My nerves were jumping around inside me and my instincts were telling me something was definitely wrong. I reached out and tried the knob and the door popped open. I guess when you lived in a neighborhood like this one, locking your front door wasn’t important.
I walked into the massive space and looked around at all the expensive furnishings. As I continued to walk, I passed a living room and an office. I heard voices nearby so I followed them and found myself in the kitchen.
I saw Patience and her father talking. They didn’t know I was there and while most people would have announced themselves, I was seriously thinking of backing out and going to the car. Now that I saw she was fine, I was more worried about the governor getting pissed about me walking into his house without being invited in. Patience was my girl now, and the last thing I wanted to do was piss off her dad or end up in jail again.
I started to back away, but something odd struck me. The way his hands were touching her. He was too personal. Not the kind of personal a father was to his kids, but the kind of personal a man was to his woman. It made me sick to watch.
She reached up and batted his hand away and his eyes got angry. Then I took a good look at her face and I saw fear there. She was afraid of him and his hands, and just like that, I knew. All the pieces of Patience were clear to me and slowly I collected them.
I thought back to her shyness and the way she freaked out about being touched. I thought back to the guilt I saw on her face when I gave her an orgasm in my car that first time. Her constant need to rush home, the bruises, it all made sense to me now. Then something else hit me and I thought for sure I was going to be sick. Patience wasn’t a virgin. I’d been with a virgin before and she definitely hadn’t been one, yet before, she would barely let me touch her. There was no way in hell she’d had sex with another person unless it was forced her on. Her dad sexually molested her. It was all so clear to me now and I couldn’t even believe I hadn’t seen it before. Her father touched her inappropriately. That bastard touched my Patience.
He jerked her up and spun her around over the kitchen table. She kicked and fought back, but never made a sound. He started to pull down her shorts, and just like that I wanted to kill him. He had to die. He deserved to die.
“You got about two seconds to get your fucking hands off of her before I come over there and kill you.” My voice echoed in the kitchen.
Both of their heads snapped in my direction and he let her go instantly. There should’ve been relief in her eyes, but all I saw was her starting to panic even more.
“You sick son of a bitch.” I started across the kitchen.
Patience jumped in front of me before I could get to him and I stopped and looked down at her. Her eyes were wide and she placed her hands on my cheeks.
“Everything’s fine, Zeke. Come on, let’s just go.” She talked to me like I was about to jump from a cliff.
“No! Everything’s not fucking fine. That bastard’s been molesting you, hasn’t he?”
I knew I was being loud and I didn’t give a shit.
She started shushing me and I looked down at her like she was crazy.
“Don’t tell me to be quiet.” I was getting even angrier that she was still afraid of him.
She never needed to be afraid again. I’d kill the son of a bitch if he even looked at her the wrong way.
“Don’t be scared of him, snowflake. If he even thinks about touching you, I’ll kill him.” I looked him dead in his eyes when I said it.
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, young man.” He attempted to deny it. I got even louder and Patience shushed me again.
“Why are you telling me to be quiet? Who gives a shit who knows? He needs to go to jail, Patience. He belongs in jail.”
“Zeke, please stop. My mom will hear you.” Her eyes filled with tears.
And then another thing became clear to me. She was hiding it because of