Turning my eyes to my man I casually say, “Rapist huh?”
Butcher lets out a breath of relief when he replies, “Yeah, milseán. Why are you here? I never wanted you to see this side of me.”
“I know,” I reply. “And that’s why I had to come, to show you that the work you do doesn’t bother me. This was a test. I think Aunt Jess and Uncle Sean wanted to know if I was strong enough for you,” I reply with a shrug and casually lean up against the doorjamb. “I’d come kiss you, but I’d rather not be covered in that fecker’s filth.”
Butcher shakes his head at me, but I can see the pride in his eyes when he looks at me. “How did you get here, milseán, and who is with our girl?” Butcher asks.
“Drove,” I reply casually. The man with him growls, and I wave my hand. “Relax stranger, I’d never put my man or our family at risk. Uncle Sean and Aunt Jess made sure everything is covered. They’re with our girl waiting for me. Like I said, this was a test. I hope I passed.”
Butcher chuckles and shakes his head, “I’d say you passed,mo anam cara.I need you to go home now though, so we can finish up.”
Relief fills me when he calls me his soul mate, and I give him a soft smile, “I’m going. I’ll have breakfast ready when you get home.”
“Thank you,mo anam cara. I’ll be home in a few hours. Make sure you do everything that Uncle Sean says when it comes to disposing of your clothes. I don’t want anything to come back to you.”
“I will,” I reassure him, blowing him a kiss and giving him a wave. “Not sure who your friend is but make sure he knows I’m not a threat. Love you,mo ghrá.”
“Fecking hell,” the stranger mutters.
Turning on my heel to leave, I suddenly stop, calling out. “Butcher.”
He looks at me and even though I can’t see them, I know his eyebrows are raised in question by the way his head-covering moves.
I nod towards the fecker they’ve got tied up who until now hadn’t made a sound. “Make sure that when you rape that gobshite’s arsehole you rip it to shreds. Make it hurt and hurt good for every one of those babies he touched.” He certainly starts thrashing at my words.
Butcher and the stranger with him both nod their agreement. Turning away, this time I leave for real. Removing my shoe coverings, I put them in my pocket and get in the car for the hour's drive home.
Uncle Sean is waiting for me when I park in Butcher’s driveway.
“Ye good, lass?” he asks as I get out and walk towards him. Gripping my chin in his hand, he angles my face up to him and stares into my eyes. He grins, let’s go of my chin and pats my shoulder. “You’ll do, lass. Told Jess our boy wouldn’t have chosen a weak woman.”
“He didn’t,” I agree. “I understand the test, doesn’t mean I liked it, but I understand it. Now, I promised Andy to do whatever you tell me to do when it comes to disposing of my clothes.”
“Good lass, I’ve got the burn barrel ready in the garden. Let’s get you into Andy’s bathroom. Strip, give me your clothes, everything lass, including underwear. Jess has put spare clothes in there for you to change into. We’ll wait for Andy to come home; we’ll have breakfast together, then we’ll leave you both to chat. We’ll take Mikayla to nursery, and you can pick her up. No work for you today.”
The man was certainly used to issuing orders with the way he fired them at me. But I’d promised to listen, so I did as he asked and went into Andy’s bathroom, stripping down. I handed all my clothes including my shoes through a crack in the door, then I showered. Washing the night away.
The images of blood, the pain I’d seen etched on all those faces on the walls flashed through my mind. I imagined washing all the bad down the drain, just like I’d done more than once in my lifetime.
When I got out of the shower, my mind was clear and my heart was full of love for the man who did what most couldn’t stomach.
Killing didn’t make him a bad man.
At least not in my book, not when it came to those that he disposed of.
CHAPTER 19
BUTCHER
After Moira left, we finished our job, making sure that the gobshite knew why he was being punished in the way he was. Then we dispatched him before we started cleaning up.
I was well aware that Keelan was seething the entire time, but I found I didn’t care. Moira hadn’t balked when she saw me at my worst.
Pride filled me when I thought about how she’d told me to make it hurt. My woman had vengeance in her heart when she needed it. Not that she would again. She’d never see me do this again.
“Stop fecking smiling. That should never have happened,” Keelan growls angrily.
“It shouldn’t,” I agree. “But to be fair, I didn’t tell anyone you’d be with me tonight. She passed though.”
