The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel (20 page)

“Come.” He leads me into his living room to
a couch that has seen better days. “Sit.”

Then he leaves and returns with a bag of
ice, only after taking a good look at my cheek. “This is
unacceptable. Kade was here a few minutes ago complaining about
your inadequate clothing.”

“He told Sister Helena he was coming here.
She was angry because he carried me through the snowdrifts. I tried
to come back, Father, I really did. But the snow, it was up to my
hips and my pants …” I’m suddenly crying and I don’t even know why.
I always control my emotions, so well so why am I weeping now? A
handful of tissues appear in front of me, and he pats me on the
back.

“I understand. Kade explained everything. He
was right. And you shouldn’t have tried to come home. That was
foolish of you.”

“Why did she punish me like this?”

“Emmalia, I need to take some photos of your
face. I’m going to petition the order to have her removed. In the
interim, one of the other nuns will take her place.”

“Okay.”

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Do you have feelings for Kade?”

Oh, God, why did he have to ask me that? I
can’t lie to him. He’s a priest, for crying out loud.

“I think so.”

“Hmm. Then do you think you should stay on
at the convent?”

“I don’t know.” I hold my head. “That’s the
same thing I’ve been agonizing over. How do I know the answer to
that?”

“Well, you can’t have both. I don’t think we
allow married nuns,” he laughs.

“Married! Good lord! Who said anything about
that?”

“Well isn’t that the natural progression of
a relationship?”

“Sometimes, but not always.”

“Emmalia, you can’t date Kade if you’re in
the convent.” His voice is stern.

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not
stupid.” Now my voice matches his.

“I’m only clarifying. If you want to pursue
this budding relationship you may or may not have, you are going to
have to make some kind of a decision with regard to your devotion
to becoming a nun. Your novitiate period will be coming to an end
soon.”

“I know,” I say in a whiny voice.

“Emmalia, listen to me.” His sternness
captures my full attention. “This may be a once in a lifetime
opportunity. Don’t let it pass you by. I’m not advising you to jump
head first into something. What I am saying is to take your time to
get to know this man. I’ve known him for a while now and I sense a
great person in him. Think about it, will you?”

“Are you trying to persuade me to
leave?”

“Not in the least. I want your happiness
above all. The convent is right for many people, and for many
others it’s not. If you think Kade can offer you love, then the
convent isn’t your home, Kade is.”

“But what about dedicating my life to Jesus?
And God?”

Father Anthony laughs. “Good lord, child,
haven’t you learned anything? They’re everywhere. You don’t have to
be in the convent to have both of them in your life.”

He gives me a lot to think about. I’m not
sure if I’m more or less confused. All this started as a sham, but
then I lived it so well I started to believe it all. And Father
Anthony, well, I have the utmost respect for him. But he does make
sense. What if I go ahead with my vows and pass up my chance to be
with Kade? What the hell am I saying? There’s no way I could ever
be a nun. Look at the way they live. I’m only in it because I don’t
think I’m going to live much longer. So Kade knows my deal, why not
take that chance and let our relationship grow?

Father Anthony’s laughter interrupts my
thoughts. “You sure have some serious wheels spinning there. I’ve
been trying to get your attention here. Look to your left so I can
take a few shots of your face.”

He takes what he needs and then excuses
himself to make a call. When he gets back, his face is grim.

“I want to warn you, Sister Helena is on the
way over, and she’s denying ever hitting you. She says that Kade
did it.”

“What! That’s ridiculous.”

“I believe you. But were there any witnesses
when he brought you back?”

“No, and I went straight to my room.”

“That’s what I thought.” His fingers thrum a
rhythm on the arm of his chair. “If you leave today, is there
anyone you can stay with?”

“The only one I know of would be Kade, and I
honestly don’t want to do that.”

“I understand. Okay, let me do the
talking.”

