Page 65 of Shattered Union

I'm unable to hold back the anger. The fucking rage I felt when Callie told me what this cunt had done. The tears which had soaked through my shirt as I held onto the woman I love as she sobbed against me. The fear I heard as she told me she couldn't be around me, as she feared what this motherfucking cunt did to her.

My punches are precise and perfectly aimed at her stomach, chest, and face. Hitting her where I know it'll be maximum pain without killing her. Not yet. That would be too fucking good for her. She deserves to suffer.

"Jaysus," Maverick mutters, pulling me from the rage. "Is she alive?"

I blink. Glancing down at the bastard who's in front of me. The slow rising and falling of her chest tells me she is, in fact, still alive. How? I have no fucking idea. She's a mess. A bloody mess.

Her arms shattered in at least three places. Her bones protrude through the skin. Her cheek is caved in from the impact of my punches. There's not an inch of her body that's not covered in blood.

"Damn. That's fucked up," Mav comments.

I pin him with a glare. "She knew your sister was pregnant. She set her up to be raped and killed and you think what I've done is fucked up?" No, what I did was justice. Yet, it's not enough. She never felt the fear that Callie did. She's not afraid to live in her own home because she's scared the animal who broke in will come back.

He glances at the bloody mess that's seated in front of us. "She's lucky it was you that was going in on her. If it were me, I wouldn't have stopped until she took her last breath."

"Who..." Zoe wheezes. "Are..." her breathing sounds painful. "You?" she questions Maverick.

I laugh, it’s filled with anger and sarcasm. "Oh, Zoe. I forgot to introduce you. Zoe meet Maverick O'Hara. Mav, meet the whore of Dublin."

"I'm no whore," she says loudly, before wincing in pain.

"Sure you're not," I respond dryly.

"Why?" she whispers. The hurt in her voice doesn't make me feel a fucking thing.

Shitty, after twenty years not to feel anything but hate for a woman you were married to.

"Why her?" she whimpers as she sinks further into the chair. She's still dripping blood onto the floor.

"Because she's her," I say simply. There's no other way of putting it.

Tears fall harder from her eyes. "You really love her?" she splutters as she coughs.

"Yes. Going after her was the one of the worst things you could have done." My kids and Callie are off fucking limits and this bitch went for the both of them.

"I'm glad then," she wheezes once again. "That I took the baby from you, from her."

I smile. "But you didn't," I tell her proudly. Loving the way her eyes widen. "You tried to kill her. To kill my children. For that, you'll die in the most painful way."

"I'd burn the bitch," Michael comments.

"It's hard to get the stench of burning flesh from your clothes," Mav informs us. "If you want to get rid of her completely, I'm sure Stephen would lend us his wood chipper." Even more evidence that Stephen is indeed the Eraser.

“Your kids,” she wheezes. “Will hate you.”

I laugh. “No, they won’t. They all knew this day was coming. They’ll be glad to see the back of you,” I snarl at her.

She raises a shoulder in a shrug. God. She’s such a fucking bitch. “He’ll not stop,” she grins a bloody grin. “The man who hurt her. He’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants. Her dead.”

Mav moves quickly, his hand wraps around her throat. “You think we’ll let that happen?” he growls low, his chest rumbling with it. “You don’t know us. If you did, you would never have gone after her. You think your kids are connected?” He shakes his head. “Callie isn’t in this world. She’s untouched, but fuck. She has more connections than you could have ever dreamed.”

The grin on Zoe’s face widens. “You don’t even know who you’re looking for.”

Mav’s fingers tighten around her neck. Zoe’s gaze comes to me. Does she really think I’ll help her? That I’d save her? Fuck no, she deserves all the rage being directed at her. “Tell him,” I demand. “If you don’t, you’re going to die a painful fucking death.”

She laughs, blood spluttering from her mouth. “And this isn’t painful?”

“Oh, no, this isn’t even the worst of what’s coming.” I smile as she shrinks back at my words. Maverick’s hand still wrapped tightly around her throat. “We’re not going to stop until you tell us who the fuck is after Callie.”

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