Takeover: The Complete Series

by Lana Grayson

  “When my little girl was fifteen? Her grandma sent her a cross, little thing with a real diamond in the middle.” Mom gazed down at me. I didn’t have time to prepare for this truth bomb. “I’m sorry, baby. I pawned it and bought a bottle of Oxy instead.”

  My heart sunk.

  I remembered that moment. It wasn’t just any cross. It was the necklace Granddad bought to propose to Grandma. She was crushed when I said I’d never received it.

  That was the day an eighty-year-old woman cried in her granddaughter’s arms.

  And now was when I realized it wasn’t for the lost necklace. She had cried over her lost daughter.

  If only she lived a while longer. Now Mom was sober, healthy, and reliving her past with shattered pride and humility.

  Except I wasn’t ready to share in that moment. My stomach turned, and the memory shattered too much inside me. The group looked to Father Raphael to steal back the spotlight.

  Judy hummed. “Right. Sins like…those. They’re all forgiven, right, Father?”

  I couldn’t handle their stares or Mom’s pinching grip on my hand. I stood, murmuring enough to convince people I needed to use the restroom.

  Father Raphael watched me go, his voice low and graveled with sincerity.

  “Yes. All is forgiven.”

  4

  Raphael

  My angel believed she’d fallen from grace.

  But I knew she had been sent to grant that grace to me.

  It was my place to attend the bible study, guiding the women of my parish as they debated and researched their role in the church and community. Usually, I served them well. Tonight, my thoughts drifted.

  Dark. Dangerous.

  Sinful.

  Honor looked beautiful.

  I no longer focused on the Bible in my hand. The conversation discussed one of the most important quotes and aspects of our faith, but I didn’t hear it. I stared at Honor’s empty seat and counted the seconds, breaths, aching pulses of my heart until she returned.

  The confessional still haunted her, just as it moved me. I’d never purge the thoughts from my mind, but I longed for the torment of her soft whimper. I knew it was wrong to indulge in a moment of that agonizing perfection, but I still took satisfaction from knowing the truth.

  She’d orgasmed at my command.

  I read the quote again, memorized it, recited it to myself in English and Latin.

  For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

  Some sinned willingly. Others reluctantly. And some fell because they had no defense against the darkness poised to steal their soul in the easiest, most sensual deceit.

  My lust wasn’t about pleasure. I was tempted to wield power.

  I wanted to control her.

  The minutes passed, and I drove my nails into the Bible’s leather cover like it was tender flesh. My impatience scarred the book. It had been a gift from Benjamin, and I should have read the words until the urge to see her passed.

  I failed once more.

  “I think you have this well in hand.” I stood and glanced over the group. “Excuse me for a few minutes. Keep the discussion going. I’ll be back to talk about what you think.”

  The two trouble-makers, Alyssa and Samantha, crossed and re-crossed their legs. They offered me a glimpse of what was unshielded beneath.

  Lust was a powerful tormentor…but these corruptible women did not interest me.

  So why did Honor pain me with such desires? It was simple. She lived a life of virtue, honesty, and integrity. It made her sin all the more meaningful.

  Irresistible.

  I should have returned to my office. Or I should have left the church for the rectory and prayed.

  But the heart wanted what the heart wanted. If only I listened to it and not what lechery hardened between my legs.

  Honor hid within the adoration chapel—a quiet room of medication and prayer separate from the nave. The lights were dimmed so she might have lit a prayer candle if she wished. Instead, she let the glow of her cell phone illuminate the room.

  She wasn’t crying, but I didn’t need tears to recognize when someone was lost.

  Vulnerable.

  My greatest temptation wasn’t a woman whispering my name as she sated her desires. I resisted then, but I couldn’t resist what called to me now. A beautiful woman who needed my help.

  She suffered alone, frightened and confused. And somehow she made me more aware of the man beneath the collar than any challenge yet to my ordination.

  I should have left her—recommended another priest to guide her through these feelings. But those emotions and desires, wantings and memories were mine and mine alone.

  It wasn’t temptation to desire her. It was an obsession that would bind her to me—physically, emotionally…spiritually.

  And no matter what I did, what comfort I gave, or how honestly I denied my own attraction, I lost a piece of my soul when I surrendered to her in that mutual destruction.

  I hesitated in the entry and bowed to the monstrance, the displayed body of Christ nestled within a golden vessel. The communion wafer, consecrated, tucked safely within the glass for the pious to view and adore.

  Please forgive this weakness.

  “Honor.”

  She stood, her hands tangling in her skirt, checking to ensure it was proper and modest.

  If only she realized how the motion drew more attention to the heavenly softness of her dark curves.

  “Father Rafe…Raphael.”

  Any name or title rolled from her lips as sweet as sugar.

  “You left the meeting,” I said.

  “Yeah. I needed…to think.”

  “Can I help?”

  “You?” She shook her head. Dancing curls cascaded over her face. She tucked them behind her ear. “No, Father. I doubt you can help.”

  “May I try?”

  Honor crossed her arms as if it would hide her. “No. I shouldn’t speak with you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, right now? What I need most is for you to be just a priest again.”

