Big Bad Sinner: A Forbidden Romance

Home > Other > Big Bad Sinner: A Forbidden Romance > Page 12
Big Bad Sinner: A Forbidden Romance Page 12

by Annette Fields


  "Wow! This'll make a fortune if I sell it to a porn company!"

  The creaky side door opened up all the way to reveal the last two people either of us wanted to see.

  Rachel, holding her fucking phone out again with another smug grin that I wanted to smack off her face.

  "Don't worry!" she chirped. "I took a video this time and already backed it up to the cloud."

  And next to her, silent but beet-red and scowling, Maggie's mother.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  KAINE

  "I don't even know where to begin with you, Kaine." Deacon Arnold Parish threw his glasses onto his desk and rubbed his eyes. "You realize I have to fire you."

  "I understand that Reverend," I replied, tight-lipped.

  "What the hell were you thinking?"

  It took a lot for the honorable Rev. Parish to use four-letter words so I knew he was upset. "I thought you were above the rumors swirling around but it seems I overestimated you."

  "Reverend, I deeply regret desecrating a holy place."

  That wasn't really true. I regretted not a damn thing but had to make a halfway sincere apology.

  "My mistake was in being self-absorbed and foolish enough to bring my private life into a public house of worship."

  The deacon blinked.

  "God is all-knowing and all-seeing, Kaine. You know that. He sees what happens in your bedroom as well. He knows that you lured a young girl into your bed like a predatory wolf! Have you no remorse for those actions?!"

  He was practically frothing at the mouth in rage. I didn't expect him to understand my position. His Christian worldview was strict and pious. But I would never apologize for or misrepresent my relationship with Maggie.

  "With all due respect, Rev., she is an adult. As am I. I never manipulated or lured her to my bed. We were both unattached, we have much in common, and our relationship just blossomed as naturally as any other would."

  "She's nineteen years old!" he bellowed. "What could you two possibly have in common?"

  "Caring for the homeless," I shot back. "Feeding them and making sure they stay warm. Giving back to the world rather than taking from it. We support each other and lift each other up. We are better examples of God's love than half the people in this church."

  I sat back in my chair defiantly.

  "And if you must know, we even like our coffee the same way."

  Deacon Parish did not look convinced from my answer.

  "You really think a relationship with this girl will work out, Kaine?"

  "I don't think, I know," I replied. "She and I have something special. I'm one-hundred percent sure of that."

  The Deacon sighed and rubbed his eyes again.

  "My final business with you comes to the decision of whether I should blacklist you to other churches or not. What do you think I should do, Kaine?"

  I shrugged. "The decision is ultimately up to you, Rev. And I'll respect whichever conclusion you reach. I have never harmed or mistreated anyone who has stepped into a holy house of worship. My only crime is falling in love with and pursuing a relationship with someone younger than me."

  The deacon only rolled his eyes and sighed again.

  "I only pray that when you get over this rebound from your divorce, you'll learn from the mistake and choose a suitable, Christian woman next time."

  He raised a cautionary eyebrow at me. "The girl's mother has told me some very disturbing things about her."

  "I'm sure she has," I said with an eye roll of my own, not willing to argue about Maggie's mom. "Are we done here, Reverend?"

  He nodded curtly and handed over an envelope with my final paycheck inside.

  "On a personal note, I'm sorry to see you go, Kaine," he said kindly. "You're a good pastor. The community here loved you. I just wish you used your brain in this matter."

  "The heart wants what the heart wants," I answered as I accepted the envelope from him and shook his hand. "Thank you for the opportunity, Reverend."

  "God bless you, son. I'll pray for you."

  And I'll pray for you to become more open-minded. Not that it was likely.

  My phone rang the moment I left his office. It was my lawyer with good news, I hoped.

  "Hey Chris," I answered as I speed walked my way out of the church without looking back.

