“Okay, okay,” she gasped. “Just let me go. I can’t breathe. I’m going to pass out if you don’t let me go.”
Elias paused a moment, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. His grip actually tightened for a moment, and Tierney winced—but it was only an unspoken threat, and she felt his hold slacken a bit.
What Tierney hadn’t expected, however, was how the slight strangling had already weakened her. As she drew in a deeper breath, she realized that she didn’t have the strength to fight her attacker—not yet.
“Now,” Elias said, “where were we?”
More tears escaped Tierney’s eyes as Elias let go of her throat but took brutal hold of her forearms and pulled her body flush with his.
“Mmm…you do smell good, Tierney,” he moaned as he kissed her cheek.
The feel of his disgusting lips to her flesh revitalized Tierney, however, and she landed a knee to his crotch as solidly as she could.
Elias swore under his breath as his hold on Tierney lessened, and he doubled over a bit. It was her chance, and Tierney broke away from him, turned, and raced through the shop toward the front door.
She was almost there—almost close enough to take hold of the deadbolt. But Elias was nearly there too, and she felt his hand at the back of her head. She cried out when he gripped her hair in his fist and pulled her backward, swiftly sweeping Tierney’s legs out from under her with one of his.
Tierney felt the breath leave her lungs as she hit the floor hard on her back. She couldn’t gasp—couldn’t draw a breath—couldn’t defend herself—and before she could stop the dizzying sensation in her head, Elias Potts was crouched over her, pinning her hands to the floor on either side of her and sitting down hard on her thighs.
“Well, aren’t you a feisty little thing today, hmmm?” he asked. Tierney looked up to see Elias’s head descending toward hers.
“I won’t keep quiet about this,” she growled in an effort to scare him into leaving her alone. “I’ll tell everyone…including the police.”
“Go ahead,” Elias said. “My brother is a sergeant down at the precinct. I’m sure he’d love to hear your lies.”
Tierney screamed and closed her eyes as she heard the glass on the front door shatter—heard it scatter on the floor nearby.
“What the hell are you doing?” Rome shouted as he stepped through the broken glass of the floral shop door. “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted again, taking hold of the back of Elias’s shirt collar and dragging him off Tierney.
Tierney wept with joy and then gasped as she watched Rome land a powerful fist to Elias’s face.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Rome roared as he landed another punch to Elias’s face, sending him reeling back against the register counter. “You touched her? You piece of sh—” he growled as he continued to beat Elias.
“Tierney!” Celeste cried as she stepped into the shop, rushing to Tierney and helping her to sit up. “Are you okay?” she cried. “I should’ve never let you work here. I should’ve—”
“Tierney!” Alec shouted then, stepping into the shop. “What did the bastard do to you?”
“I’m fine,” Tierney wept. “Stop him. Stop Rome,” she stammered through her tears. Elias Potts was lying on the floor, his entire face covered in blood, groaning as Rome continued to kick him in the stomach, shout, and swear at him.
“You filthy piece of sh—” Rome grumbled.
“Hey, man!” Alec said, taking hold of Rome’s arm and pulling him away from Elias. “He’s down, Rome. It’s all right. She’s safe, and the bastard is down.”
Instantly, Rome’s attention fell to Tierney. “Baby! Baby, baby, baby,” he mumbled as he gathered Tierney into his arms. “Are you all right? What did the bastard do to you? Did he touch you? Did he hurt you?” Rome pulled back, studying Tierney’s face and neck. “He hurt you, didn’t he?”
“I’m fine,” Tierney answered. “You came. I’m fine. He just choked me. You got here, and I…I…”
Burying her face against the warmth of Rome’s sweater—against his strong chest as his powerful arms enveloped her—Tierney sobbed.
“Call the police, Celeste,” Alec said. “Man, you’re going to jail!” Tierney heard her brother growl. “And you’re damn lucky Rome didn’t kill you.”
“He’ll be the one going to jail,” Tierney heard Elias panting. “For assault and battery…breaking and entering. I’ll make sure that cocky little bastard pays for this.”
