Chapter 13
”Where is she?”I ask Jer. It”s been almost an hour since she left the room, her da following not far behind her.
Jer”s eyes narrow. ”What”s it to you and my niece?” There”s anger in his voice, along with a reprimand. I get it; he”s worried about his niece, but he needs to turn that the fuck around and focus on his brother-in-law. Fucking Thomas Grace. That cunt has been walking around the house like a bull in a china shop, glaring and growling at the majority of guests who had come to remember his deceased wife.
I chuckle. He”s seriously picked the wrong time to fucking question me. ”Jer,” I say thickly, ”your niece is someone I care about.”
His eyes narrow. ”The fuck does that mean?”
”She”s someone I care about. Now where the fuck is she?” I say, each word clipped.
His back straightens and he glances around the room. ”Where the fuck is Thomas?” he snarls. ”Fuck. You go find Jess, I”ll find that prick.”
I don”t need to be told twice. I glance toward Freddie and tilt my head. He doesn”t need any further instructions. He follows me out of the room and we head up the stairs. I take them two at a time. There”s something in my gut that”s screaming at me. I need to find her. I have a sickening feeling that Thomas has gotten to her, and if I find out that”s true, that bastard had better hide, because the moment I find him, he”s going to suffer.
”Which room is Jessica”s?” Freddie asks.
”Dunno, but we”ll check them all. Jer”s looking for Thomas,” I tell him. ”Although I have a feeling he”s gone.”
Freddie moves to one end of the hall and I go to the other. The first door I come across is the bathroom. I leave it open and push open the next one. It”s an empty bedroom. My gut is screaming at me, and dread fills me as I continue to search for Jessica.
Pushing open the next door, my fucking heart stops. I swear to fuck, it skips a fucking beat as I see my beautiful dancer lying on the floor, blood smeared over her face from where she”s been worked over. I”m stuck to the spot, unable to move. Christ, she shouldn”t have been touched. She”s innocent, so fucking sweet, so damn perfect, and that cunt has hurt her, has done this to her? A red haze forms over my eyes and I have the urge to go hunting for the bastard. I”ve never felt such a strong need to kill someone before now.
”Fuck,” Freddie hisses as he pushes past me and drops to his knees. His fingers go to her neck. ”She”s alive. She”s just unconscious. ”Christ, Stephen, he”s worked her over badly. She”s going to need a doctor.”
I nod. ”Call Maverick,” I snarl. ”Get him here. It”s time to make sure Jess is no longer in Thomas” line of sight.” I take a steadying breath, pushing the urge to hunt deeper down inside of me. Right now, I need to focus on Jess and getting her safe. ”No one enters this room,” I tell him. ”Not a fucking soul.”
He nods tightly. ”No one will,” he assures me.
I know most people look at Freddie and see a joker, someone who thieves. They don”t see the depraved man underneath it all. Freddie can and has killed before. He doesn”t care for it, but he”ll do it.
I move to the closet and find a bag. I start to rip her clothes from the hangers and throw them into the bag. She”s coming with us. There”s no fucking way I”m leaving her behind. Not a fucking chance will I allow anyone to harm her. Not again. It”s clear that this isn”t the first time. It shouldn”t have happened ever and that”s something that needs to be dealt with.
Where the fuck has her family been while that cunt has been hurting her?
Once I have her clothes packed, I start throwing loads of odd shit into the bag: pictures, trinkets, shit from her drawers. Whatever I”ve forgotten, I”ll make sure to replace. She doesn”t ever need to return here.
Freddie enters the room with a washcloth and hands it to me. I start to clean the blood from her face as we wait for Maverick to arrive. I need to see the damage Thomas has done to her. Thankfully, it doesn”t look as though he”s broken anything, but she”s going to have some bruises, something I doubt is new to her.
”Little Dancer,” I say low, trying to wake her up. She moans low in her throat as she stirs. ”Wake up, baby.”
”Wh—what... what happened?” she asks, her eyes small as she tries to sit up.
I help her into a sitting position, noting the wince she tries to conceal. ”Where are you hurting?” I question.