We wait in silence and my anger mounts.
Anger is a strange thing. The last couple of years I’ve lived in
fear, not knowing what lurks around each corner. My head constantly
is on the lookout for stalkers or things that look off. The hair on
my arms and the back of my neck never seems to be at ease, always
at high alert. But today, my anger has expunged that fear, taken
away the cringing woman, and replaced it with one fierce bitch. If
Sister Helena thinks she’s going to walk in here and see a cowering
terror-stricken girl, she has another thing coming.

The knock on the door tells us the moment of
reckoning is here. Father Anthony pats my knee and goes to let the
Daughter of Lucifer in. Or maybe she’s the Mother of Lucifer. Who
the hell knows?

She walks in with a haughty look on her
face. Now that pisses me off even more. How dare she look haughty?
She’s an old hag of a nun, for Pete’s sake.

“Well, I see the tramp is already spreading
her lies, as well as her legs.”

“That’s enough, Sister Helena. Sit down.”
She takes the seat next to Father Anthony and scowls at me. Fine, I
shoot my best daggers back at her. And then I one up her. When
Father Anthony isn’t looking, I flip her off. Her scowl
deepens.

“Sister Helena, Emmalia claims Kade did not
strike her and I have to say, knowing Kade as well as I do, that
would be the last thing he would ever do. That man is as gentle as
a mouse.”

I smirk at her. “I would like to add that it
would make no sense for him to strike me
after
he saved my
life.”

“Yes, that’s true. Furthermore, why did you
lock Emmalia in her room?”

Sister Helena’s mouth crimps in annoyance.
She points her bony index finger at me and wags it back and forth.
“Because I didn’t want that whore to taint my convent. I have pure
innocent women living there, but that … that slut…”

Father Anthony slams his fist down on the
wooden arm of his chair and bellows, “That’s enough. You will not
slander this young woman in my presence. Am I clear?”

With a murderous expression aimed at me, she
says, “Yes, Father.”

“Speak directly to me when you answer,” he
barks.

Her posture is as stiff and straight as
rebar, but she offers him an obligatory nod.

“Under the circumstances, and after this
outrageous outburst, I’m going to impose my authority and remove
you from your position.”

She stands, a vein throbbing at her temple,
and I wonder if she’s going to have a stroke.

“You can’t do that. You don’t have the
authority.”

Now Father Anthony is super pissed. “I don’t
what? I am the pastor of this parish. I have the ultimate authority
here. Or have you forgotten that? I am exercising my rights to
remove you from this point on.” Then he looks at me and I hope he
doesn’t notice my smug expression. “Emmalia, who is Sister Helena’s
second?”

“That would be Sister Mary Elizabeth. She’s
the one that let me out of my room.”

“Excellent. Can you go and call her please?
Have her come to the rectory right now, if you will.”

“Yes, Father.”

I’m so giddy, I feel high. Ding dong the
witch is going down, baby! What I would do for a bottle of tequila,
some salt, and a lime right now. Maybe Father Anthony has some. I
call Sister Mary Elizabeth, and return to the living room. We all
sit in silence, but I’m having a mental party. I’m so engrossed in
my fun, taking shots and dancing, that I don’t notice Sister Helena
get up.

“This is all your fault. If I hadn’t
listened to your pleas and given you a chance, if I hadn’t allowed
you entry in the convent, none of this would be happening right
now.” And she tries to stab me with a letter opener that she
must’ve found on the coffee table or something. She swipes it
across my chest, but I’m wearing several layers so it does no harm.
I push her down on the ground because my adrenaline is now surging
and I step on the arm that holds the weapon.

Father Anthony grabs the letter opener and I
ask, “What do we do now?”

“We call the police. She just assaulted you.
And that’s after she punched you in the face earlier. She’s going
to jail.”

My foot is still on her arm and her body
bucks, trying to dislodge it. She’s strong for an old woman.

Father Anthony yells, “That’s enough! Do you
want me to tie you up?” Then he looks at me and tells me to call
911. I run to the other room and make the call.

What a freak show. When I get back, Sister
Helena is begging Father not to send her to jail. Now I want to
laugh at the whole scenario. What the hell just happened? A nun
tried to stab me with a letter opener!