Tierney looked up at Rome as fear overwhelmed her. Remembering that Elias had boasted about his brother, a sergeant at the precinct, terror overtook her rational thoughts.
“He means it, Rome!” she cried. “He’ll try to have you charged and…and…and…”
“No, he won’t,” Celeste said, however. Tierney watched as Celeste turned to look to Elias. “You crawl home to Jessica like the dirty dog you are, Elias,” she said. “You lick your wounds and man up to confessing to your wife about the real reasons none of us ever worked here for very long. You do it, and you leave Rome alone…or I’ll be telling the police, Jessica, and everyone else what you tried to do to me when I worked here. Do you understand?”
“What do you mean what he tried to do to you?” Alec asked.
“Celeste?” Rome ventured. “What haven’t you told me?”
Celeste looked to Rome, forced a comforting smile, and answered, “I’ve told you everything I ever needed to or wanted to tell you, Rome,” she answered. “But until now, I never told anyone that this…this monster…that Elias Potts tried to…he tried to hurt me when I was working here that summer in high school.” Celeste looked back to Elias. “Jessica returned from her lunch hour early that day—unexpectedly early—and this scumbag had to let me go. I walked up to Jessica the very next moment, quit, and I’ve never set foot in here again.” Celeste paused. “I thought I was the only girl Elias had tried to…until Heidi Svensson and I got to talking a few months back. She told me how Elias was always grabbing her butt and stuff…and that’s why she quit.”
“Celeste,” Rome breathed, “you should’ve told someone. You should’ve told me.”
“I know,” Celeste admitted. “But I was young and afraid…and kept thinking that I had done something wrong.” She shook her head. “When I heard Tierney was going to go to work here, I almost told her…but I figured nobody had said anything about Elias being a pervert since me and Heidi. So I thought he’d learned his lesson.” Celeste looked to Tierney, tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry, Tierney. I should’ve…I should’ve…”
“It’s all right, Celeste,” Tierney said. “It’s not your fault.”
Alec gathered Celeste into his arms as he glared at Elias. “You’re lucky you’re not dead, man. I swear I should do it myself.”
“Call the police, Alec,” Rome growled. “I’m not letting this bastard get away with all this. I don’t care if they charge me or who his damn brother is. He’s gonna pay for all this.”
Alec nodded. “You’re right.”
“But, Rome—” Tierney began.
“Shhh,” Rome interrupted her. “They won’t put me in jail, baby,” he soothed. “Not when they find out what this guy has been up to. You know that, right?”
But Tierney could only sob, fearful that Rome would be charged and end up paying a terrible price for simply saving her.
Tierney’s cell began to ring. With one trembling hand, she reached into her apron pocket and retrieved it.
Rome took it from her, however, pressed the answer button, and said, “Hello?” Tierney watched him, her terrified heart swelling with love as he said, “Rome Novak, sir. I’m Tierney’s boyfriend. Mmm-hmmm. Yes, she’s fine. I’ll have her call you in a few minutes. Of course, Mr. O’Brien. Okay. Good-bye.”
Shoving the phone in his back pocket, Rome helped Tierney to her feet and told her, “It was your dad. He got your 911 text and was worried.”
“My dad?” she asked.
“What is
going on?” Mr. Novak asked as he and Nikki stepped into the shop.
“Yeah…Elias Potts assaulted my sister here at the florist’s shop,” Alec was telling the police on the phone.
“Are you all right, sweetie?” Nikki asked, brushing Tierney’s hair from her face.
“She’s okay, Mom,” Rome said, pulling Tierney into his arms and kissing her forehead. “She’s okay…thank God.”
Tierney melted to Rome, weeping with relief in her own safety and for the fact she owned the heart of such a hero. She was tired, overwhelmed, and simultaneously miserable and happy.
“I…I guess I’m out of a job,” she said. “What am I going to do?”
She heard a low chuckle rumble in Rome’s chest. He took her face in his hands and forced her to look up at him.
“Baby, that’s what you’re worried about?” he asked, smiling with disbelief. “After all this…you’re worried about your job?”