She doesn”t answer. Instead, she turns to Freddie, her face paling, and she scoots back so she”s further away from him. A growl works up my chest. Freddie notes her reaction and steps out of the room.
”What happened, Little Dancer?” I ask.
”He”s gone crazy,” she wheezes. ”He”s drunk. He”ll sleep it off and everything will be fine.”
I”m pissed that she”s blowing it off and acting as though it”s not a fucking big deal. ”How long has that fucker been hurting you?”
She glances away, shame shining in her eyes. I pull her chin back to me, not letting her brush me off. I want to know. ”Please,” she whispers. ”I can”t do it.”
I lift her into my arms and sit my ass on the floor, cradling her close to me. ”He”s not going to hurt you again,” I vow. ”He wants you, baby, he”s going to have to go through me.”
Tears flow down her face and my gut tightens at the sight of them. ”Since Mam died,” she whispers. ”He doesn”t always hurt me. It”s been a while since he did.”
The way she says it tells me there”s a fucking lot that I”m missing. Right now, I”m not going to fucking push her. She looks as though she”s about to break.
”Mav”s here,” Freddie calls out. ”He”s pissed too.”
I bet he is, but he and I are going to have a talk. I want to know why the fuck he”s missed this. How did he not see that she”s been hurt? He”s the closest person to her. He should have seen it.
I scoop Jess into my arms and hold her close. She doesn”t protest to being held. With her bag in my hand and Jess in my arms, I make my way out of her room and down the stairs. The party is over. Everyone”s gone, including Jerry, who is no doubt trying to find out where that cunt has gone.
”Where”s Thomas?” Maverick growls when he sees us walking out of the house.
Jess tenses in my arms and I slice a glare at Maverick. ”Now”s not the fucking time,” I tell him. ”You good with driving?” I question him.
”Yeah. Where”s Jessica”s car?” he asks. There”s no anger in his voice, just curiosity.
”Dad sold it,” she whimpers, her fingers curling in my t-shirt as she holds on to me. ”He was raging that you bought it for me.”
Why did Maverick buy her a car? There”s so fucking much I don”t know, so much that I need to uncover, but right now, we need to get the fuck out of here and get Jess someplace safe.
Freddie slides into the front passenger”s side as Mav jumps into the driver”s seat. I keep Jess close as we sit in the back. No one says a word as Maverick drives us toward the house I have.
I purchased it four years ago. I”ve been working on it for years, making it the way I need it. There”s more security for my house than there is in the White House. I always knew that I”d bring Jessica back with me, that she”d live with me. When the time came, I wanted to ensure that no one could get to her, and that”s exactly what I”ve done. I”ll be damned if I finally have her, only to lose her. That”s not happening. Not fucking ever.
”You okay?” I ask Jess. She”s wincing every time Maverick drives over a pothole.
”Yeah, I”m just tired. I”m scared. What”s going to happen now?” she asks, her voice a soft whisper.
“I have a home, one that is secure. Only the three of us know about it as they”ve helped me secure it. I trust them with your life, Jess, which means they”re the only ones who will be close to you. Your dad”s not going to hurt you. I won”t let him.”
She looks up at me, tears clinging to her dark eyelashes. ”I don”t trust you,” she whispers. ”You hurt people, Stephen, just like Dad does.”
Her words shouldn”t hurt. They”re the truth. I have hurt people. I”ve killed more people than most, and I enjoy doing it. But not once have I ever hurt her. That should be enough reason to not lump me in the same bracket as her father. But fuck, there”s nothing I can do. Trust is earned, just as Maverick and Freddie worked to earn my trust. It”s not something that happens overnight.
”I”ll not harm you,” I say thickly, my voice rumbling out of my chest. ”I need to know you”re safe, so you”re coming to stay with me. Your da has no idea where this house is and nor does your uncle. If anyone wants to talk to you, they”ll have to call.” Which reminds me... ”Where”s your cell?”
She shakes her head. ”It was in my room. Did you get it?”
”No. But it”s okay. You don”t need it. I”ll get you a secure one.”
Her eyes flash with anger. ”My one has my friends’ numbers in it.”
I run a hand over her back, trying to soothe her. ”Don”t worry,” I say. ”We can get them from Chloe. You need to calm down. Getting worked up isn”t going to help you heal. Your da worked you over pretty hard.”
