Confessions: Priest (Confessions Series Book 3) Read online

  Confessions: Priest

  Ella Frank

  Ella Frank, LLC

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Also by Ella Frank

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Coming Soon

  Thank You

  Special Thanks

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2018 by Ella Frank

  www.ellafrank.com

  Cover Design: Hang Le

  Cover Photographer: Mark Short Photography

  Cover Model: Alex MacKenzie

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Synopsis

  I am complex.

  My love is all-encompassing.

  And when it comes to my heart, there is only one rule:

  Don’t mess with what’s mine.

  Until the age of seven, I was Joel Alexander Donovan, son of Jimmy.

  The man who terrorized a town and made its citizens fear

  the very ground he walked on. Including me,

  the day I realized that ground ran red with blood.

  At age eighteen, I became Priest.

  A man without a past.

  A man determined to right the wrongs of my father.

  A man who never believed anyone could love the son of such a monster.

  But then a thief stole my heart.

  A sweetheart lit up my world.

  And I forgot for a moment you should never turn your back on your enemy.

  And thus begins a lesson to those who would seek to harm: Never underestimate what the Priest will do to protect the Princess and the Prick.

  Also by Ella Frank

  The Exquisite Series

  Exquisite

  Entice

  Edible

  The Temptation Series

  Try

  Take

  Trust

  Tease

  Tate

  True

  Confessions Series

  Confessions: Robbie

  Confessions: Julien

  Sunset Cove Series

  Finley

  Devil’s Kiss

  Masters Among Monsters Series

  Alasdair

  Isadora

  Thanos

  Standalones

  Blind Obsession

  Veiled Innocence

  Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine

  Sex Addict

  Shiver

  Wrapped Up in You

  PresLocke Series

  Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine

  ACED

  LOCKED

  WEDLOCKED

  Dedication

  To the two men who are mine.

  I am yours.

  You are half my heart each,

  and what makes me complete.

  Prologue

  THE AIR WAS heavy, thick with the humidity New Orleans was famous for, as the aluminum airboat navigated its way through the shallow waters of Louisiana’s bayous.

  The man steering the flatbed vessel through the swampy marshlands was familiar with this route. He’d been out there many times in the past delivering on an order he’d been given by the one currently waiting for them at their final destination.

  With more muscles than brains, the enforcer at the helm wasn’t the kind to question an order, instead using his tremendous brawn to overpower those around him and bring them to his boss—and today, that unlucky person was Paul Stevens. The man who was knocked out cold under a camouflage tarp at the back of the boat.

  Paul was an elementary school teacher who had a soft spot when it came to the kids but showed bad judgment in every other aspect of his life. Paul had also adopted a rather ugly cocaine habit, one that had him making regrettable decisions, such as taking things that didn’t belong to him and selling them for profit. Things that had, in fact, belonged to the man waiting on his arrival.

  It was unfortunate, really, because that bad judgment had finally caught up with Paul and had earned him a sit-down parent/teacher talk with the father of the boy who was also seated in the airboat.

  The smart, intuitive little boy with the shock of red hair and slate-grey eyes who had no idea his teacher was aboard and was the one who had set up this very meeting.

  Today, Paul was going to give one final lesson to his star pupil. What happened when you tried to steal from Jimmy Donovan.

  It was a lesson that Joel Alexander Donovan would never, ever forget.

  Chapter One

  CONFESSION

  My name is not Joel Priestley.

  My name is Joel Alexander Donovan.

  And a long time ago, I was taught that things

  aren’t always what they appear to be—and neither are people.

  JOEL PRIESTLEY, A.K.A Priest, sat behind the wheel of his Aston Martin with his hands at the ten and two positions and his seatbelt fastened. He’d been sitting like that for the past thirty minutes or so. Ever since he’d pulled the vehicle into its designated parking spot alongside his and Julien’s—his husband’s—black Range Rover.

  Sinatra had been keeping him company, as Priest tried to block out the phone call he’d made back in his office to Henri. But no matter how loud he played the charismatic crooner, nothing seemed to lessen the impact of Henri’s words and the way they had made Priest’s stomach coil.

  “Nice to know you can at least follow an order if it’s to keep those you love safe… Be careful; keep an eye out…”

  And that was what he’d been doing for the past thirty minutes or so. Sitting in his car, with his eyes trained on the rearview and side mirrors, as his paranoia over what used to only exist in the shadows began to slowly creep back out into the light of day.

