The Eraser (Houlihan Men of Dublin Book 1)

Chapter 15

I heardthe shower turn off a while ago. I thought she”d have been dressed when I entered the room. I probably should have knocked, but fuck, I”m glad I didn”t.

The scars on her back, her ass, and her thighs... there”s no missing what they are. Burn marks. Someone has burnt her. By the looks of things, third degree burns. They”re red, white, and puffy. My gut fills with acid as I step toward her. She”s not once taken her gaze from me. ”Who?” I ask, the sound rumbling from my chest. ”Who did this to you, Jess?”

She swallows hard, her fingers dancing along the edge of a scar on her thigh. ”Please,” she whispers. ”Don”t ask.”

Fuck that. Someone has hurt her. This isn”t just an accidental burn. This is horrendous torture, something you”d do to your worst enemy.

She hesitates, her eyes dropping to the floor before meeting mine again through the mirror. The raw pain in her expression tears at my insides, demanding justice. ”It was Dad,” she confesses in a voice barely above a whisper, as if speaking his name aloud would summon the devil himself.

Christ, I knew her father was a fucking bastard. I knew he’d hurt her. But I never thought he could be this cruel to his own daughter.

Rage surges through me like a tidal wave, threatening to drown out all reason and restraint. Every fiber of my being is screaming for retribution, for vengeance against the one who dared to mar her perfect skin with such savagery. But as I step closer to her, I can see that she’s shaking. She’s terrified.

I see the fear in her eyes and know that my next actions have to be calculated and deliberate.

”Little Dancer, you don”t have to be afraid anymore,” I assure her, my voice firm with resolve. ”I will make sure he never lays a finger on you again.” He’s dead. The moment I see that cunt, I’m going to kill him, and I’ll enjoy every motherfucking second of it.

”How?” she asks softly. ”He”s sworn that I”ll never be free of him.”

I reach for her, pulling her into my arms and holding her tight. The rage that I feel deep inside vibrates throughout my body. It”s taking every ounce of restraint that I have to stay here and not go hunting.

She”s trembling against me. The fear she has is palpable. ”I never wanted anyone to know,” she says quietly. She”s crying. I can feel her tears soaking through my tee. Yet another thing that Thomas will pay for. Her tears are tearing me apart. I fucking hate them.

”They look bad,” I say through clenched teeth, my fingers skimming along the rough scars. ”But they”re cleaned. Who cleaned you up? Who helped you afterward?”

She burrows further into my chest. ”Mallory,” she whispers. ”She was the only one I could trust. Her mam works a lot, so she was able to help me recover. It was bad. I thought I was going to die.”

Christ. Thomas is a fucking cunt.

”I”m hideous,” she cries, her fingers clenching into my tee.

I pull her back slightly, her fingers not releasing me. ”The scars are like badges. They show just how fucking strong you are. You are and have always been gorgeous, Jess.” I frame her face, needing her to realize just how beautiful she truly fucking is. ”Your scars do not define you. They do not make you hideous. You are the most beautiful woman in the world.” I”m not bullshitting her. The second I saw her, she took my breath away. Finding out she was fourteen was the only thing that kept me from claiming her. Never, not fucking ever, has anyone captured my attention the way Jessica did.

A small laugh escapes her. ”You”re crazy,” she says, but I see the smile tugging at her lips. ”I really don”t know what to do, Stephen. What if he comes for me like he promised?”

I press my lips against hers, no longer having to hold back. She sinks against me as I deepen the kiss. Fuck, she”s so fucking perfect, and she has no idea just how beautiful she is. Innocent, pure, and so damn fucking sweet. And now she”s all mine.

I pull back and rest my forehead against hers, drinking in her scent. Christ, having her here has settled something inside of me. I feel at peace, something I haven”t felt before. For four years I”ve felt the pull towards the woman in my arms, and in those years I”ve felt unrest, but now everything is just as it”s meant to be.

”Get dressed, baby,” I say thickly. ”Maverick and Freddie are waiting for us. We”re going to have a talk, and we”re going to need to know everything.”

Her face pales and her eyes close. She”s scared, I get it, but we need to know everything in order to protect her.

”It”ll be okay,” I assure her. ”He has no idea where you are, and only the four of us in this house know this house exists.” I did that for a reason. I needed to ensure that when it was time to have Jess, my home was ready.

”Did you buy the house as it is?” she asks as she reaches for the leggings. Gone is the shyness she had when I entered the room. ”I mean, it”s not something I imagined you”d choose.”

”Do you like it?” I ask. If she doesn’t, I’ll have it remodeled however she wants it.

She grins up at me. ”It”s amazing. I love it. Although I haven”t seen more than the bedroom and bathroom.”

I smirk. ”That”s all you”ll need,” I laugh. ”But I”m glad. I picked everything out with you in mind.”

She shakes her head. “You were so certain about me being with you, weren”t you?”

She has no idea just how certain I was about her being mine. ”I”m not a man who doesn”t get his own way. I”ve known since the moment we kissed that you wanted me just as much as I wanted you. But I”m not an easy man, Little Dancer. I”m fucking far from it. I”m going to be overprotective and in your space, but I won”t ever hurt you.”