“Why do you hate me so much?” I had to know.
It couldn’t be from me staying with Kade. There was more to it than
that.

“You’re unchaste.”

“If I’m unchaste, why did you let me
in?”

“I thought I could change you, but you’re …
no one is going to change you.”

Father Anthony and I look at each other. We
both are thinking the same thing. She needs psychiatric help. The
woman is batshit kooky.

Sister Mary Elizabeth arrives and before we
can finish explaining, the police arrive. Sister Helena is babbling
about me being a whore and they handcuff her and put her in the
car. Father speaks to them and they decide she needs to go the
psych unit at the hospital instead of jail.

“I guess you’re in charge now. You won’t be
locking me in my room or sucker punching me, will you?” I ask.

“Gracious, no! She’s been getting worse and
worse these last few weeks. The other day, she was mumbling about
little people being in the closet. I honestly didn’t know what to
do. But, Emmalia, she had it out for you.”

“You don’t have to tell me. She made life as
hard as it could be.”

I decided right then to tell her I’m at odds
over whether I’m going to stay in the convent. She asks if it was
because of Sister Helena. I explain about Kade, and she gets an
ear-to-ear grin on her face.

“I’m thrilled for you. If you decide that’s
what you want, you know we’ll all be so happy for you. But Father
Anthony is right. You can’t date him and be a novice.”

“Oh, I know. I have to make up my mind. And
I’m still on the fence, but as soon as I do, you’ll be the first to
know.”

We chat with Father Anthony for a minute and
then he leaves for the hospital and we go back to the convent. What
started out as a rotten experience actually turned into something
in my favor. I can’t wait to tell Kade about it when I see him. Now
my heart sinks because I have no idea when that will be.

The Seven

Three men sift through the yard, moving like
shadows. When they get to the back door, one says, “Unlock and
secure.”

The door is unlocked and the alarm
deactivated. The dog starts barking.

“Drey, keep the pup quiet.”

The other two head into the study and log
onto the computer, erasing camera images, and removing any
incriminating evidence of their presence on the premises.

Then they hack into an account that gives
them access to Kade Hart’s cell phone. Unfortunately, they are
unable to retrieve the photos through that method. They log off the
computer, leaving it as they found it.

“All clear?” Drey asks.

“We’re going to have to get our hands on his
phone somehow. We can’t clear his photos online,” Verus
answers.

“Shit.”

“Exactly.”

~~~~~

Rafe stands outside the door of Sabin’s
office and observes him for a minute. Black leather stretches
across an expanse of muscular shoulders. The give and take of
leather surprises Rafe. He wonders why it doesn’t split right up
the center as Sabin tests its strength each time he moves. Black
shaggy hair in need of a trim brushes over the collar of the jacket
as an impatient hand pushes a lock off his forehead.

“How long you going to stand there and ogle
me like some lovesick bitch?”

Rafe rolls his shoulders back and prepares
to go to verbal war.

“How the fuck do you do that?” he asks.

“Do what?”

“Know I’m out here?”

Sabin whips around in his chair and asks,
“You did not just ask me that, did you? Because if you did, we have
serious problems. It’s your job to pick up on shit like this. If
you can’t sense when someone is watching you, and you’re my
team-fucking-leader, then we have issues, Rafe.”

Maybe he’s right, Rafe thinks. He wonders if
he’s lost his abilities.

“And your fucking confidence. If your men
suspect that, you lose everything. What’s going on with you?
Speak.”

“It’s the girl. Edge is right. She picks up
on everything. Every damn time. Even I question my abilities when
I’m around her.”

Black eyes penetrate gray ones. It’s an
intense moment for Rafe. To have Sabin involved and digging around
in your life is something they all try to avoid. But it’s gotten to
the point where they can no longer do that.

A curtain drops over Sabin’s eyes and he’s
silent for a moment. “You don’t have the luxury of questioning your
abilities. Unless you want to be pulled from this mission. Is that
what you want?”

“No. Edge has come up with an idea. He wants
you to join us. Only to see for yourself what we’re talking
about.”