The Priest

By Stella Gioacas

In the enchanting world of passion and redemption, Luke, a tormented Greek priest, is ensnared by the allure of Alina, a resilient Romanian beauty in a foreign land.

As their destinies intertwine, Luke's heart, scarred by a turbulent past and shattered trust, beats once more with a forbidden desire he can't deny.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maple Publishers
• Release date: Dec 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781835381120

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The Priest

Author: Stella Gioacas

Copyright © Stella Gioacas (2021)

The right of Stella Gioacas to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First Published in 2021

ISBN 978-1-83538-111-3 (Paperback)

978-1-83538-112-0 (E-Book)

Book Layout by:

White Magic Studios

www.whitemagicstudios.co.uk

Published by:

Maple Publishers

Fairbourne Drive, Atterbury,

Milton Keynes,

MK10 9RG, UK

www.maplepublishers.com

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated by any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author.

The book is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental, and the Publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 7

Chapter 2 14

Chapter 3 41

Chapter 4 60

Chapter 5 76

Chapter 6 95

Chapter 7 116

Chapter 8 126

Chapter 9 146

Chapter 10 159

Chapter 11 174

Chapter 12 193

Epilogue 204

To my dearest mum, Frosoulla Georgiou,

Your unwavering support and profound strength have been the guiding lights of my life. You taught me to chase my dreams with relentless passion and to face challenges with unyielding courage. Your belief in me has been my greatest source of inspiration, a constant reminder that with perseverance and love, anything is possible.

Mum, you embody resilience and grace under pressure. In every step of my journey, your wisdom and kindness have shown me the way. You are not just the strongest woman I know, but also the most compassionate and caring soul.

Thank you, mum, for being my rock and my cheerleader. Your love has shaped me, and your encouragement has propelled me to heights I never thought possible.

This dedication, The Priest, is a small token of my immense gratitude and love for you.

Προς την αγαπημένη μου μητέρα, Φροσούλλα Γεωργίου,

Η ακλόνητη υποστήριξή σου και η βαθιά δύναμή σου έχουν υπάρξει τα φωτεινά φώτα της ζωής μου. Με δίδαξες να κυνηγώ τα όνειρά μου με ακόρεστο πάθος και να αντιμετωπίζω τις προκλήσεις με ακατάβλητο θάρρος. Η πίστη σου σε εμένα ήταν η μεγαλύτερη πηγή έμπνευσής μου, ένα σταθερό υπενθύμιση ότι με επιμονή και αγάπη, όλα είναι δυνατά.

Μαμά, συμβολίζεις την ανθεκτικότητα και την χάρη κάτω από πίεση. Σε κάθε βήμα του ταξιδιού μου, η σοφία και η καλοσύνη σου μου έδειξαν τον δρόμο. Δεν είσαι μόνο η πιο δυνατή γυναίκα που γνωρίζω, αλλά και η πιο συμπονετική και φροντίδα ψυχή.

Ευχαριστώ, μαμά, που ήσουν ο βράχος μου και η χειροκρότησή μου. Η αγάπη σου με διαμόρφωσε, και η ενθάρρυνσή σου με προωθούσε σε ύψη που ποτέ δεν φανταζόμουν δυνατά. Αυτή η αφιέρωση, Ο Ιερέας, είναι ένα μικρό δείγμα της απέραντης ευγνωμοσύνης και αγάπης μου για εσένα.

Chapter 1

‘I told you; I don’t know where Emma is,’ Alina said for the umpteenth time and was beginning to get more than a little annoyed. These guys just didn’t know when to give up. They had followed her out of the pub and halfway up the street before she decided to turn around and confront them.

She knew they were after her housemate just as she knew that her housemate owed them money.

‘That’s fine love, just give us the money she owes us, and we’ll be on our way,’ the big, tall one said, who seemed to be taking the lead.

Yeah right, she thought to herself. She just about managed to scrimp and save enough money to pay her part of the rent as well as to feed herself, that she didn’t have any money for anything else.

