Page 5 of Her Hero Daddy

Rage that had been buried inside him for as long as he could remember was suddenly overtaking him. Hearing Haylee’s small, scared voice made him think murderous thoughts of the man… no, the coward… who hurt her. And now she was scared and hurt, driving thirteen damn hours to make it back to her hometown.

You weren’t able to protect your mom… but you can protect Haylee.

He paced the living room of Luke and Ally’s home, trying to tamp down the anger that was about to boil over.

“I had no idea she was in trouble,” Ally cried.

Luke walked over, pulling his Little girl into his arms. “Shh… It’s not your fault, baby. You couldn’t have known.”

“I just… I should have known. I knew she hadn’t seemed very happy over text, but I had no idea he was hurting her.”

“It’s not your fault. Kane and I will make sure she’s okay. We will make sure the guy pays for what he did.”

“He will pay,” Kane repeated coldly.

Ally shuddered, looking up at him, her wet eyes full of worry. He softened inside and gave her a gentle smile, not wanting to scare his friend’s Little girl.

“Are you sure she can stay with you?” Ally asked.

“Absolutely, sweetheart. She will be completely safe at my house. I have an apartment above my garage. I just had it furnished last week, so she will be comfortable and have everything she needs. There’s no way we are letting her sleep in her car,” he answered reassuringly.

She nodded, lowering her eyes to the ground sadly. Luke picked her up and set her on the couch, wrapping her in blankets before handing her phone to her.

“I need to get a room booked,” Luke said, turning on the TV to a cartoon for Ally.

Kane followed Luke into his office.

“I’m going to drive to her. She shouldn’t be driving. Thirteen hours is way too long to drive by herself with injuries and with how upset she is,” Kane said, his temper flaring at the thought of her in pain.

He didn’t even know Haylee, yet her voice and the way she cried pulled at every protective instinct he had. Plus, she was Ally’s best friend, so he felt even more protective of her. Ally was a wonderful Little girl for Luke, and if someone was important to either of them, they were also important to him.

Luke nodded. Kane knew Luke’s protective instincts were going off as well. Especially since Haylee was his Little girl’s best friend, and he would do anything for Ally.

“We can go with you so that I can drive her car back,” Luke answered.

Kane thought about that briefly before shaking his head. “I think you should stay here in town with Ally. She is already upset—if she sees Haylee with blood and bruises, she will be hysterical. We can leave the car and have it towed up here. Get her a room booked somewhat close to where she is now. I don’t want her driving for too long. She might have a concussion or broken bones.”

Luke began searching for a hotel on his laptop and booked a room within a couple of hours of where she had been when she called. They mapped out a route. Kane planned to drive through the night, arrive at the hotel around four in the morning, and sleep in his own room for a few hours. When she was awake the next morning, he would introduce himself and drive her the rest of the way back to Pinebrook.

When they went back out to the living room, Ally was staring at her phone silently.

“Call Haylee, baby,” Luke instructed.

Ally obediently dialed her number and put it on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Haylee, it’s Luke and Kane. Can you pull over for a minute? It’s not safe to talk and drive,” Luke said.

“Okay, I’m pulled over.”

“Kane and I don’t want you to drive all this way alone. You’re injured and upset. It isn’t safe. Kane is going to drive down and meet you at the hotel I booked for you. He won’t be there until morning, so when you get there, you need to rest. In the morning, he will drive you back up with him, and we are going to have your car towed here.”

It was silent for a moment.

“I can drive the whole way. He doesn’t need to come get me. I just need to rest, and then I’ll be fine,” she said.

Oh no. She wasn’t talking him out of this. She was not driving for thirteen hours by herself. Hell, no.

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