Love Heals Read online

  “Shit, where are they now?”

  “Locked up in a cell, and I’m going to head over to see if they can be transported as soon as possible. I want them out of Central Valley.”

  “Will you be back for lunch?” Aleck asked.

  Titus narrowed his eyes and cringed at the move. He lifted his hand to his jaw and looked meaner than usual with that swollen and bruised cheekbone. “Is something wrong? You need me for something?”

  Aleck put his hands in his pockets. “Just wanted to talk about Charlie and how we saw her yesterday. Thinking of asking her to spend more time with us to get to know us. Want to make sure that you’re on board.”

  “You know I am, but she’s resistant still.”

  “We’ll work it out,” Mavis said.

  “Corey is in, too. If it’s slow courting she needs, then so be it. We all haven’t dated a woman and followed this type of process in over twenty years. When we think about that, it makes us feel out of her league for being older, but we want to give this a true shot,” Aleck said.

  “Yeah before she decides to take off again,” Mavis stated.

  “I’m in. Just take your time, any show of aggression could be taken the wrong way by her,” Titus said, and they agreed and watched him walk out the door.

  “He’s pissed,” Mavis said.

  “Look at his damn cheek. He is going to be in a foul mood all day. God help anyone ready to argue with Titus today,” Aleck said.

  Mavis chuckled and then hissed. “I’m staying out of that line of fire.”

  Charlie heard her phone ringing, and she thought it was in her dream. She was tired, had just dozed off a couple of hours ago. She lifted up, looked at the clock. “Eleven?” It seemed so much later than that, but she had just gone to bed. She looked at her cell phone. Maya Hennessey? Oh crap, did her ex find her? She picked up her cell phone. “Hello.”

  “Oh thank goodness you answered, I need your help,” Maya told her. Charlie could hear a baby crying in the background. She sat up. Maya didn’t have a baby. Adele did.

  “Oh God, are Adele and Cody okay? What did Lucas do?” Charlie asked, knowing that Adele’s boyfriend was abusive, a soldier who hadn’t been right for years but refused to seek any kind of counseling. Charlie had been seeing Adele before she left for the overseas trip. They picked up where they left off just yesterday. She got out of bed and started to get dressed.

  “They’re safe now. She headed here to my place. Lucas took off with some friends. She isn’t sure, but she knew she needed to get out of there and to a safe place with the baby.”

  “Is she going to press charges this time?” Charlie asked, knowing there wasn’t much she could do if that wasn’t the case.

  “No, she’s too scared. She says he’ll find her and kill her and Cody.” Charlie could hear Adele crying in the background.

  “If she’s willing to press charges, to give up trying to fix that man when he’s nothing but trouble, then I can help her and the baby get into a shelter. Not in Central Valley or Benter but elsewhere. It’s not really a traditional safe house for domestic violence victims. There’ll be people there who are armed and can protect her and Cody, but I need to know that she’s done with him.”

  She heard Maya tell Adele the same thing. “She wants to know if it’s truly safe.”

  “Definitely.”

  “Then she’ll do it. Lucas struck Cody, Charlie. The baby’s face is marked up and finger marks on his little arm from Lucas grabbing him so hard.”

  “Jesus. You have your gun, right, Maya?” Charlie asked.

  “Loaded and ready.”

  “Good. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Have her pack up what she has. There’ll be supplies where I’m going to take her.”

  “Got it.”

  Charlie got dressed, brushed her teeth and left the house in record speed. She got to Maya’s fifteen minutes after the phone call, and she was sick to her stomach the second she saw the remnants of Lucas’s attack. Adele was sporting a nasty black eye, a bloody split lip, bruises on her neck and shoulder, her top was ripped and even her legs were bruised. She was favoring her side as tears ran down her cheeks.

  “Do we need to see a doctor?” she asked, coming closer and lifting her shirt. Charlie could see the bruising and the red marks, and she feared that her ribs were broken. “That son of a bitch,” she hissed.

  “I can’t take it anymore, Charlie. I can’t. He struck Cody.”

  Charlie pulled Adele into her arms and hugged her, caressed her hair and looked at Maya who held the sleeping baby in her arms. He was eighteen months old, the sight of his chubby cheek bruises and marks truly pissed her off. This had to end. Lucas Ports was a monster.

  An hour later, she sat in the living room with Cassidy James, a woman who Charlie had known for many years now. This wasn’t the first time Charlie had to bring a victim here, and unfortunately, she knew it wouldn’t be the last time either. Cassidy and her three husbands welcomed Adele with open arms and immediately saw the seriousness of the situation. Carlton, a deputy in the town of Cortlan began to ask her details as Cassidy carried Cody toward the kitchen and Adele followed.

