I wanted to kill him.

Trash like him didn’t deserve to breathe. I dove down and grabbed on to his shirt, picking him up a bit. There was screaming around me, but my focus was on the piece of shit in front of me and how I was going to tear him apart.

His daze wore off and he lashed out, his fist glancing off my cheek. I cocked back and exploded on him. The euphoric feel of his flesh being pummeled by my fist lasted longer than the split second it was in reality. After the third punch, I was pulled back.

“Fucker! You piece of f**king trash! I will f**king beat you within an inch of your life!”

He was bleeding—I’d busted the skin on his cheek and split his lip. It wasn’t enough.

The evil bitch-mother started wailing as she knelt down next to the bastard. “You ass**le, what have you done?”

I pulled against whoever was holding me, ready for round two. “Only a fraction of a taste of what he did to his own daughter. You make me sick. You’re not even human if you can do that to a little girl.”

“Come on, Nate, calm the f**k down.” Drew pulled against my arm.

Drew had my left arm, while my father had my right.

My father’s eyes were pleading. “Calm down.”

I looked back down to the man who needed to be dead as he tried to sit up.

“You are nothing but a pile of shit,” I spat down at him. “Don’t ever touch her, don’t even look at her, and don’t ever think of her again.”

A couple of police officers were rushing over, alerted to the altercation, and began asking questions. They even asked the shithead if he needed an ambulance.

Realization hit me.

Her father planned to sell her off as a slave. He was going to let Adam rape her over and over. If she survived, he was going to trade her and who the f**k knew what they’d do to her before she wound up dead.

I felt sick.

I looked over to Lila, who stood frozen, wrapped in my mother’s arms and staring at her father.

Everything lifted from me, leaving me with only the need to protect her. I opened up my arms, and she stared at me for a split second before running straight into them. I pulled her as tight to me as I could.

“It’s okay, baby. I won’t ever let him near you.”

She was shaking in my arms. No tears, but obviously just as sickened and frightened as I was. If she hadn’t gotten out… There was no doubt how horrible the outcome would have been.

“I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

One officer walked over, pulling out his notepad. “Sir, can you come over there with me?”

I nodded, keeping Lila attached to me as we walked about fifty feet from where the bastard lay.

The bitch-monster was still screeching, making my ears hurt and my anger boil again. “You monster! He’s bleeding, you psycho son of a bitch!”

The officer blinked at Lila, noticing she’d come with me. “Miss, can you give us a moment?”

Lila shook her head, her eyes filled with fear as they flickered back to her father.

“He’ll get me. Don’t let him get me.”

My chest clenched at her words. He’d reduced her back to a child almost, clinging to me for safety from the monster that hunted her.

The officer’s mouth popped open, seeming to get an understanding of the situation. He cleared his throat and began his line of questions.

“What happened here?”

I took a deep breath to calm myself—much needed since adrenaline was still pumping through me, and the beast was begging to go back and kill him.

“We were coming out of the courthouse after the verdict on an aggravated sexual battery case against that woman’s son.” I pointed to the hell-bitch leaning over the ass**le, then motioned to Lila. “He began verbally attacking her, then me, before attempting to grab hold of her. He then moved to attack me and I acted in defense of us both.” Lila trembled in my arms, burying her face further into my chest. “The man was her father, who admitted to everyone within listening distance to battery of her and plans of human trafficking of his own daughter.”

The officer’s pen stopped, his hand still as he looked at us, a horrified expression on his face. I felt sick.

What if she’d been given to Via Marconi’s operation? She had a far reach for her girls. I’d seen the women there, and death would be preferable to what they went through.

I pulled out my wallet and handed him a business card. “You can reach me here for anything further, but I really need to get her out of here.”

The officer nodded as he looked over my information. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Thorne.”

I glanced down at his name badge. “Thank you, Officer White.”

The moment he stepped away back over to his partner, I pulled out my phone and texted Noah. I sent him the officer’s name and badge number, also giving him a heads-up on what happened.

Drew was done with his statement, and we waited for my parents, slowly inching toward the parking lot.

“Well, you now have grounds for a restraining order.” Drew leaned forward for a second to take a quick look at Lila.

I nodded. “Can you file one?”

“I’ll get with Caroline this afternoon. We’ll have it drawn up and submitted ASAP.”

“Thanks, man.”

“No problem.” He clapped me on the arm.

I looked down at my phone, noticing the text message I’d been waiting on along with the time. “Want to join us for lunch?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. Dana’s meeting me back at the office.”

My parents stopped in front of us, and Drew said his goodbyes before walking off.

“Lila, honey, are you okay?” My mother dipped her head down to look at her.

She nodded against my chest, her iron grip still digging into me. It didn’t matter, as long as she felt safe.

“I just need to get away from him.”

My father patted my shoulder. “We’ll let you go and talk to you soon.”

Lila let go of me enough to walk to her side of the car, her eyes glancing back over to where the cops were still talking to her father. She sighed, mumbling something under her breath as we sped off.

It almost sounded like “I wish you’d killed him.”

I wished I had as well.

CHAPTER 16

We sat at a table in Lila’s favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant a half hour later. I ordered her a margarita—a well-deserved drink after the morning we’d experienced. We were supposed to be having a celebration of our victory, but instead we sat in the booth with a somber aura, and I was icing my aching knuckles.