  "Hey, Kaine. We've made some good progress," he said. "Turns out Rachel requested a divorce dismissal, which anyone can do with the county clerk before the paperwork reaches the judge. Her so-called special connections are pure bullshit."

  "Just as I thought," I muttered as I got into my car.

  "The county clerk will be reaching out to you to ask if this dismissal is something you want as well," he continued. "If you say no or don't respond at all, the divorce will proceed as normal."

  "That's exactly what I want," I replied. "Any progress on the paternity test?"

  "Unfortunately, that will have to wait until the baby is born," he replied. "Sorry, buddy. That drags things out a little longer."

  "I don't mind waiting. Just as long as the truth comes out."

  "Justice will be served, my friend. Don't you worry."

  "Thanks, Chris," I said sincerely. "Anything else?"

  "That about does it for now. I'll keep you posted."

  I thanked him again and hung up the phone. That mess with Rachel was slowly getting cleaned up but I wouldn't be satisfied until I had my girl in my arms.

  I merged onto the freeway and hit the gas. I moved over into the fast lane and drove just fast enough to keep the cops from pulling me over.

  The mental image of Maggie's mother marching over and slapping her when they caught us burned into my mind. I would have punched that awful woman if Rachel hadn't gotten in my way.

  She dragged my poor, crying Maggie out of the church by her hair without even letting her put her pants and underwear back on.

  My Magdalene's cries killed me. I tried to run after her but Rachel kept blocking my way. Stupid me didn't have the heart to shove a pregnant woman out of my path, no matter how evil she was.

  By the time I had my final meeting with the deacon the next day, Maggie hadn't answered any of my calls or texts. It wouldn't surprise me if her parents took her phone away like a child.

  But now, I was on my way to get my girl and never look back. We were done with this place and could finally be ourselves. We could love each other openly and be free.

  I pulled up to Maggie's house within twenty minutes and rapped at the door.

  No answer came so I knocked again, louder and more insistently this time.

  The door finally cracked open and her mother's beady little eye stared at me from the other side.

  "What are you doing here, Pastor Cross?" she hissed, but then abruptly giggled. "Oh excuse me! I suppose you're not a pastor anymore."

  "I'm here for Maggie," I said flatly, refusing to rise to her bullshit.

  "She's not going anywhere with a pervert like you!" came the answer.

  "That's for her to decide," I shot back. "She's an adult and can make her own decisions."

  "A stupid, slutty girl like her can't be trusted to make her own decisions," her mom cackled. "That's why we've sent her away."

  TWENTY-SIX

  MAGGIE

  The tears on my face had dried up and I was too exhausted to cry anymore.

  I gazed lifelessly out the train window, watching the trees zoom past as shapeless blurs. Every one that passed my window meant I was getting further and further away from him.

  It was beyond humiliating being dragged off by my mom without anything to cover myself with. She screamed at me the whole time in the car and I'm sure she would have slapped me again if she wasn't already driving erratically.

  When we got home she told my dad almost proudly that I finally proved myself to be the filthy whore she always knew I was.

  "I knew this would happen." She circled around me in the living room like a hungry predator while I tried to pull my shirt down over my but
t and crotch. "I was prepared for this!"

  She produced a glossy pamphlet from the side table. "We're enrolling you at Westminster Boarding School. You're leaving tomorrow."

  "The fuck?" I shrieked. "I'm not a kid, you can't just send me away to school!"

  "This one's for troubled young adults like yourself." Mom grinned. "Known for straightening out dumb whores into perfect, pious little angels."

  "I'm still an adult! You still need my consent to enroll me," I protested.

  "I suppose we technically do," Mom shrugged. "But there wasn't anything on the form that we couldn't fill out for you."

  I shook with rage. This had to be a bad dream. No one's parents were this evil, were they?

  "I'm not going," I hissed. "I'll live with Marie under the freeway if I have to. Your other daughter and grandson are fucking homeless by the way, you heartless cunt!"