As it turned out a job in telesales wasn’t as high paid as they made it out to be in the ads, especially when it was based on commission only. And the only reason she had been in that pub tonight was to ask for a bloody job, not to drink and have fun. Oh no, she couldn’t afford to socialize, never mind paying someone else’s debt off!

‘Yeah well, I don’t have any money either, so fuck off!’ she said in a voice she hoped didn’t betray her real feelings. Because if she was honest, she was scared shitless, these guys didn’t look like the type you could mess around with and get away with it.

Hoping they weren’t as vicious as they looked and hoping that standing up to them was enough, she turned to leave.

She had barely taken two steps when she felt one of them grab her by her plait and spin her back around, pushing her hard against the brick wall.

‘Do you know who I am, bitch? Do you?’ the man yelled in her face while yanking her head down to the side, making her neck crack.

‘Please, I told you, I don’t have any money. Let me go,’ she said in a shaky voice that most definitely betrayed her fear, as she was almost close to tears now.

When she had first turned around and decided to confront them, she didn’t actually think that they would do her any harm, but now she was having some very serious doubts.

‘Please…’ she begged, pulling at the man’s hand which had an iron grip on her hair. But there was no point, this guy was a hundred times stronger than her.

This was the time that she started to pray for some miracle to happen, for someone to come walking up the street and help her. Every time you left the house there was always a police car going by or an officer walking past, but where were they when you actually needed them?

‘Hey Barry, maybe she can repay us another way, what’d you think?’ the other man said. He was much shorter than the man who was still currently holding her by the hair and unlike him he had a beer belly that hung right over his belt.

The man who she now knew was called Barry, looked her up and down in a way that made her skin crawl and her stomach turn.

‘Hot body, shame about the face though,’ he said with a sneer.

‘Stick a paper bag over it,’ the other one said, moving away to answer his phone which started to ring.

‘Hey, what’d you say, bitch, you gonna be a good girl and suck my cock nice and hard,’ he said, pulling harder on her plait.

From the position he was holding her head in, she could see him undoing the zipper of his jeans with his free hand.

Oh God, please no, she prayed silently, as her heart began to race uncontrollably. And without thinking, brought her knee up, hard and fast and kneed him right in the balls, just like she had seen in the movies.

The second he let go off her hair to grab his balls, she ran like the hounds of hell were on her heels.

Sitting in the office, Luke finally put down the pen he had been holding for the past hour.

He was meant to be writing down what he was planning on saying in the church service tomorrow morning, but for once no words came to mind. It was beginning to get harder with every passing week.

How in the world did he end up in this mess, he thought to himself as he cracked his knuckles and leaned back in his chair, taking a much-needed deep breath.

Staring at the blank paper in front of him, he pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to ease some of the pressure that he could now feel building up behind his eyes.

He knew he had no one to blame but himself, he could easily blame it on his father or mother, but he knew it was all on him.

He had been so afraid of turning into his father, that he ended up turning into a priest instead!

Thinking of his father now and how you shouldn’t think ill of the dead, God rest his soul. He had been a good man and a good father but as a husband he had been a complete failure.

Opening the bottom drawer of his desk, he pulled out a small glass and a bottle of brandy. Pouring himself a large measure, he took a sip of the amber liquid, savouring the burn.

Sitting back again, he swirled the liquid around the glass, watching it going round in a little whirlpool, finding the motion mesmerizing, hypnotic even.

Tearing his gaze away and looking back at the label on the bottle - this was Stefano’s favourite drink, and he had made sure Luke had an ample supply before he left to go back home with Sophie and their daughter.

He sighed, he missed his brother dearly and desperately wished he was here. Well, if he was being honest, he desperately wished he was back in Cyprus with them.

He had spent the past few years there with Stefano since his break-up with Sophie. Stefano had been in a really bad way back then and Luke had thought a few weeks with his brother would do Stefano a world of good. But then a few weeks had turned into a few months and that turned into a few years.

He loved it in Cyprus, and it wasn’t that much different from life in Greece, plus he had his brother.