  The implication stung. I gritted my teeth. “I am a priest, Honor.”

  She shifted. Awkward. Frightened?

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate…” She shook her head. “After what happened between us, I’m not sure what to think.”

  “It was just a mistake.”

  “I don’t believe that. Mistakes are accidental. This was…”

  She quieted and clutched her phone. I practically felt her prayer. She must have begged for a text or call to buzz the iPhone so she’d have an excuse to run.

  “I shouldn’t be here,” she said. “I can’t be with you, Father. We can’t pretend this is innocent now.”

  And I doubted it’d ever be innocent again.

  But Honor needed me. No one in my congregation deserved to be without hope.

  I folded my hands, catching the beads of my rosaries between my fingers. “Do you know…I’ve been with this parish for three years?”

  She wasn’t ready for this impromptu lesson. I’d deliver it anyway.

  “During my time here, I’ve organized new groups. I’ve led prayers. I’ve helped with the charities.” I gestured to the hall, back to the women’s group. “For three years, I’ve tried to lead this congregation and introduce to them a sense of community and selflessness and faith.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  She must have recognized the fatigue in my voice. Not surrender, but certainly not optimism. I sighed. “Do you know what I learned, after all those hours and plans and dreams for this parish?”

  Honor shrugged. “That…you could lead a horse to holy water, but…”

  “Exactly.” I smiled. “I wanted this congregation to examine themselves—to find reason in their faith as well as their failings. Even the women’s group has spent weeks reading and debating and researching every unique way they can serve the church. Leadership, the ideals of femininity, rectifying chu
rch misogyny, motherhood, healing, teaching, education, charity…”

  “It’s noble,” she said.

  “Maybe. For three years, I believed I was a positive influence on this church.”

  “You don’t think you’re doing a good job?”

  Not anymore. “I failed. Momentarily, I assure you. I don’t tolerate failure in myself.”

  “But you haven’t failed, Father.”

  “Of course I have. I’ve preached values and I’ve warned of vices, but I learned something in these past few days.” I held her gaze. “I haven’t instilled a sense of humility in my flock.”

  “I know what you’re trying to do,” she warned. “Please. Don’t try to comfort me.”

  “No one is alone in this world, my angel.”

  “Father—”

  “No one is without sin, just as no one is unforgiveable. You do not suffer from temptations now, but an excess of pride. Everyone sins, and I won’t allow any of my flock to doubt themselves or their worth. No matter the cause.”

  Even if it was my own doing.

  I gestured to the pew. Honor hesitantly sat, her fingers tapping the wooden bench. Even in uncertainty, this woman embodied innocence, elegance, and gentleness. She swept her hair from her face, and a slight, grateful smile graced her lips.

  It was enough to damn me.

  I wanted this woman. To touch. To protect.

  To possess.

  The cassock covered most of me, but I wasn’t comfortable standing before this angelic woman with her almond eyes and honey-sweet lips.

  She’d ruin me. At least if my heart stopped, if it finally ceased its rapid punishment against my chest, my final moments would be blessed by her beauty.

  “May I sit?” I asked.

  Neither of us knew which answer was right. Refusing would admit prior guilt. Accepting would welcome new.

  She nodded.

  I sat, placing an imaginary Bible length between us. Her hands pressed against the wooden bench. Flat. Still trembling.

  Little novice. When confronted with sin, it was best to wield a weapon. I carried rosaries.

  If only I might have felt her warm hand instead of the cold beads.

  “Do you really want to listen?” she asked. “Do you really want to know what made me leave the meeting?”

  “More than anything.”

  She hesitated until the sigh wove over her. “Then you have to know. First and foremost, my mother isn’t a bad person.”

  She spoke it like a confession. No—she whispered as if she didn’t believe it herself.

  She looked away. It might’ve made it easier to minister to her then, but it didn’t ease my breathing…or my conscience.

  She smelled of candied apples, and her teeth nibbled on a plumb bottom lip. I wondered if she ached for the sting of a bite or the soft caress of a kiss.

  I forced myself to speak. “I understand.”

  “Even when she was sick—” Her gaze slipped to mine for the briefest of moments. “That’s what my Dad called it, when she wasn’t sober. Sick.”

  “It’s true.”

  “The pain killers and the alcohol made her a bad person.” She frowned. “No. It made her a reckless person.”

  “Addiction is a serious illness…” I edged closer, shielding her from grief and yet savoring her warmth, her scent, her beauty. “Addiction affects more people than the one suffering from it.”

  Didn’t I know it?

  Couldn’t I feel it?

  Every second I strained at her side. I prayed in silence and sang with the melody of her voice. My gaze should have remained on the monstrance, the foundation of our church. Instead I imagined the softness of her legs, her arms, that hand so near to mine.

  Addiction. Temptation. Sin. It was real.

  And my desire trapped Honor in the middle of my battles. Man against faith. Reason against passion. Need against vows.

  “My mom’s been sober for a year now.” Honor opened more and more. “And I hate to say it, but it’s…strange. I don’t remember a time when she wasn’t popping pills or drinking. My mother is gone. Now she’s this…entirely different person. Someone new.”