  “What do you know?” he asked her.

  Charlie exhaled. “As much as I would like to say that Lucas is healable and that it’s his PTSD that makes him lose his shit, that isn’t the case. He’s always been an abusive jerk. Was discharged dishonorably after attacking a higher-ranking officer and then committing a series of small crimes where he lived before Central Valley. He’s had some run-ins with the sheriff.”

  “Does Titus know about tonight? Is he aware of you bringing Adele here?” Carlton asked.

  “No. I didn’t even call him. At this point, Adele and Cody are safest leaving town, getting out of Lucas’s line of fire.”

  He nodded. “I think you should make Titus aware of the situation, just in case Lucas decides he wants her back and he finds out that you helped to get her to a safe place.”

  “I don’t think he will figure it out. Adele has kept our sessions private and had to sneak out to do them when Lucas was at work or out hunting with friends. It should work out fine, and I’ll be sure to keep eyes out for him.”

  “Well we’ll take care of them. I’ll get Meredith to speak with Adele first thing in the morning, so we can ensure she doesn’t change her mind and want to go back to Lucas and the abusive environment. It will get tricky knowing that the baby was struck by the father. We won’t be able to allow her to take him with her.”

  “I know, and she knows, as well. We discussed it on the ride over here. He never went after Cody before. She knows the only way to survive, for her baby to live a normal, safe life is to get away Lucas.”

  Thirty minutes later Charlie said good-bye to Adele who hugged her tight and thanked her for saving them. She caressed the baby’s hair who was now sleeping in Cassidy’s arms as Cassidy rocked him in the rocking chair in the living room.

  “This is a new beginning for you, Adele. Put him behind you. You have a great support network here with my friends, so I want you to trust them. If you need anything, have Meredith call me, okay?” Adele cringed as she hugged Charlie again. Charlie looked at Meredith and her men.

  “We’ll have the doctor come by and check her over in the morning,” Carlton said, and Charlie nodded and headed out to her car to trek the almost hour drive back to Cherry Hill.

  “What do you mean I can’t talk to him?” Charlie asked as she stood in the police station asking Faris Montgomery if Cody Seno could be released on bail after being in a bar fight last night. She stood there with his mother Aberly. Charlie was tired, only having gotten a few hours’ sleep after driving Adele and the baby to the safe house in Cortlan. When she got the phone call and messages from Aberly about this terrible bar fight last night and how her son was with his friends and some girls, protecting them. It was a mess in the police station. Plus Cody Seno was next on the call list to be accepted into the state police academy. He had waited years
for this, and if he were charged, he would lose his position on the list or be knocked off entirely. She had to do something.

  “I’m sorry, Charlie, but you know the rules. Cody was involved in the bar fight last night, and we’re still trying to get everyone’s stories straight. The sheriff will be in momentarily, and I can tell you he won’t be lenient with anyone. He has the final say.”

  She looked at Aberly. “I’m sure your son didn’t cause the fight but got caught up in it. The sheriff will help you figure it out and get Cody out of here quickly. Let's wait for him to arrive.”

  “Um, Charlie. Titus isn’t exactly going to be in a great mood for this,” Faris said but then two state troopers arrived, and he excused himself. As she tried to calm Aberly down, she watched as some men were brought out of the back room and cell in handcuffs. Their faces were battered and bruised, but then their eyes landed on her.

  “Hot damn!” the one heavyset guy with a swollen nose and two black eyes said to her as he looked her over. The other guy whistled. “She can come with us. She looks like she needs discipline and some real men.”

  “Shut up. Both of you,” the Texas Ranger said as he pulled them along, but both men rolled their tongues at her, making lewd remarks.

  “Take your eyes off that woman or get worse than last night,” Sheriff Titus said. His deep, hard voice echoed through the place, and everyone got quiet. She gulped when she saw his bruised cheekbone. But then her attention went to the two men as they struggled with the Rangers. Titus came right over to her.

  “What are you doing here?” he demanded to know. He looked at her body in the flair skirt and sleeveless blouse she wore. She took a retreating step back as the two men yelled back about her body and being better than the sheriff in bed. Her jaw dropped, but then Titus grabbed her upper arm and started walking her toward his office.

  “Titus, um, Sheriff Mullen, that’s Cody’s mom I’m with and—”

  He was barking orders, and people were moving quickly and out of his way. He brought her into the office and slammed the door closed.

  “What are you doing here?” He stepped toward her, and her back hit the office door.

  She stared up into his dark blue eyes, and of course the bruising on his cheekbone stood out and definitely the fact that Titus was filled with piss and vinegar right now and there would be no talking calmly.

  “Are you okay?” she found herself asking. He was breathing through his nostrils.

