Page 59 of The Eraser

"Aunt Nicola," I say with a bit more bite than I had intended. "Stephen and I are married. Nothing you can say will change that. We're happy and this is what we wanted."

Stephen's hand tightens around mine. "Not going to argue with you, Nicola, but I will say, you piss me off or upset Jess, then we're leaving."

Aunt Nicola's face reddens with anger. "What I want to know is what does Jess' dad have to say about this?"

"That cunt," Stephen hisses, "can get fucked. While you were oblivious to anyone around you, that fucking cunt was beating his child."

Nicola pales, as does Callie, and I hate that this is how he told them.

"What?" Callie whispers. "What did Thomas do to you?" she asks. Gone is the anger. Instead, her voice is filled with anguish.

I shake my head. I really don't want to talk about it. Not now, probably not ever.

"Stephen," Denis says, "I understand that you want to protect Jess, but we're going to need more than that."

I squeeze Stephen's hand. I don't want to do this. He turns and faces me. "Go to the car and I'll be out in a minute."

I nod and he presses a kiss against my lips. I step away from him and start to walk out of the house. I'm so very grateful that I have him on my side. He's always here protecting me. I hear footsteps behind me, and I don't need to turn to know that it's Callie.

"I'm sorry," she whispers as she reaches me. "I'm so sorry. I promised you at Aunt Patricia's funeral that everything would be okay and I failed you. We all did," she says, pain filling her voice. "I understand how hard it is to talk about what happened to you, how horrifying it is to rehash the trauma you've lived through. I'm so glad you have Stephen on your side. He's the best man I know."

I swallow hard. "He really is, and I love him."

She smiles at me. "That's good, because he needs that. He needs someone who'll love him unconditionally."

"I—" My words are cut off as a loud explosion echoes through the house. In an instant, a violent shockwave surges outward, slamming into me like a freight train, lifting me off my feet and throwing me from the step.

For a moment, I feel like I’m suspended in the air almost as if I’m floating, then, the ground rushes up to meet me with a harsh force, knocking the breath from my lungs. My head smashes against the ground and bounces with a sickening thud.

I can’t move. It’s as though I’m stuck. My mind is racing. Where’s Callie? She was right beside me and now I can’t see her. Then my heart thuds against my chest as I realize that the explosion came from inside the house—where my husband is. Is Stephen okay?

“Jess!” I hear Callie’s frantic voice. “Let go of me, you bastard. Jess, can you hear me?”

What is going on? Who has Callie? I try to move, but I can’t. I’m still sprawled on the floor, unable to move. I open my mouth, intent on calling back to her, when a shadow looms over me.

“There you are,” I hear the angry tone of my dad. “It’s been a while, Jessica. Now I finally get to do what I’ve wanted for a long fucking time.” He reaches for me, pulling me up by my hair. I can’t cry out. The darkness is pulling me under, and I can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

God, what is he planning on doing to me?

Dad lifts me over his shoulder and starts to move toward a car. My mind swarms as pain ricochets through my body.

“Jess,” I hear screamed, and my heart soars. Stephen... he’s alive. God, he’s alive.

Dad throws me into the back of the car. My head slams against the door, and I can’t keep the abyss at bay. It pulls me under like a current. I just pray that everyone is okay.

ChapterTwenty-Five

STEPHEN

"Fuck,"I hiss as I scramble to my feet, surveying the damage of the fucking explosion that just ripped through the back of the massive house. Luckily, we were only hit by the force of it rather than any rubble or flames.

"Denis," I hiss, frantically searching the room. I stumble through the broken furniture. "Where's Jess and Callie?"

"They went outside," Maverick informs me as he approaches. "What happened here, Stephen? What the fuck just happened?"

"Jess!" I scream, hoping she can hear me over the chaos. “Jess,” I yell as I move closer to the front door.

The slam of a car door catches my attention, just as a red SUV speeds away from our driveway. I know that there’s no way I’d be able to get into my car and find them. By the time I’m pulling out of the driveway, they’d be gone.

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