Little did I know, they would be the best goddamn pies this world had to offer.” I smile sadly through my tears. “The point is, Grace, I’m more than okay to retire. I kept it as long as I did, for you.”

  I drop my head back into his chest; shocked to think he only kept it because of me. “I love you, Mac. I don’t know what I would ever do without ya.”

  “I love you too, kid,” he replies gruffly. “You’re the best damn thing that ever walked into my pathetic life. So you need to hear me, Grace, when I tell you that bastard would have never beaten a damn thing out of me. The only thing I regret was not realizin’ he was there. Then I could have fried the fucker’s ass on my grill like I told you I was going to do.”

  I chuckle quietly then lift my head again to look at him. “I’m so darn sorry you got hurt,” I say, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand.

  “Don’t worry about me, I’m going to be fine thanks to the sheriff. You just worry about yourself. Stay safe and don’t leave Sawyer’s side. I like that cocky son of a bitch, Grace, he’s good for you and I know he will protect you.”

  “I like him too,” I reply honestly.

  He grunts, “I think you more than like him…”

  I smile, “You’re right I do.”

  The nurse walks in now. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for some more pain medicine for our big tough guy here, then he needs to rest.”

  “Just give us one more minute, sweetness, all right?” Mac says, winkin’ his swollen eye at the nurse.

  She blushes, clearly flustered. “All right, I’ll be back in one minute.”

  I look back at Mac, questioningly, when she closes the door. His puffy face givin’ me a sly smile, “She’s a looker, ain’t she?”

  “Yes, she is. I think she’s got a crush on you.”

  “You can’t blame her for that, I’m one good lookin’ son of a bitch… even messed up like this.”

  My expression turns somber once again at hearing the pain in his voice. “Yes, you are…” I whisper sadly.

  “I expect you to come back every day with some pie and grace me with your sweet face, all right?”

  My throat becomes so tight again I can barely talk. “I will. I love you, Mac.” Taking my two fingers I kiss them and lay them gently across his battered cheek.

  “I love you too, darlin’. Remember what I said… don’t leave Sawyer’s side.”

  Nodding, I get up and walk to the door. With my hand on the knob, I turn back to Mac one last time and blow him a kiss before reluctantly walking out.

  Sawyer is right there, waiting for me like he said he would be. He pulls me close, “You okay, Cupcake?” he whispers in my ear.

  I wrap my arms around his neck and shake my head no. I wasn’t going to lie and pretend I was okay, because I’m not.

  He reaches down and lifts me; my legs automatically go around his waist. I bury my tear-streaked face into his neck.

  “I’m taking her home now, call me with any news,” he says to Cooper.

  I don’t care how it looks, to have him carrying me like this through the hospital. All I can do is cling to the warmth and safety of his strong body, and hope it will help ease the sadness and guilt that’s squeezing my heart so painfully.

  “Don’t worry, baby, he’s going to fucking pay. I promise,” he whispers in my ear as he walks us out into the parking lot.

  I pray he’s right, I pray Miguel pays in the worst way.

  I don’t know what brought it on, whether it was from the last few days of seeing Mac in the hospital, or if it was from him talking about me walking in to the diner almost 2 years ago, sad and broken. But a few nights later a nightmare plagues me, one I haven’t had for a long time. It was of the night I finally escaped hell.

  Things had been getting worse, but that night I hadn’t feared because Candy, his girlfriend, was there spending the night. And even though she was also a drunk like him, she wasn’t twisted and cruel. I knew he wouldn’t try anything awful with her there, or so I thought…

  The slight click of my bedroom door opening has me waking up with alarm screaming inside of me. Before I can fully wake, his heavy weight settles over top of me and his hand covers my mouth. “Don’t you make a fucking sound.”

  A stark, blinding fear washes over me from his beer-stench breath in my ear. I don’t obey his demand: I fight and scream hoping to get away from him, but instead it ends with me getting a blow to my face from the back of his hand. The crack is so loud the sound of it rings in my ears seconds later.

  My vision blurs from pain and my lungs scream for air due to the pressure of his hand, that’s effectively quieting my sobs. “You have been a bad girl, Grace. I know you fucked him. I could smell it on you when you got back.”

  Knowing he’s talking about Adam and not wanting to make him madder, I lie and shake my head no. He reaches up and grips my hair painfully so I’m looking into his malicious blood-shot eyes. “Don’t fucking lie to me. You’re a whore just like your mother was.”

  Bringing himself fully over top of me, he settles his disgusting erection between my legs. So much bile rises in my throat that I start to choke on it. I kick and fight with everything I have, which only has him exerting more force. “Consider this payment for everything I have fucking done for you, you ungrateful little bitch.”

  He rises up, with all of his weight on the hand covering my mouth. It was so painful I thought my jaw was going to break from the force of it. Reaching between us, he starts to undo his pants.

  I scream behind his hand and fight harder. No! No! No! No… “Grace, baby! Grace, wake the fuck up!”

  I come crashing out of my nightmare back into the present. Shooting up, I come face to face with Sawyer. Both of his hands hold my face as he stares at me worriedly.