  Priest gritted his teeth and reminded himself that Jimmy wasn’t out of prison just yet and likely wouldn’t be for some time. He wasn’t about to appear out of thin air to exact absolution for what he believed was Priest’s biggest crime—abandonment. But that didn’t mean Jimmy hadn’t reached out to the others to find him. To track down the son who had turned his back on his family if, and when, he walked free.

  Priest cursed and slammed the heel of his palm against the steering wheel, then he reached for the seatbelt’s release, and as it retracted across his chest, he reached up and shoved it off his shoulder where it caught. As it snapped into place, Priest pulled the handle of the door and got out of the car. He needed to get upstairs. To get inside a locked lobby, where a security guard walked the halls, and his condo had a deadbolt on the front door. It was on
e of the main reasons he’d been interested in Logan’s place to begin with. The additional barriers between him and those he loved—and anyone who may want to hurt them.

  Julien had already texted to let Priest know he and Robbie arrived home safely. But as of yet, Priest hadn’t heard anything from Robbie, their boyfriend. Not that he’d expected to. The last image Priest had of their princess was an ashen face and betrayal in those usually bright blue eyes, and Christ, Priest wished he could erase that picture from his mind.

  The three of them had been making such headway lately. They had moved past the getting-to-know-you, comfortable stage of their relationship, and had been this close to slipping into that space where the heart and soul of the one whose body you were worshiping was coveted.

  But that had all changed now. The truth about his father having wiped out any trust he may have built with Robbie, judging by the expression on his face before Priest had left the brewhouse.

  All the joy, and all the happiness, the closeness the three of them had been reveling in, had been smothered by the dark cloud that descended on them, and Priest had a feeling it was going to take a lot of explaining on his behalf before they could get out from under it—if they ever could.

  Priest jabbed the button of the garage elevator, and when the doors slid open, he ran his key fob over the panel and hit the floor button. He leaned against the back wall and shut his eyes, and as the elevator ascended, he wondered how he was going to explain all of this to Robbie.

  He’d only ever had to do it once before. Only ever found one other he deemed important enough to share this side of himself with. And he’d been just as apprehensive, just as sick to his stomach, at the thought of revealing all to Julien, as he was heading up to face Robert Bianchi.

  Priest walked down the hallway toward their condo like a man heading toward his execution—or the execution of their new relationship—and when he got to the front door, he paused before entering.

  Scanning the hallway, he looked to his left, where their neighbor lived on the other side of the corridor, before he took a final glance back in the direction he’d come. Once he was satisfied there was no one about, he unlocked the door and headed inside.

  The first thing he noticed upon entry was how quiet it was. Lately, when he’d arrived home from work, the TV was on and there was the sound of someone doing something or other in the living room or kitchen. But not this afternoon.

  Right now, the place felt more like a library. The kind of space where you should tiptoe and whisper in case you offended whoever was inside—provided there was someone there to offend in the first place.

  But that was just his paranoia creeping in again. Of course someone was inside—two someones, in fact. Julien had told him so, and when Priest stepped out of the short hallway, he spotted his husband immediately.

  Julien was curled up on the couch with a blanket over his legs and his phone in hand, and the second Priest moved into view, Julien’s legs came out from under him and he got to his feet. He dropped the phone on the cushion beside him, and as the blanket fell from his lap, it crumpled to the soft rug without a sound.

  Julien rushed around the couch and hurried over to Priest, and when he reached him, Julien took his face between his hands and pressed a hard kiss to his lips.

  “Mon Dieu, Joel,” Julien said. “I’ve been a mess worrying over you. I’m so glad you’re home.”

  Priest wound his arms around Julien’s waist, anchoring himself to the man who understood him in ways Priest had never imagined possible. “You don’t know how much I needed to hear that.”

  Julien trailed his fingers down the scruff on Priest’s cheek and frowned. “Was there really any doubt?”

  Priest shut his eyes and let Julien soothe him in the way that only he could. His touch, his words, this man’s mere presence—they were all vital to Priest’s survival. Priest let go of Julien’s waist to cover the hand still cradling his cheek.

  There were so many things he needed to say: “I’m sorry” or “You were right. I should’ve told Robert about this the second I found out.” But right then, all Priest could manage was: “There was no doubt. Not about you. Never about you.”

