Page 3 of Grave Sins (Graveyard of Hearts Collection #2)

Maisy

I am watching this giant man carry me like I weigh nothing, and I am admittedly swooning over here. It doesn’t take much to impress me, though. I should warn him that being around me is dangerous. We step into the parking garage, and it’s eerily dark and quiet.

“Yeah, I don’t like this,” I mutter.

“Do you want me to put you down?” He asks, looking at me with concern.

“Please don’t,” I laugh nervously. “I’m sorry. I’m not normally insane.”

“It’s okay,” he says with a sweet smile.

We stop next to a black truck, and he gently sets me on my feet.

I watch as he opens the back door and sets his bag down before pulling two towels out.

He hands me one before opening the passenger door and laying the other on his seat.

“Need a hand?” he asks when I stare at the truck, wondering how I will get in without accidentally flashing him. It’s rather tall, and I’m… not.

“Please,” I admit. He effortlessly lifts me and sits me in the seat before buckling the seatbelt around me.

He shuts the door, and I realize that I don’t know his name. I should probably ask him that. When he gets into the driver's seat, I ask. “What’s your name?”

“Archer Barnes,” he says. “Can I ask yours?”

“Maisy Jacobs,” I tell him.

“You didn’t have to tell me your full name,” he chuckles. “I just wanted you to know mine since you are trusting me to drive you.”

“Oh,” I say. “Well… now you know.”

“Is there anyone I can call for you? Parents? Friends?”

“Look,” I say with a sigh. “You should know that being around me is dangerous. I won’t hide that.”

Archer nods and drives us out of the garage. It’s silent for a moment until we are on the main road. “Can I ask what happened tonight?” he asks.

“It depends,” I say. “Are you afraid of the mafia?”

“Not particularly,” he says before looking over at me with a sweet smile. “Why, are you a mob boss?”

“No,” I laugh. “So… my dad kinda… sold me off to be a mafia boss’s wife.”

“Oh shit,” he says. “Who were those men then?”

“Well… you see… My dad told him that I was a virgin, and if I wasn’t, then he still got to keep me, but Dad didn’t get paid… Those were his guards he sent after me,” I explain. “I realize I am trauma dumping on you right now. I’m sorry. You can push me out of the truck if you wanna.”

“You’re good,” he says. “Hang around with me for too long and I’ll end up doing the same.”

“Trauma buddies,” I say. “Anywho, I was never a virgin, and Dad knew that. He was going to sell off my virginity for, like, ten million, but then probably rent me out like a sex toy.”

“So… traffickers?” he asks.

“Yeah… Still don’t wanna kick me out?” I ask.

“No,” he says. “No way I am letting them get to you.”

“Pardon me, but… why are you helping me?” I ask. “I’m telling you that helping me could cost you your life.”

“Maisy, I have spent a long time trying to make up for mistakes that I have made in life,” he says. “If me dying keeps you from being hurt again, it’ll be worth it.”

“You don’t even know me,” I say. “Are you suicidal?”

“Eh, probably," he says.

“Well… I don’t know what to say to that, because me too,” I laugh. “I always say that I am one bad day away from jumping off a bridge.”

“No bridge jumping,” he says to me.

“Pills?” I ask.

“Nope,” he says. “Sorry, Maisy. Gotta stay alive and see how bright the world is once you are out of the dark.”

“Damn, okay. I’ll marry you,” I say, and he laughs. “Thank you, Archer. Really. I don’t know what to do now, and I honestly wish they had just shot me…”

“Can I take you home?” he asks, looking over at me. “That came out wrong.”

“Eh, I don’t think it did,” I laugh.

“I just mean, if you don’t have anywhere to go, you can come stay with me. I have the room, and I can have my sister come by, too. Maybe her stabby friends.”

“Stabby friends sound nice. Is this for your protection or mine?” I ask.

“It’s… complicated,” he says. “I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“I do best with dark humor and bluntness. Crude and truthful,” I explain.

“Okay…” he says as he drives. “My sister is actually my foster sister. My dad took her in after I violently raped her while on drugs.”

“Well, damn,” I say. “I’m too nosy not to ask for more of this story.”

“My dad’s brother spent years sexually assaulting me.

He got me hooked on drugs and booze. I never knew he was hurting my sister, too.

One day, he got me so high I couldn’t move, and then I was made to sit there and watch him beat and rape my sister.

She ended up dying because he didn’t know she had a blood-clotting disorder.

Everyone blamed me, and I was just… broken.

I lured her there later with two friends.

I drugged her, and then spent hours beating and raping her, just like he did to my sister.

I don’t remember most of it, but I remember her screams. They haunt me…

Well, last year, that same uncle kidnapped me after my dad died.

I spent a long time chained up in the basement, but eventually, he brought my foster sister down there.

It gave us a chance to talk. Despite me telling her not to, she forgave me.

She basically forced me to let her forgive me.

Her stabby friends are just itching for a reason to skin me alive, understandably.

She also has two partners who both would murder me if I hurt anyone, so I just felt like it was best if they met you. ”

“That’s…”

“You don’t have to take me up on my offer,” he says. “I swear to God, I will never hurt you, but my word means nothing when you already know how cruel the world can be.”

“I mean… Are you going to rape me?” I ask.

“No,” he says.

“Then I think I am safer with you than if I have to go back to my parents. I am in no position to turn down help, and I’d rather run the risk of you chopping me up than Harrison, the mafia dick, getting me.”

“I’m going to call Kendra then,” he says. “Is that okay?”

“Knock yourself out,” I say.

Archer pulls his phone out of his gym shorts and taps around as he drives before the call starts ringing through the speakers.

“What’s wrong?” a woman answers.

“Damn, hello to you too, Kendra,” Archer laughs.

“Are you okay? I always have to call you first. What’s wrong?”

“Uh…” he says. “Can you possibly have someone sit with the kids and come by the house?”

“Yeah. Martin and Noel are over since you ditched us for the gym,” she says teasingly. “Are you okay, Archer?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I just walked up on a woman getting assaulted… and she’s still with me. I wanted her to meet you because…”

“You have got to stop introducing yourself with your trauma, dude,” she says. “Please tell me you didn’t tell that woman right after she got raped.”

“I did. We kinda trauma dumped together,” Archer says. “I’m almost back to the house. We… might need Andre.”

“Andre… Oh damn… Okay. I’ll call Chrissy. They literally just left, so I’ll have them meet me there,” Kendra says. “Warn her how many people will be there. Okay?”

“She can hear you,” Archer says.

“Oh, well. Archer will try to convince you he is a big scary monster, but he plays peek-a-boo with babies. He’s safe.”

“Peek-a-boo is a cute game to play. I don’t know if a monster could do that,” I say, and she laughs.

“Goodbye, Kendra,” Archer says, hanging up on his sister. “I know it’s overwhelming. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You are trying to make me feel safe. Who is Andre?”

“The chief of police, but he’s also the mafia incognito,” Archer says. “He will be able to give good insight on how to proceed.”

“Okay,” I sigh. “I’m running out of energy.”

“Well, just rest. I’ll wake you when we get there,” he says. I nod and lay my head back.