  My body is covered in a cold sweat and my face is soaked with tears. I bring a shaking hand to my throat. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.” The words burn coming out of my raw throat and I quickly realize I must have been screaming.

  “Jesus, baby, don’t be fucking sorry. You scared the shit out of me. What the fuck was that all about? And who the fuck is Earl?”

  Terror and helplessness wash over me at the sound of his name, the emotions are so strong it’s almost suffocating. Unable to stop myself, I climb onto Sawyer’s lap and wrap my arms around his neck. I absorb the feel of his body; to replace the one I had just felt crushing me moments ago.

  He holds me tight as I sob with despair. I soak in the warmth and safety of his embrace until my sobs quiet and eventually my labored breathing is the only sound filling the dark silence.

  He grabs my face to look at him, his expression filled with violence. “It’s time, Grace, you need to tell me who the fuck he is and what he did to you.”

  I swore to myself that I would never talk about him, not with anyone, but I know Sawyer won’t let this go. So I decide for the first time in my life I will tell another soul what I went through after I lost Mama…

  I try
to control the angry rhythm of my heart; it pounds with rage as I stare into Grace’s warm amber eyes that are filled with fear and despair. I know whatever the fuck she was dreaming about just now has to do with the fucker she lived with before coming here. I feel bad forcing this issue, especially right now, but I have been patient long enough.

  “He hated me. He just… hated me so much and I never knew why. I still don’t. I never did nothin’, Sawyer.”

  Jesus. My heart constricts fucking painfully at her agony. Keeping her in my arms, I lay us both down and bring her into my chest.

  “Who is he, baby?”

  “My uncle,” she whispers sadly, “Mama had no will and my father wasn’t on my birth certificate, so I had no legal guardian. Mama’s parents died before I was born. I knew she had a brother, but she never talked about him, she said they never got along. A couple days after the murder he came to the police station. He seemed nice enough, and like he deeply cared about what happened. He told me he hated how his relationship with Mama turned out and wanted to help me. He offered for me to come stay with him in Virginia. Since I didn’t have any other options I accepted.” Turning, she looks up at me with… fuck, I don’t know, shame? “You have to understand, Sawyer, I had no one, no other family. Not even my friends’ parents offered to take me in…”

  “Hey,” I turn on my side and cup her face, “you don’t have to justify anything to me, Cupcake. I just want to know what happened, baby.”

  Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath before continuing, “The first six months weren’t that bad, but I quickly realized he was not at all who he portrayed to be at the beginnin’. He drank excessively and never held down a job for longer than a few weeks. But I was so wrapped up in my grief, the trial and tryin’ to finish what was left of the school year at a new school that I ignored it. I just… I ignored everythin’ around me. But I shouldn’t have. There were so many red flags, especially when he had bought a new truck and was gettin’ all these new things from somewhere… Near the end of the trial he became worse and it got harder to ignore.”

  She pauses, and I brace myself for what she’s about to tell me.

  “It started off with small things. Whether he would burn me with a pot when going to strain whatever was in it, or putting his foot out when I walked by to trip me. He’d always say it was an accident, but I knew… I just had this feelin’ he wasdoin’ it on purpose. Sometimes I’d catch him lookin’ at me with so much hatred, and I never understood why or what I did. As soon as the trial was over and school finished, I went and got a job so I could make enough money to leave. I made sure to stay away whenever I could. I booked a bus ticket to go see Adam one weekend. He had moved to Charlotte for college so he was only a few hours away.”

  I’m assuming Adam is the fucking loser she was dating before the shit with her mom went down.

  “The night before I left to see him I had gotten into an argument with my uncle, when I told him we needed to have a funeral for Mama. We had both agreed we would wait until after the trial to have one, but he kept prolongin’ it whenever I brought it up. That night he told me he wasn’t payin’ for a funeral. He said he’d already paid for her to be cremated and that was enough.”

  I tense and my blood begins to boil, but I keep silent, not wanting to interrupt her.

  “There was about $30,000 after everythin’ was sold from our place. Since I was under age it went to him until I turned eighteen. So I told him we could take it out of that… and that’s when I found out he spent it. All of it, Sawyer, that’s where the new truck came from, all the new shit he had bought, he spent all of my money.”

  “That motherfucker!” the curse slips past my lips before I can stop it.

  “He told me that’s the least he deserved for taking me in. I realized then, that was why he offered to have me live with him in the first place. He wanted any money that he could get his hands on. I was so angry. I grabbed my bag and left a day early to see Adam, and well… you know how that weekend turned out.”

  Yeah, I fucking did, and that piece of shit better hope he never crosses fucking paths with me…

  “Knowing I had no other choice I went back. I was goin’ to give myself two, three months top. I’d work my butt off to save what I could and get the hell away from him. When I got back we didn’t speak, and again, I made sure to stay away whenever I could. Then the money I was makin’ began to disappear. I knew he was stealin’ from me, so I started hiding it. When he couldn’t find it he became enraged. One night he stormed into my room and started sayin’ all these awful things to me. He accused me of sleepin’ with Adam and insisted I was a whore just like my mother… He back handed me across my face, knockin’ me to the ground, then took his belt off and whipped me repeatedly with it. He hit me so much, Sawyer, I couldn’t get out of bed the next day,” she breaks off sobbing.