  "I don't have another daughter," Mom replied coldly. "You're my only child and you're not going to ruin our wholesome, Christian household. You will go to boarding school and get the wicked sluttiness removed from your soul. Your sister couldn't be saved so she has to reap what she sowed."

  "I can't fucking believe you," I said weakly, my teeth chattering from how angrily I shook. "You can't make me go."

  "Actually we can," Mom said oh-too-sweetly. "The lovely Rachel came up with this brilliant idea, she's so clever! If you don't go, we'll go to the press about you and Pastor Cross's inappropriate relationship."

  "Congratulations. No one will care," I snapped. "We're both adults. We did nothing illegal. No one will give a shit outside of your uptight little church community."

  Mom's grin grew wider.

  "They will if we tell them you're underage."

  And that was how I ended up on this train, traveling endless miles away from the man I loved to save him.

  Would he come for me? I hoped so with all my heart.

  But I knew my mother was hell-bent on keeping me miserable and therefore separated from him. Because of what we did at the church, he was almost certainly fired already. He would have to skip town soon.

  Even if he went to my house to get me, she'd never tell him where I ended up.

  And I wouldn't be allowed to come back home until he was long gone and I was finally the perfect little doll that my mother always wanted.

  It'll never happen, I vowed, closing my fist on the windowpane. I'll say my prayers and not use swear words like a good girl until I can get the hell out. Then I'll find Marie and Jeremy and we'll find where Kaine is starting his ministry.

  But would he have given up on me by then? Would he move on to someone else? Or my worst nightmare, would Rachel be able to sink her claws into him again?

  My heart felt like it bled into my stomach as I scratched my nails across the windowpane. The feeling of helplessness and heartache killed me. All I wanted was to love my man and be with him. Why did the whole world want to tear us apart?

  Us against the world. Kaine said that to me once. We can do anything as long as we have each other.

  The train slowed to a stop. Outside the window were lush, green hills covered with dense trees.

  Just as I feared, this school was in the middle of nowhere.

  As I stepped off, I felt like I was going to Hogwarts but with a lot less magic and fun.

  The school was a sprawling mansion tucked back into the hills surrounded by manicured gardens. A tall iron fence wrapped around the entire perimeter.

  I could see more large houses on top of distant peaks on the horizon. We were in some kind of rich, bougie area.

  We were escorted through a heavy, secure looking gate by men in some kind of police or security uniforms. Some of them walked with massive German shepherds on leashes.

  As we entered the courtyard, the realization came to me that the security officers were the only men in sight. All the students and teachers milling about were female.

  A heavy creaking sound from behind me nearly punctured my eardrums. Wincing, I turned to look with my hands over my ears.

  Three security officers were closing the gate and operating a heavy, complicated lock.

  My heart sank into the pit of my stomach as I realized this was not so much a school as it was a prison.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  KAINE

  "What the hell are you talking about?" I snarled. "Sent her away to where?"

  "As if we would tell you!" Maggie's mother huffed. "A shameful, disgraced pastor who took advantage of a young girl. Go back to your wife and pray she forgives you!"

  "I don't have a wife," I spat, climbing up the porch stairs to tower menacingly over Lila. Her hand flew to her chest as she recoiled but she stood her ground. I didn't like using my size to intimidate people but she had information I needed more than anything else on earth.

  "And I'm pretty confident where I stand with God," I said in a low voice as she stared up at me. "I'm not straight-laced but I've never done anything truly dishonorable to another human being. You, on the other hand, have mistreated both of your children, leaving them out for slaughter."

  Her face went as pale as a sheet and I thought she might faint.

  "God sees and he knows what you've done, Lila. Your soul will suffer for failing to truly mother your children."

  "I only have one daughter and she is being reformed!" she cried out with spit flying everywhere. "You have no idea what you're talking about, you lusting demon!"

