Page 283 of His To Erase
My ribs burn, but it’s the bruises across my jaw that throb and I’m still tasting blood every time I swallow.
Steven turns on her then, and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen his expression crack into something other than anger or control.
It’s heartbreak.
“I’ve loved you since that first job together.”
Ani
It shouldn’t hit this hard—but it does, because some pathetic part of me wanted to believe he’d only ever felt those things for me.
“I told you I’d always keep you safe. You were the only family I had left. And this is what you do?” His voice cracks.
She tilts her head, cool as ever. “Distractions get you killed.”
“You were my sister.”
The word hits so hard I almost miss it.Wait.Family? Sister?
My chest caves in, not from heartbreak but from sheer whiplash. My brain scrambles to reprocess everything that just happened. I feel like I’ve been sucker punched by the truth and somehow kissed at the same time.
He didn’t love her like that. He loved her like family.
Frank coughs, dragging in a breath like it hurts. But somehow, even half-conscious and wrecked, his voice still finds that smug, slithering edge. “You thought it was you?” He says itsoftly, but it lands exactly how he wanted it to. “Doll, she’s been his since long before you came along.”
My stomach hurts, and I would give anything to just sit down.
Steven takes a step toward me, dropping his voice into that low, sexy tone he uses—the kind that promises bloodshed and devotion in the same breath.It clearly also says I have no problem killing for you. And smile while I do it.
His eyes drag over me, and I see something shift behind his eyes.
“That all might be true,” he says, “but I came here for you, pretty girl.”
His hand grips my chin, and he rubs my jaw. “That hair suits you,” he says, eyes dragging down like he’s already imagined pulling it while I’m on my knees. “You look meaner and you finally stopped giving a fuck.”
I swear I could come from his voice alone.
“It fucking turns me on.” Steven mutters, so only I can hear him.
Then Frank pipes up, like he couldn’t let us have the moment.
“Cute.” His voice is hoarse. “You’re still just some pathetic little orphan girl with a pretty face and a trauma kink he could twist into obedience.”
It all happens too fast. He lunges without warning, driving his elbow into the nearest guard’s face with a sickening crunch. I can hear the bone crack from here. The man staggers back, clutching his nose as blood pours between his fingers. Frank yanks a gun from his waistband, and the shot rings out before I even register the movement.
Frank screams, collapsing to the floor as blood pours from his thigh.
“You should be asking yourself why he never told you the truth,” Frank grunts, spitting in our direction. “Why he let you walk into this blind.”
Steven stalks forward and drives a punch straight into Frank’s face. The sound of bones cracking fills the room.
His voice drops vibrating with restraint, then looks at me. “The only reason he isn’t dead right now is for you.”
Wait, me?
“The second you tell me you want him gone—he’s gone.” He says it like a vow.
Frank groans from the floor, fingers smeared with blood as he grips his thigh. But even now, he smirks through crimson teeth, like pain is just another game to him.