She swallows hard. ”I know,” she says, her voice filled with so much clarity. ”I”ve always felt safe around you. Ironic, isn”t it? I watched you beat a man to death?—”

”He shouldn”t have fucking touched you,” I snarl, still pissed that the cunt didn”t heed my warning when I told him to stay the fuck away from her.

She sighs. ”You”re a killer, right? I mean, that”s who you are?”

I knew we”d have to have this conversation eventually, but Christ, I wanted her to settle in first. ”Yes,” I say evenly. ”I love the thrill of the kill. I”m good at it. I”m hired to do what needs to be done, and in doing so, I get to quench the thirst I have for murder.”

She tilts her head as she looks at me. ”Why is it,” she says, her eyes wide and holding a little fear, ”that you tell me you”re a killer, that you like doing it, and I”m not scared of you?”

I fucking love that she”s not. ”Because you know I won’t harm you.” I”d rather fucking die than hurt her.

”Are you going to kill my dad?” she asks once she”s finished getting dressed. There”s no emotion in her voice, and that”s something that worries me. How will she react to my answer?

”Yes,” I say instantly. ”He doesn”t get to hurt you, Jess. He doesn”t get to treat you the way he has and live. If anyone else did it to you, they”d be dead already. That fucker”s hiding and we need to find out who else was with him when he was hurting you.”

She takes a deep breath, shoving her hands into the big pocket of the pink hoodie she has on. ”He”s my dad, Stephen.”

I nod. ”He is, but he”s also the man who scarred you, baby, and while I know it”s going to hurt you that he”ll die, it will also relieve you of the fear that he”ll come back for you.”

She swallows hard and turns away. ”Let”s go talk to Freddie and Maverick,” she tells me, a tear falling down her face.

Her da fucked up. She”s sweet and loving. Even after all the shit he”s done to her, she still loves him. But he”s made his bed, now it”s his time to lie in it. The minute I have details of his whereabouts the fucking better.

I take her hand and lead her out of the room and into the living room. I”m surprised to find plates of food waiting for us.

”Maverick wanted her to eat. He said he wasn”t sure when she ate last,” Freddie tells me. I raise a brow, knowing Maverick can”t cook to save his fucking life. ”I may have helped,” he says with a shrug.

”Where is Maverick?” I ask, wondering where the fuck he”s gone. He”d been on at me all fucking morning to wake her up, something I wouldn”t do until she woke herself, and now she”s ready to talk, he”s nowhere to be seen.

”He”s on the phone. Jer”s been calling all fucking morning. Mav wants to find out what he knows. Don”t worry, Stephen, he”s not going to tell him where we are.”

”Why?” Jess asks as she takes a seat on the sofa opposite to where Freddie”s seated.

My brows furrow. ”You want him here?” I ask, glancing at Freddie, who looks as confused as I feel. ”I thought you two didn”t get along.”

She sighs. ”I thought he was the reason Mam died,” she tells me. ”But speaking with Jer last night, it turns out Dad lied. He told me Jerry was the reason Mam was shot, that the Kellys did it.”

My entire body stiffens at her words. The fuck?

”Why did your da lie?” Freddie asks. ”We”ve scoured the city, Jessica. We”ve turned over every crack den in Dublin, trying to find out who took out your ma. It wasn”t the Kellys.”

She nods. ”I know that now. But why would I believe my dad lied?” she asks. ”He was so convincing when he told me.”

I grit my teeth. ”So the question is: why would he lie about that?”

”To get Jess away from Jer. Let”s face it, Jerry and Jess have been close. He”s always been around, close to all his nieces and nephews. If Thomas could get Jess to hate Jer, it would leave her alone without anyone,” Freddie comments.

Christ. Thomas is a fucking lot smarter than anyone has given him credit for.

”But why? Why lie about who killed Patricia? Surely he knew she”d find out eventually?” I”m seething, my anger getting hotter and hotter. Thomas is a fucking cunt and has toyed with his daughter for way too fucking long. It should have never happened. He isolated her and made her distrust her family—the only people who could have helped her. Now we know it was just so that he could hurt her. But why is he doing it? Why would he hurt her? She”s his fucking child.

”What did Jer say?” Freddie asks Maverick when he enters the room.

Maverick glances at Jess, his gaze assessing. He cares a lot about her. ”He wanted to let me know about what Thomas had told Jess about Patty”s death. He also wanted to know where Jess was. Don”t worry, I didn”t tell him. He”s got every man trying to find Thomas, but the fucker”s in the wind.”

I shake my head. ”How the fuck is he in the wind?” I growl. ”How the hell has this fucking prick managed to escape us?”

”He”s clever,” Jessica says. ”He”s always one step ahead.”

The fucker”s been playing stupid for years. Now I”m curious to know what else the bastard’s been hiding.

”Jer wants to see Jess. He”s worried about her.”

I glance at the woman who means a fucking lot to me. It”s hard to believe someone so young could break free of the shackles I”ve had tied to me since I was a kid. She doesn”t see me as a fuck up. She feels safe around me, and that”s not something I ever thought would happen. To have someone so pure trust me... Fuck, it”s the most treasured thing in the world.

I just need to ensure that I can keep her safe.