  In some ways, she wasn't wrong about that last part. What killed me was how she completely denied the existence of Marie. It was just like how Maggie said and absolutely heartbreaking to hear it in person with my own ears.

  She seemed to regain her strength from yelling maniacally at me.

  "Get out of here! Or I'll have you arrested for trespassing!"

  I turned and left without a word, happy to never see that woman again now that I knew Maggie wasn't there.

  My gut twisted with worry. I needed to find her but had absolutely nothing to go on. Going back to that house would only ensure I ended up in the back of a police car with handcuffs on my wrists.

  I started walking toward my only option, the only person I knew whose heart was almost as big as Maggie's and might be able to tell me where they shipped her off to.

  It was a long shot but my only shot.

  ***

  Marie and Jeremy watched me approach the underbelly of the freeway overpass from a distance. He didn't run up to greet me like he did every time with Maggie.

  I didn't blame the little guy. He was getting used to seeing me around but I was still a stranger to him.

  The fact that he didn't run over, squealing with his adorable laughter just amplified Maggie's absence.

  It was like there was a hole in time and space next to me where she should have been, but she wasn't. I missed her terribly and hated not knowing anything. With the lack of information, my brain was left to speculate.

  I tried not to think of worst case scenarios. Hopefully, she was at least somewhere safe and not in North Korea or something.

  "Hey," I greeted Marie and Jeremy, who she carried on her left hip.

  "Hey," she replied while Jeremy just looked at me curiously.

  "Maggie's gone," I said, my voice heavy with emotion. "They caught us...together and sent her away. It's my fault."

  Saying the words aloud released my emotions like a popped water balloon.

  Fuck. It was my fucking fault they did that to her. I should never have done that in the chapel. Hell, I should have never let her suck me. They were probably watching and recording us from the beginning.

  Tears wouldn't fall but I knew my face revealed how twisted and gutted up I felt inside.

  "Hey," a small voice said.

  I looked up to see Jeremy, still on his mother's hip, reaching out to pat my arm reassuringly.

  "S'okay. Don't be sad," he said.

  I cracked my first smile in well over twenty-four hours.

  "Thanks, buddy." And then to Mari
e, "I need to know where your parents sent her. I've got to get her back. Do you have any idea?"

  "They loved threatening to send us to Christian camps and boarding schools when we were bad," she said with a light chuckle. "They almost made good on their threat with me but then we found out I was pregnant."

  "Christian camps and boarding schools," I muttered to myself. "She's too old for those now, isn't' she?"

  "There's one I remember for young adults," she replied. "One of the strictest ones with tight security. Girls only and they're not allowed to leave the grounds. Mom threatened to ship us straight there when we turned eighteen if we didn't turn around."

  "Do you remember what it's called?" I demanded, my voice filled with hope.

  I made a silent, wordless prayer as she thought. This was my answer. This was God showing me I was meant to be with Maggie if I could just get past this obstacle placed in front of us.

  "It's West something," she said. "Westhaven or Westfield."

  "Good enough!" I breathed. "That's definitely a great place to start looking. I can't thank you enough, Marie."

  "Don't mention it. Just bring her back for us," she replied, bouncing Jeremy on her hip. "We miss our aunty." He nodded emphatically to agree.

  I paused to think for moment before deciding to just say fuck it.

  "Actually, I can think of a way to thank you," I said.

  "Really, don't worry about it," Marie said.

  "Would you and Jeremy like to stay at my place?"

  Her jaw dropped. Her surprised expression looked so much like Maggie's and my heart clenched at missing her even more.

  "What, you mean live with you?" she asked, dumbfounded.

  "Yeah, Maggie and I kind of had this plan," I said a bit sheepishly. "We'd leave this place, move somewhere we can be together openly, and bring you two to live with us."

  Marie's eyes brimmed with tears.

  "That damn Maggie," she laughed. "Always thinking of others before herself."

  "I know," I agreed. "It's one of the things I love about her."

 

‹ Prev