Phoenix shuffled closer to Sister Joan, and she hugged him against her side. The fear on his face had my stomach in furious knots, and it took all my effort not to pummel this man.
He turned back to me, baring his teeth. “Go fuck yourself, priest. I need food for my newborn.”
“And I respect that. We can look into helping you, but first you must calm down.” I held up my palms to him as though he was a wild animal. “Please.”
My words still didn’t get through his alcohol-riddled brain because he charged me. I jumped out of the way again, but this time I grabbed him and shoved him to the floor. He grunted when he hit the tiles.
“I’ll ask you one more time before we call the police, please calm down.”
He turned to glare at me, the whites of his eyes red from booze. His chest heaved and the white T-shirt he wore was soaked in sweat. When he stumbled to his feet again, I sighed.
I had no choice but to end this now. Children hid behind their parents, whimpering, and already scared individuals curled in on themselves, terrified. The people who came here were vulnerable and mine to protect, too.
He came at me again, but this time I knocked the heel of my hand against the bridge of his nose, which I knew from experience would hurt like hell. He gasped and fell to the floor on his knees, grabbing at his face. “Fuck,” he wheezed in a husky voice.
I winced because I hadn’t wanted to use my training on him. Kneeling beside him, I touched my hand to his back. “It’s okay, the pain is temporary. Take deep, slow breaths.”
He inhaled carefully like I’d directed, and a few seconds later he was breathing normally. His shoulders slumped forward and he cried out in relief.
“Are you done? Because I’m done.”
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and nodded. “Yes, Father.”
“Good.” I smiled and rose, holding out my hand to him. He accepted the gesture, and I helped him stand. “Then we’ll be happy to help you with your needs.But, if you do this again, you will not be welcome here at all, am I clear?”
“Yes, Father.” Tears flooded his eyes and he sobbed. “Thank you, Father.”
“Sister Joan, can you help this man?”
She pressed her lips together tightly but didn’t argue, walking over to us. She took his hand to lead him to the table of baby food.
“Sister Mary, can you take over for Phoenix at the door, please?”
The other sister smiled in answer and touched Phoenix’s shoulder comfortingly on the way past, and when I saw everyone in the room going back to normal, I stalked over to Phoenix in a hurry. I grabbed his shoulders gently, leaning down so we were face-to-face.
“Are you okay?” I checked him over visually, even though I badly wanted to do it with my hands.
He dropped his head, brown hair falling in front of his face. “I’m sorry, Father. I messed up.”
“Come with me.” I carefully led Phoenix around the people gathered in the room, including Malachi and Jericho, who had returned and were helping hand out essentials. Only Malachi watched us, but I didn’t expect anything less. Like me, he cared about everyone.
I took Phoenix through the doors that led into the church and back to my office, where I closed the door. He sat in the chair in front of my desk, burrowing his face in his hands.
“I let him push me and get into the hall when you told me not to,” he said in a hushed tone as I kneeled in front of him. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.”
“Don’t apologize.” I slid my hands onto his wrists and dragged his palms away from his face so he had to look at me. “You did amazing, Phoenix. He was a big man who was drunk. No one would have had a chance against him.”
A lone tear slid down his pale cheek and his bottom lip wobbled in disappointment. “You did.”
I snorted before I could stop myself. “I have training.”
“Maybe... you could train me?” he asked, eyes wide and hopeful. “If I’m good. Daddy, I’d like to learn.”
“Why?” I interlocked our fingers and raised the back of his hand to my lips. Before I realized what I was doing—the kiss was done, and there was no way to take it back. “I would never want you to fight. I’d be worried about you.”
“But if you ask me to do that again—”
“That won’t happen a second time,” I interrupted, smiling. “The people around here are usually patient. Trust me, Phoenix, you did well. You made me proud.”