  “It’s a good thing,” I said.

  “I know. She’s trying so hard to stay on the right path.”

  “And you are good to help her.”

  She leaned against the pew, her hands slipping, inching towards mine. “I’m not that good. I don’t know how to help her. I left my college and lost my credits, but we don’t have the money for a full-time tuition. I’ll be a part-time student for my senior year while I find a better paying side job because…well, Mom can’t really start a career. She…doesn’t have the right set of skills or references.”

  She meant no one would hire a woman with such a tragic, complicated history. “The church is helping her.”

  Honor didn’t want to hear it. “No. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure we don’t need the charity. I don’t mind working extra jobs.”

  “Honor, the programs exist to help women in her position.”

  “I know. We won’t need them.”

  I frowned. “But you’re studying to do social work. You, above all, should understand how much these programs could help.”

  “I do, Father. Believe me. But we won’t accept it.”

  “Why?”

  “I can take care of my mother. The charities should save their resources for others.”

  It wasn’t a completely honest answer, but I didn’t press any further. She shifted. Her fingers accidentally grazed mine.

  She stilled. So did I.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing here,” she whispered.

  “You’re home. You’re helping your mother. You’re serving your community.”

  “Father—”

  “You are doing what’s right. Honor thy mother—it’s so important you were named for it.”

  “It’s hard to honor someone who hadn’t honored themselves for sixteen years.” Her voice dropped, and my heart stilled with it. She edged closer.

  This wasn’t a moment of truth, but a feat of strength.

  Was it wrong to take her hand? To hold it? To feel her warmth surge through me?

  Honor needed that comfort. In any other case, with any other person, I’d have given all of me to ease the burdens of their heart. It made no difference if she was a stranger or…

  If she were my angel.

  I took her hand, and the mistake burned through me.

  Her breathing shuddered, but she said nothing. That made it worse. My blood boiled, raged, and plummeted from my head and into the wickedness below.

  I truly was a monster.

  Her lips trembled, parted. The timid pink of her tongue gently licked her bottom lip—not in crass seduction, but in soft nervousness.

  The things I would have done to that lip, her tongue, the fears and burdens she hid. Honor deserved nothing but pleasured bliss and quivering breath.

  I wasn’t the man to give it, but if I wasn’t careful, I’d be the one who took it.

  Honor squeezed my fingers, staring at our entwined hands. Light against dark. Right against wrong.

  Man and woman.

  Priest and flock.

  Honor’s eyes fluttered shut, and I was helpless to resist the only urge I trusted. I had to touch the silken skin of her cheek.

  But I couldn’t do it. Instead, I palmed the back of her hand. Her own fingers caressed her cheek, and I pressed through her, envious of her touch. Her hand acted as a barrier, but I could feel her trembling. Sense her warmth.

  I stared at her lips.

  This was not a terrible and vile seduction. Not all of it. Soft words. Confessed feelings. It jeopardized my collar, my vows, my everything, but she opened to me, and I understood her.

  Honor met my gaze. She whispered her fears, worries, burdens to me.

  Should I have felt so proud?

  So fortunate?

  “My Dad loved my mother,” she said. “He to
ok care of her every day while she was sick, even when she was at her worst.”

  “Did you love him?”

  “Yes. Very much. He’s gone now…” She leaned into our hands. “But you already know that, don’t you? You’re the priest of this parish. I’m sure you know a lot about everyone.”

  It was true. “I wait for them to tell me before I ask questions.”

  “Well…” Honor sighed. “I can tell you this…my dad never got to see my mom sober. He died before this change happened. That doesn’t seem fair.”

  “I understand.”

  “I don’t think you can.” Her eyes closed as the heat from our hands caressed us both. “What about you, Father? Where’s your family?”

  I dropped my hand.

  My stomach twisted, and I banished the thoughts, the desires.

  And damned the disgusting hardness that threatened to tent the black robes I wore.

  I would not surrender to my primal needs. I was stronger than that.

  I prayed I was stronger than I thought I was.

  “My family is…around.” I shifted, placing two imaginary bibles between us. It shamed her. That was not my intention.

  Honor smirked, forcing a joke. “You’ve seen my family. What’s yours like? Wanna trade?”

  “You don’t want to trade with me.”

  Her smile faded, and I owed her more than that, especially as she finally opened up to me.

  But my story was practiced, almost wooden. I doubted she could hear it. Only a man who devoted his life to listening for the unspoken might have heard the resentment.

  “I’m the youngest of eight.”

  “Whoa.”

  I shrugged. “Roman Catholic.”

  “Right. Wow.”

  “My brothers and sisters are much older than me—by at least six years. I don’t really see them often. They live everywhere across the country. Two in New York, one here in Pittsburgh, one stationed in Germany, one in Dallas, one in San Jose, and one…well, he hasn’t corresponded with us for a while. Last I heard he was in jail.”

  “I’m sorry.” Honor shrugged. “Did any of them go into the clergy?”

  If only. It might have helped.

  “No. I’m the only one with a calling.”