Just One Kiss (The Town of Pearl 8)

“It’s more than that.” Lucia looked away, and Mary was immediately concerned.

She reached over and placed her hand over Lucia’s. Lucia looked at her.

“What is it? Did something happen to you back home that makes you fearful now?”

Mary felt compelled to care for Lucia. She was a sweet young woman, and obviously she didn’t have a good relationship with her family.

“I know we’ve only known one another a short period of time dear, but I’d like you to know that I’m here for you. Just like I’ve been here for the Walters brothers over the years when they lost their parents to illness. It’s not easy to lose a parent, or to not have their support, at any age. But, if you need a friend, someone to talk to and trust, I’m here and I won’t let you down.”

Lucia stared at her, and Mary could see her eyes well up with tears. Mary swallowed hard and gave a small smile.

“Someone hurt me, Mrs. Higgins, and when I was finally able to ask for help, my own family betrayed me. I was forced to leave my home.”

“Your own family? You mean your mother and father?” Mrs. Higgins couldn’t believe it. How terrible for someone so sweet and kind as Lucia to be hurt by her own parents.

“Yes. I don’t really want to talk about what happened. I left six months ago and I’ve been so careful to not talk to anyone or get close to anyone because I was afraid that they would help him, them, find me.”

“You’re running from this man that did you harm? You think he’s still looking for you?” Mrs. Higgins asked.

“I know he is. He’s not the kind to give up. Especially now that he thinks he owns me,” Lucia stated and then stood up and rubbed her arms as she turned away and faced the window.

“You dated him? He was a boyfriend?”

“No. I always turned down his advances even though both my parents wanted me to accept them. There was just something about him. Something that made me scared and caused this protective shield to go up whenever he was around me. At parties, he would show up with friends and he would try to make it look like we were an item or that he owned me. He scared a lot of guys away, but I was too stupid to see it. I guess I’ve always given people the benefit of the doubt, and hoped that they chose to do right over wrong. My naiveté nearly got me killed.”

“Lucia, honey, what did he do to you? You can tell me. I want you to trust me and to know I’m here for you.”

Lucia looked at Mrs. Higgins, and Mary could see the sadness, the fear in her eyes.

“I was at a party with friends. A private affair at one of the wealthy kids’ estates. We were all drinking, but I had two beers and saw that my friend Sarah who had brought us there was drinking more so I stopped drinking, worried that I would have to drive everyone home. I thought about it weeks later, after I got out of the hospital, how I had put down the bottle of beer to tug on Sarah’s sleeve. I told her to slow down on the beers and she said she would be fine. She got annoyed with me and I went back to grab my beer when I saw this guy and a fe

w friends of his standing there. I didn’t know until after I gained my memory back after being released from the hospital that it was then, when I left my beer unattended, that he put the drugs in it.”

“No. Oh God, Lucia.” Mrs. Higgins covered her mouth, and Lucia looked toward the window.

“I didn’t even know what happened. I woke up battered, with a concussion, and sore in places I shouldn’t have been sore.”

“No. Oh God, he forced himself on you, Lucia?”

Lucia nodded her head.

“I knew something wasn’t right. Because of the concussion the doctors at the hospital told me I would eventually remember what happened. When I did, I knew exactly what took place, how I wound up with the concussion as well as what this man said to me. I told my parents. I wanted to press charges and go after him, and that’s when I found out about the contract.”

“What contract?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m never going back there. He is never going to find me, and as far as I’m concerned, they’re all dead to me.”

“But, Lucia, he could be looking for you.”

“Oh, I know he is. I know he’ll never give up trying to find me.”

“How do you know?” Mary asked her.

Lucia lifted up her sweater and revealed a light pink scar along her ribs.

“He did that. He said he was marking me so no other man would want to touch me.”

“Lucia?” Mary and Lucia turned toward the door to see Beth, Lucifer, and Salvatore standing there. She fixed her sweater and Mary tried to ease things over.