They had always been close, despite the fact that they were only half-brothers and weren’t raised together in the same household or country for that matter.

The one good thing their father had done was made sure they had a relationship despite his mother’s objections.

But then the day came when he had finally taken his vows and the archbishop had announced that he was sending him to London.

It broke his heart to leave the place he came to call home but as the saying goes, God works in mysterious ways. Because if he hadn’t been sent here, then Stefano would never have come here, to this very church, and he would never have found Sophie and their daughter.

He was happy for his brother, of course he was, but at the same time he couldn’t help but feel a little envious.

Stefano was free, where he was trapped.

But again, he had no one to blame but himself.

Running a hand down his face, he took another deep breath and downed his drink in one, before scrunching up the paper in front of him and throwing it in to the bin across the office with a good aim.

He was about to pour himself another measure when he heard footsteps outside the office, someone was in the church.

He didn’t usually lock the door of the church, not while he was still in anyway, because people usually knew that the church closed its doors at six. And looking at his watch, he found it was now nearly nine.

About to get up, he suddenly heard more footsteps but what he found odd and had him drawing his eyebrows together was that whoever they were, they came running in.

And nobody came running into a church!

He could hear them running past the office and deeper into the church. Was this a break-in? He wondered briefly, just before he heard a woman’s voice.

But hold on, the woman sounded scared, petrified even. He could have sworn he heard her saying, Don’t hurt me.

What in the world was happening in his church, he thought to himself. Getting up now, he walked slowly towards the door, straining his ears as he went, in the hope that he would hear something, anything that would help him to figure out what was going on.

‘Please don’t hurt me,’ she cried, after being back-handed and sent practically flying to the ground by the altar.

How the hell did he get up and run so fast after she kicked him in the balls? She wasn’t wonder woman but that was a pretty hard hit he took; she probably had a bruise on her knee already to prove it.

‘You thought you could get away with that, huh?’ he said, coming towards her slowly, obviously enjoying watching the fear that was no doubt plain to see on her face.

‘Please, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…’ she said, with a very obvious tremor in her voice.

‘Please… I’m sorry,’ she said again, with tears stinging her eyes, trying to drag herself backwards, away from the advancing figure in front of her.

‘Oh yeah?’ he said, with a sinister sneer that had her swallowing down the bile that had travelled up to her throat threatening to choke her.

‘Hey, Lee. She says she’s sorry,’ he called back to the short fat one who was currently bent over and out of breath.

‘Make it up to me then, bitch. Show me how sorry you really are,’ he said menacingly, while undoing his belt.

For a split second she thought he was going to use the belt to beat her to death, but then his intentions soon became sickeningly crystal clear.

Reaching her, he bent down grabbing her by the hair and pulling her to her knees. She wanted to scream, to pull back, to fight but instead had found herself paralysed with fear. With one hand he reached for his zipper, pulling it down.

Then just before he could reach for anything else, he stopped in his tracks.

Something had obviously caught his attention, making him release his hold on her, but not before getting one last punch in on the side of her head, knocking her out cold.

Chapter 2

Coming to and finding herself slightly disoriented for a moment, she realised she was still lying on the church floor by the altar.

But what surprised her and had her instantly sitting up and slowly scanning the area around her, was that there was no one around. No short fat man, no pervy Barry with his hand on his zipper, just pure silence.

Well, until she heard a door slam somewhere, which made her almost jump out of her skin and sent her heart racing all over again, thinking it was that Barry guy coming back in to finish off what he had started.

Suddenly from somewhere on the left, a man appeared, making her heart jump painfully in her chest.

For a split second she thought that her worse fears were coming true, and it was indeed that Barry guy coming back in, but then she realised with instant relief that it was a priest.

She was so relieved that she could feel the tears beginning to rise but fought hard to keep them down, not wanting to cause a scene, especially in front of a priest.

She’ll say her thank you and get up and leave, her place was literally around the corner from here. If she made a run for it, she would be home safe and sound within a minute, she just hoped they weren’t outside waiting for her. And probably extra mad, no doubt,