  Julien’s eyes softened as Priest’s shifted over his husband’s shoulder to the closed door of their bedroom. “Is he still here?”

  “Oui.”

  “I…” Priest paused as he searched for the words. “I wasn’t sure that he would be.”

  “I wasn’t either,” Julien admitted, and when Priest locked eyes with him again, Julien added, “He’s been in there since we got home. Hasn’t said a word.”

  “That was more than an hour ago.”

  Julien nodded. “I know. But he made it very clear he wasn’t ready to talk about things yet.”

  Not knowing what to say to that, Priest put his keys on the coffee table, and Julien placed a hand on his back.

  “Listen, he’s processing right now. What he found out about Jimmy… It’s a lot, mon amour.”

  “It’s more than that, Julien. You saw his face when he found out.”

  “Oui, I did. I also spoke to him in the car on the way home.”

  “He thinks I lied to him. Doesn’t he?” When Julien didn’t reply, Priest ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck,” he said. “Fuck. I should’ve told him about all of this before he moved in.”

  “And when should you have done that? At CRUSH? On our first date with him? Or maybe the second, when he had dinner here? I’m sure that would’ve made him feel right at home. There hasn’t been a good opportunity. You know that,” Julien reminded him, and touched his fingers to the sleeve of Priest’s jacket. “He just needs time to—”

  “No,” Priest said, shaking his head. “Time gives people a chance to distort things. To make them doubt what they once believed. You and I know that better than anyone. I won’t have him doubting this. Doubting us, Julien. Not because of fucking Jimmy. I’m going to go and talk to Robert, and he’s going to listen, and then the three of us are going to sit down and discuss this.”

  Something flashed in Julien’s expression, but instead of saying what was on his mind, he let go of Priest’s arm and said, “Okay.”

  Priest narrowed his eyes in question, but Julien remained quiet. So Priest turned on his heel and headed toward their bedroom to track down their boyfriend and try to make things right again.

  “ROBERT?”

  THE SOUND of his name coming from the bedroom had a sense of relief flooding Robbie’s body, even as he braced himself for the man he knew was about to walk through that bathroom door.

  Ever since he’d arrived back at the condo with Julien, Robbie had been on edge waiting for Priest’s return. It had been clear from the serious way Priest had told them to go home that he’d been concerned for their safety. But it wasn’t until they were locked behind their front door that Robbie had thought about Priest being out there, all alone.

  The bomb that had exploded between the three of them at the brewhouse was one Robbie was still trying to recover from and understand. He felt disoriented, thrown off course. Unable to fathom a world in which the man he knew, and trusted, as Joel Priestley, would ever lie to him. Not when he’d told Robbie that this relationship of theirs would only work with total transparency.

  Except, apparently, when it comes to Priest himself.

  Robbie was the first to admit he wasn’t an expert in long-term relationships. Not due to lack of trying; he’d just never found anyone who really understood him. But now? Now, he’d found two someones, and he knew somewhere deep down inside that how he handled this moment was going to shape the course of their relationship.

  It was going to take them one of two ways—down the road into full-on commitment, or to the final stop on this rollercoaster of a courtship—and what he felt? What he had with these two men? It was far too important for him to act irrationally and make a spur-of-the-moment decision, which was exactly why he had retreated to a quiet space.

  Yes, this is
exactly what I need right now. A timeout with me, myself, and—Robbie looked to his left and shook his head—my fifty or so colorful friends who just might know Priest better than I do.

  Blue, pink, yellow, and green. The bright colors of the fish glided through the water beside Robbie’s head where he sat fully dressed, in an empty tub.

  The rest of the master bathroom was made up of pristine white tiles that were so shiny one could see their own reflection, and he’d been alternating between watching the colorful show happening alongside him and staring at the miserable face watching him in the marble.

  This bathroom represents me in so many ways right now. The bright, flamboyant man who was feeling about as joyless as the stark white tiles, and the only way that was going to change would be if he spoke to the man who’d made him feel that way in the first place.

  As the door to the bathroom opened and Priest stepped inside, Robbie craned his head to look back at him and saw Priest’s stern expression and tense shoulders visibly relax.

  “There you are,” Priest said, and Robbie heard the soles of his leather shoes against the tiles as he walked across the room and stopped beside the tub.