“I have to have a job, Rome,” she explained through her tears. “I can’t mooch off of Alec forever.” Lowering her voice, she added, “And I think he’s getting ready to ask Celeste—”
“Shhh,” Rome said, pressing an index finger to her lips. “Don’t worry about it, bootylicious bunny,” he said. “You’ll just have to become a kept woman…my kept woman.” His embrace enveloped her again. “I’ll pay for whatever you need, baby, and you’ll find another job. Hey, maybe you can become one of the Christmas Shoppe sales babes, hmmm? Either way, do not worry about that now.”
Tierney relaxed a little, clinging to Rome and his protective strength. As the sirens of approaching police cars grew louder, she ventured a glance at Elias Potts. No flags unfurled in her mind as she looked at him, however. It was over. Should she have heeded the anxieties of her mind more thoroughly? Of course she should have—but that was in the past. All that was before Tierney now was a life after Elias Potts—a life perhaps to be spent with Rome—and a life where Tierney would never ignore or rationalize away those apprehensions in her mind ever again.
C hapter Thirteen
“The minute I heard that door slam, Tierney, I knew I had to get control of myself,” Kiefer O’Brien explained as he sat on the sofa of Alec’s front room explaining why he’d unexpectedly appeared at the front door that morning—Christmas Eve morning. “I-I sat there for a long time wondering when it had all gone so wrong…when I’d given up and just given into your mother’s ridiculously controlling will. I sat there for hours, thinking back over my life.” He looked up to Alec and Tierney, tears brimming in his eyes. “I sat there hating myself for hours, focusing on the weak fool I’d become…thinking how disappointed my parents would be.” Kiefer paused, tears spilling from his eyes and over his cheeks. “And it was in that moment that I finally understood how thoroughly the deaths of my parents had destroyed me, destroyed to the point that I’d retreated to a dark place inside myself…destroyed me to a point that I’d failed my own children.”
Tierney brushed the tears from her cheeks, sniffled, and tried not to sob.
When she’d opened the door an hour before, she had never expected to see her father standing on the other side of it. Certainly she’d been touched, deeply moved that her father had called her the day of Elias Potts’s attack. Rome had answered the phone, of course, but an hour or so later, Tierney had returned her father’s phone call, assuring him she was well. She’d still been too rattled for days afterward to fully appreciate the fact that her father had called, that he’d sounded different than he had in years, and that she hadn’t heard a word from her mother. Still, as the week progressed—as the incident with Elias Potts fell further into the past and lovely, glorious Christmas edged closer and closer—Tierney did find her thoughts often lingered on the fact that her father had called, that he’d assured her several times of his love for her—something he hadn’t spoken to her in years.
And now that Kiefer O’Brien sat in the same room as his children, explaining not only why he was there in Leavenworth with them but how, Tierney felt only compassion and love for her father—not resentment or anger.
“Dad, Tierney and I know that—” Alec began.
“Please, Alec,” Kiefer interrupted, however. “I know I’ll never be able to make up for the neglect and wrong I’ve done to you both, but let me tell you how I’m going to try to move ahead. Okay?”
Alec nodded and settled back in the sofa.
“Well,” Kiefer continued, “that next morning—the morning after you left, Tierney—I dragged myself out of bed, packed a few things, and drove to a doctor’s office. I needed help. I realized that somewhere along the way, I’d fallen into a deep, deep state of depression. Nothing else could’ve turned me into the gutless worm I’d become. I thought about the fact that there seemed to be no color in the world to me…none. Everything was some lifeless gray fog to me. The sky, the grass, flowers—nothing had color when I looked at it. Furthermore, whenever I thought of your mother, I found there was no feeling in me—nothing, not even disgust, impatience, or…just nothing. I’d lost myself when my parents were killed. And I don’t think it was just that. I think that was simply the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, you know?”