  “You don’t belong here. Not looking the way you do and making criminal assholes stare at your body, your beauty.”

  She opened her mouth to speak and then didn’t know what to say. “I take it you were there last night to break up that bar fight.” He narrowed his eyes at her, placed a hand on the butt of his holster and took several unsteady breaths.

  She couldn’t even keep eye contact with him. He was so fierce, so commanding and intimidating. “Goddamn it.” He gripped the material of her blouse and pulled her toward him as she lost her footing and slammed up against his chest. He maneuvered a hand up under her hair and head, and the other went right over her ass as he pressed his mouth to hers. He plunged his tongue in deeply, and she reacted. Was turned on by the man’s capabilities as the sheriff and commanding, dominant ways. He obviously fought those men last night, and they looked worse for wear than Titus. The feel of his large hands against her ass and under her hair and head as she moaned into his mouth got her pussy wet and her body on fire with need. So when the hand on her ass moved against her thigh and he maneuvered her against the door again, she nearly panicked.

  However, he was dominant and experienced in seduction and control as he kissed her fully and slid a hand under her skirt to her hip and ass. He stroked his finger along the crack of her ass, and she tightened up momentarily until he readjusted his position, maneuvered fingers between her legs and slid fingers under her panties and straight to her cunt. She moaned louder, and he growled low, perhaps warning her to be quiet as he pumped fingers into her cunt and she came. Hard.

  He moved his mouth from her lips to her neck and then lower, trying to suckle against the deep cleavage of her breasts. She lifted her hands to his head and shoulders that were lower as he trailed fingers from her wet cunt over to her asshole. “Oh God, Titus. We have to stop. Oh please slow down,” she said and lowered her head to his shoulder. He pulled his fingers from her body and then slid his palm over her ass and used her ass cheek to pull her snug against his body. His other hand went to above her shoulder and the wall. He looked down at her.

  “Don’t you go denying this, woman. Don’t you dare,” he warned her, and she felt the tears in her eyes. “Fuck,” he whispered and then pulled her into his arms and hugged her to him and against the door.

  “What the hell just happened?”

  He pulled back but slid his palms along her shoulders to her hips. His eyes went to her breasts. She looked down, and sure enough, the first two buttons were undone, and her skirt was against her hips. He moved his palm once again along her thigh and to her hip, giving it a squeeze before he winked at her. “I can come in my pants you got me so fucking hard, baby. So hard, and this body, Jesus, you are fit for kings. For my brothers and I.” She widened her eyes and started to panic.

  “No.” He gripped her hips and gave her a shake. She held on to his forearms.

  “No denying this happened, or the fact that it will happen again times four with my brothers and I. We’ll work it out. Take our time.”

  “This wasn’t taking your time.”

  “You asked for it.”

  “Me?” she replied, shocked. He smirked, and it was crazy how sexy he looked, and for some strange reason, the bruised cheekbone made her think he was even sexier. She lost her mind. Couldn’t think rationally around him.

  He reached up and cupped her cheek. He stood straighter, causing her skirt to fall but she dared not move. “You’re mine and my brothers. We’re protective of what belongs to us. So when those two dicks were staring at this sexy body and saying nasty things, I couldn’t help but pull you from their sight, from their comments and ensure you were safe and sound. That’s what you’ll always be in these arms, baby. Safe and sound.”

  He pressed his mouth to hers again, and she held on to him, felt small and feminine in his embrace. Then she thought about his capabilities, about how fierce he looked as he grabbed her and brought her through the office in front of everyone and to this room. When he released her lips, she stared up into his eyes. “Don’t run. Please don’t run.” He shook his head. She didn’t want to. Not with his large, thick, muscular arm around her waist, his palm over her hip and his eyes glued to hers. She reached up and stroked his jaw. Felt how masculine and muscular his jaw was and also how badly bruised his cheekbone looked.

  “Does it hurt a lot?” she asked him, even though she knew first hand it did. She closed her eyes and lay her cheek against his chest as he caressed her hair. Tavern had struck her across the cheekbone and then shoved her so hard she slammed into the kitchen counter and bruised her ribs.

  “We aren’t him. I’m not him, and I would never,” he said to her and then held both her cheeks between his palms so she would look at him. “I would never strike you, lash out at you in anger or break your heart. My brothers would never do that either.”

  “It’s hard not to remember, not to fear that kind of betrayal and hurt.”

  “I understand, and we’ll take things slow. Hell, we’ve been wanting you for a year, that should show you how patient we are.”

  “This? What we just did here in your office—”

  He pressed his mouth to hers again and kissed her until she felt weak and spent in his arms, then he released her lips and hugged her tight. “I can guarantee this won’t be the last time I make you come in my arms or in my office.”