Page 74 of Connor's Claim

“Just the head left.” Genevieve closed her eyes.

I grimaced, happier not to have had that image.

“Just warning you for the sound that’s going to come,” she said. “Arran said they make sure there’s no easily identifiable part left. Then the river takes the pieces out to sea. Fish must eat them. They’ve been doing this for years, and no body has ever surfaced.”

The crunch and crack of breaking bone followed. Teeth, I guessed, for the purpose of dental records.

“Done,” Genevieve breathed. “Thank God for that.”

I could only peek at Connor.

He held himself easier, his frame relaxed. After tossing something down to the water, he went to a tap on the opposite wall to us and rinsed off his blade then his arms. Arran did the same, and the two of them shared a joke.

I squinted quickly at the gantry. It was empty of any body parts, just the chain dangling over the bloodied metal floor now they’d finished with Victor.

Relief hit me in a flood.

As Genevieve had said, the body work was done. Our men had removed a predator from the city. A danger to womankind eliminated.

I took the lesson to heart.

Earlier, Arran had wondered about Red from the Four Milers then simply picked up the phone and called him. He knew the man well enough to suss him out in a less-than-candid conversation, but more importantly, he’d just done it. Like Connor had done his work here tonight. No diplomacy, no hedging around tough issues. They struck at the heart and cleaned up.

I’d stood in front of my father and let him manage me. Obeyed him even after he’d given a vile order. Turned a blind eye to things he did that weren’t legal and strayed far from the justification of moral.

I had to change.

My calm acceptance of things that were wrong. The way others treated me. All of it.

But from the way Connor prowled my way stripping his blood-spattered shirt, I had a much more present danger to handle.

Chapter 24

Connor

The industrial steel flooring under my boots rang with my footsteps. Reaching Everly, I tossed my stripped, bloodied shirt to the floor at her feet then pulled her against me.

To our side, Arran picked up Genevieve, carrying her down a level. I paid them no further thought.

Everly braced herself on my chest, her gaze darting over my hairline and to my neck. “You’re covered in blood.”

“So are ye, now.”

Everly gazed down. Dark patches bloomed on her pale shirt where we’d touched, which meant it would need to be burned with my things. I was ruining a lot of her clothes.

Her focus came back to me.

Inexplicably, my heart raced. “Did that frighten ye?”

Slowly, she shook her head.

I kept speaking. “I’ve been doing this for over a decade in one form or another, starting with Phillips whose final words heardwas me telling him his death was in your name. He laid his hands on ye, and his death gave me a purpose. I’m good at this. I have no intention of stopping.” I cupped her head, staring deep into her eyes. “This is me. The rawest form. I stalk the stalkers. I eviscerate the men who hurt. I don’t have the same limits others do, and that includes with ye.”

“You’d never harm me.”

“Never,” I vowed. “I’ll never let ye go either.”

I reached for my back pocket and extracted a packet. Popped a pill and held it up for her. “A sedative. You’ll be able to hear and feel but barely move. It takes time to work, so swallow it now.”