She shrugs. ”It”s not the worst he”s done,” she sighs. ”It”s okay, I heal fast. He didn”t break anything, just some bruises.”
I grit my teeth. Fuck, the way she brushes it off pisses me the fuck off. How can she be so nonchalant about it all?
She doesn”t say another word. She just pushes closer to me and closes her eyes. My jaw is locked. It”s taking everything in me not to tell Maverick to pull over so I can find that cunt and break him slowly.
* * *
Maverick pulls into the drive. It”s taken over an hour for us to get here. I wanted the house to be away from the city and somewhere secluded as it”s the perfect place to have the best security in place. It would have taken around twenty minutes had there not been a fucking crash on the road that had cars backed up for over a mile.
Once the car is parked, I open the door and slide out, pulling Jess” sleeping body with me, careful not to wake her. Freddie grabs the bag and we head for the house.
”You doing okay?” Mav asks, his voice low so as not to wake Jess. ”This shit...” He shakes his head. ”It”s going to fucking blow up, and when it does, it”s not going to end well.”
”I”m going to kill him,” I snarl. ”I”m going to rip his fucking head off.”
Mav smiles. ”He deserves everything that”s coming to him.” He runs his hand through his dark hair. ”I should have known there was something going on. I should have seen the signs.”
He really should have, but it”s not just down to him. No one else fucking saw them either. Which begs the question: why was there no one there for her? They”re family, so why have they left her with that fucking animal?
Freddie opens the front door and I move directly to the bedroom. She”s fast asleep and I want her to stay that way. She”s been through the mill tonight and rest will help her. I should fucking know. Rest was the only thing that helped when my da was a fucking bastard.
I lay her on the bed and throw the covers over her. She doesn”t even stir, and I wonder when was the last time she slept properly. I”ve never seen someone so out of it before.
It takes everything in me to leave the bedroom and go in search of Freddie and Maverick.
”What”s the plan?” Freddie asks the second I”m in the living room. ”She”s staying here, that”s a given, but we all know her family aren”t going to be happy.”
Oh, of that I have no doubt. Especially Callie. But whatever, they”ll have to deal.
”Ma”s probably going to want her to stay with them,” Maverick says as he sits on the sofa, a beer in hand.
”That ain”t fucking happening,” I grind out. ”No fucking way. She”s not going anywhere.”
Mav”s smile is sinister. ”I know that, but you know what Ma”s like.”
”Mav,” Freddie chuckles. ”The way Stephen is about Jess, he”ll tell Mama O”Hara to fuck off, and that”s a headache no one wants.”
He”s right. Mav and Callie”s ma can be a tad self-righteous at times, and while I respect the woman and she”s been a part of my life for a while, she”s not going to pull Jess away from me. There are only three people I trust with her safety and those three are in this room.
”We”ve all fucked up when it comes to Jess. Ma especially. She”s not going to want to hear that she let her down, but we all did,” Mav says, taking a sip of beer. ”The main thing is Jess is safe, but brace yourself, Stephen, Callie”s going to be fucking pissed.”
I shrug. I couldn”t give a fuck. Callie has always been someone I consider family. I will do whatever the hell it takes to ensure that she”s safe, but she doesn”t dictate my life. I want Jess, and that”s not going to change because she”s not happy about it all.
Freddie grins. ”This”ll be fun. Just don”t say you weren”t warned.”
I glare at him and wonder how long I have to put up with them both. I”d rather be in the room watching over Jess and ensuring she”s okay.
I”m so fucking twisted by this woman. I have been since the moment I saw her. I”m relieved that she”s here, that she”s safe and she”s not going anywhere.
Fuck what anyone else says. If Jess didn”t want to be with me she”d have said so. She was scared of Freddie but curled into me. I”m taking that as a win and that she”s comfortable to stay here. Until she says otherwise, it”s staying this way.
”No matter what,” Maverick says, ”we”ve got your back.”
I know he means it. He”d go toe-to-toe with his family for me, just as I would for him. I may have started out hating the guy, but he”s one of my closest and most trusted friends.