  Pulling her closer, I try to breath through the violence that rushes through my veins like fire. The motherfucker is dead; I’m going to find him and fucking kill him…

  “After that, I knew I wouldn’t last months with him. So I decided I’d wait for my paycheck at the end of the week and go to Charleston to find my father. I figured there was no way my father was going to be worse than him. But during that week he… he started lookin’ at me different. In a way he shouldn’t have, do you understand what I’m sayin’?”

  Dread begins to mix with my rage. Oh fuck…

  “He started bargin’ into my room at random times. He wouldn’t do or say anythin’; he would just stare at me for long moments then close the door. I didn’t know what he was doin’, but I was so scared I barely slept, and I made sure I set my alarm to wake every so often so he couldn’t catch me off guard. My last night there I thought everythin’ would be okay because his girlfriend was spendin’ the night. She was a drunk like him, and normally when she was there he wouldn’t acknowledge me, but I was wrong… so, so wrong.” She swallows thickly and I feel her start to shake. “I woke up to him comin’ into my room…” her words trail off as another sob breaks from her.

  Fuck! I flip her over, the top half of my body covering hers. “Did he fucking touch you, Grace? Did he?” I shout the question not meaning to. She cries harder and wraps her arms around my neck, bringing me closer. “Tell me, baby, what the fuck did he do?”

  “He tried. He told me it was payment for takin’ me in. I fought with everythin’ I had but I couldn’t get him off of me, Sawyer…” She trails off and tries to compose herself. I thread my fingers in her soft hair and trail my lips across her wet face, trying to give her any comfort I can. Hoping it will also help calm the white, hot rage that’s about to explode from me.

  “Thankfully his girlfriend woke up and started callin’ out his name. He snuck back out of my room before she could find out where he was. As soon as the door shut behind him I quietly got up and packed everythin’ into my bag that would fit, which wasn’t much. I snuck out my window and ran to the bus stop. I was terrified he would catch me before I made it there, but thankfully he didn’t. Using the little money I had left, I purchased a ticket to Charleston in hopes my father would want somethin’ to do with me. But the closer I got, the more unsure I became. I was so scared of him rejectin’ me, I didn’t think I was strong enough to take it if he did. I ended up meetin’ a real nice, old lady on the bus. She had told me about Sunset Bay, and what a beautiful town it was. Since it was so close to Charleston I decided I would go check it out, until I had enough courage to face my father. By the time I made it there, it was early in the mornin’. The bus stop was right across the street from the diner. I went in there for a tea, until I could figure out where to go, and that’s when I met Mac… my angel.”

  My body is jacked with a million fucking emotions right now, as I try to wrap my head around everything she just told me. None of this should have fucking happened. She should have been protected. Instead she was abused and almost fucking violated in the worse way. Hell, I’m sure there’s a shit load more that
she hasn’t shared…

  “Want to know what’s the worst of it all, Sawyer?” Her sad voice pulls me from my thoughts.

  Jesus, it gets fucking worse? I lean back and look into her sad eyes, ones that don’t belong on someone as beautiful as her.

  I wipe the tears away from her cheek. “What, baby?”

  “I left without her…” she chokes out with agony.

  What? “Without who?”

  “Mama. He took her ashes from me, just to be cruel. I had tried to find her a few times and failed. I was too scared to search for her again before I left, not wanting to get caught, so I just left her there.” Her expression twists with guilt, “I can’t believe I left her with him.” Agonized sobs rip from her body and I swear flow right into my fucking heart.

  I bury my face beside hers. “Don’t you fucking dare blame yourself for that, baby. You did the right thing, Grace, you had to get out of there. Listen, everything is going to be okay. We’ll get her back…”

  “What? No! No, Sawyer, you can’t!” She becomes hysterical again as soon as the words leave my mouth, her eyes wild with fear, “You can’t go anywhere near him or else he will know where I am. I don’t want him to know anythin’ about me. I just want to pretend he doesn’t exist…”

  “Okay, okay calm down.”“Please, Sawyer! Promise me you won’t tell anyone what I told you!”

  “Okay, baby, I won’t.” I feel like shit for lying to her but there is no fucking way that motherfucker isn’t going to pay for what he did to her. I lean in and press a kiss to her shoulder, then collarbone.

  “You must think I’m so weak,” she whispers brokenly.

  I rear back in surprise and stare into her haunted eyes, my heart squeezing painfully. “No, baby, I think you’re the fucking strongest chick I’ve ever met. You survived all of this, Grace. A lot of people would have become fucked-up over shit like this. But not you- look at who you are! You’re beautiful,” I lean in and kiss the corner of her eye, “kind,” I drag my lips down to her cheek, “sweet,” I unintentionally growl that last word, just before I kiss her soft moist lips. Her fingers wind in my hair and she kisses me back, her tears mixing in with her sweet taste.