Tierney sniffled and nodded. Alec nodded as well, and their father continued. “Anyway, if you want the gory details of my treatment for severe depression, we can talk about that later,” he said. “But I will say this. People never walk up to cancer patients and say, “Hey! Get over it! It’s just cancer,” right? But there’s a real stigma that comes with depression, especially where your mother is concerned.” He paused a moment, exhaled a heavy sigh, and then said, “I’m getting better. It’s been almost eight weeks, and I’m a new man.” He chuckled, and Tierney’s heart leapt at the familiar but long-absent sound. “Well, actually, I’m an old man—the man I used to be. And I’ve divorced your mom.”
“What?” Alec exclaimed.
“Oh, don’t worry, son,” Kiefer assured Alec. “Except for about a million in cash and one new car dealership in Seattle, I just gave her everything. I gave her everything because I knew if I did, she’d let me go without so much as a word. And I was right. Your mom didn’t want me; she wanted my money. And I didn’t want my money anymore.”
Tierney’s mouth was still gaping open in astonishment as her father said, “So I’ve moved to Seattle, tucked away my cash for a rainy day and old age, and I’m just helping to run the dealership—which I chose to keep simply because it ensured I could be closer to you two. You, Alec and Tierney, you were always the most important things to me—always…always what I loved more than anything. And I’m sorry that I let my personal tragedies, your mom’s strong will, and weakness nearly destroy you.” Kiefer cleared his throat and ventured, “And I hope…I hope that one day, you’ll let me be a part of your lives again.” He smiled. “It looks like you got a couple of pretty good lives going here, and I just pray you’ll let me share in them sometimes.”
Tierney was off the sofa and in her father’s loving embrace before she’d even realized it—sobbing against him—sobbing with joy in having her father returned to her.
Alec was there soon too, embracing them both. “Dad…we’ve missed you.”
Kiefer O’Brien was weeping as well, and Tierney could feel the way he desperately clung to her and Alec—as if he never meant to let go of them again. The family embraced for a long time, weeping and choking out endearments and thankfulness when their emotions would allow.
Finally, they let go of one another, and Tierney retrieved a box of tissue from the coffee table. As they all dried tears of heartache and joy, Kiefer said, “Now…I know your first impulse is going to be to try and get me to stay with you here. But please let me go back to Seattle tonight…just until I get things settled a little more and until you’ve both had a chance for this all to sink in.”
“But, Daddy—” Tierney began.
Kiefer shook his head, however. “It’s okay, Tierney. I’ll come just after New Year’s—maybe the
second or third, okay? I’ll come over for a visit, and we can plan more then. I’m sure you both have plans tonight anyway, right?”
“Plans can be changed, Dad,” Alec offered. “And besides, I was planning to propose to Celeste tonight…but I’d rather wait until you can be there.”
“Absolutely not,” Kiefer grumbled. “This is just what I’m talking about, son. You and Tierney, you’re both so brave, and you’ve found these lives here…normal, happy lives. Do not put them on pause for me…please. It would make me very unhappy.”
But Tierney was still looking at Alec in awed astonishment. “You’re proposing tonight?”
Alec sighed, smiled, and nodded. “I love her,” he said. “I love her more than anything…more than anyone. And like you’ve told me a million times, Tiers, Celeste isn’t one to be dragged along for a stretched-out amount of time.”
New tears sprang to Tierney’s eyes as she threw her arms around Alec’s neck. “Oh, Alec! How wonderful! How wonderful! I’m so happy for you!”
“Thanks, Tiers,” Alec said, kissing her cheek. Looking back to his father, he said, “Celeste is amazing, Dad. Are you sure you don’t want to just stay tonight? You can come with us over to the Novaks’ and be there when—”
“No, Alec,” Kiefer answered kindly. He smiled, and Tierney felt warm inside. “I’ll meet her next week. I mean, everything between us seems exciting and hopeful, and it is. But I don’t want to press you…or smother something in this new life of yours. I want you to have time to mull this all over for a while. At some point, you’re going to realize that I divorced your mother and—”
“Daddy…it’s okay,” Tierney interrupted. “Divorcing Mom, moving, getting yourself settled—we understand. You need your space as well…so no worries. When you feel like coming over, just let us know.” Tierney smiled, adding, “Call me and let me know.”
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