Protecting Ellis (Loved by the SEAL #1)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Ellis couldn’t believe the pastor of the church she’d attended in high school, the one where her parents had attended for years, was doing this. Surely, he could tell she wanted nothing to do with this charade.

Eloise wouldn’t look at her. She wasn’t sure what her mother thought of this, but her mom wouldn’t go against Dean and step in. After the ceremony, she had to escape. There were no other options for her. Desperation clawed at her. Maybe she could make up something like needing to use the restroom, or maybe she could pass out.

Instead of her walking down the aisle, it had been Bennet coming in to stand across from her. He also wouldn’t look at her. Was he being forced into doing this? He would get money, so how much pressure had been put on him? Maybe he was doing this willingly. She was so screwed.

“Let’s get started.” It was obvious Dean was directing this and that the men standing behind Ellis were there to force her to marry Bennet. How could the preacher go through with this charade?

She was about to say something when Dean came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing hard. No question, there was no one here she could appeal to. She would be forced to go through with this farce.

Ellis looked over her shoulder at her mother, noticing that two men were flanking her. One of them had gardening sheers poking out of his suit jacket pocket. Dean would make Eloise pay if she rebelled. Could she cause her mother to lose a finger?

Yes! Eloise was okay with her death. She couldn’t hold back. No one was coming to save her.

Ellis had never really fainted, not in a swooning, falling to the floor slowly sort of way. She’d seen it in movies, but those were fake. This had to be convincing.

The pastor was talking, droning on about the sanctities of marriage. She almost rolled her eyes. Instead of doing a normal eye roll, she let them roll up in the back of her head and let her knees go.

She felt her dad trying to hold her up, but she dropped, hoping she didn’t hit her head on something that would hurt.

The slow fall may have been overdramatized, but she had to make it believable. She would claim lack of food, illness, the dress was too tight, or heat, but she had to stay down.

Luckily, her hair had fallen over her face, and no one could see her trying to fix a blank expression. Her mother was crying, but she couldn’t look back. She had to keep pretending that she’d passed out.

Her biggest hope was the pastor would finally call this off and refuse to marry them. At least she would buy herself thirty minutes, maybe more. Once all the documents had been signed, it would be over for her.

Bennet was trying to get her up, but Dean’s rough hands pulled her up, forcing her to sit.

“You’d better get up, or your mother is about to pay dearly.”

Ellis couldn’t have hated him more. She wanted to punch him or stab him or something. She had no weapons and no way to hurt him. Her only defense had been not responding when he’d yanked her up. She kept acting like she’d passed out. It was the best way to keep her and Eloise safe.

Dean tried to pull her up, but she didn’t move. “Get up.”

“Dammit, she passed out. Give her a minute,” Bennet said. She didn’t like the man because he’d cheated and lied, but at least he was trying to help her.

Dean blew out a frustrated breath, and she wanted to laugh, but she held it in. “Fine. Get her some water, then we’re doing this. You have to get married today.”

She’d bought herself five minutes. It wasn’t enough time to figure out what to do. She felt tears building. Desperation filled her. She wasn’t going to survive. Dean would force the marriage, and then they would take her out to the Pacific and dump her.

Bennet helped her sit in a chair and was getting up to get water when the doors pushed open and people rushed in. Confusion erupted. Ellis dropped to the floor and rolled under the pew, then rolled under another one, trying to get as far from Dean as possible.