Page 115 of Five Fingers of Death

If it weren’t for the fact that my daughter was with me and I was responsible for getting them both home, I would have taken off and headed to the training center to beat the shit out of someone. I’d known he’d put his hands on her. Everyone fucking knew he abused her. But this…

“He wanted to try again,” she whispered. “But I couldn’t do it. I had no way to protect a child. He would ask over and over again, and sometimes, he got mad at me when I told him no.” She slowly looked over at me. Tears glistened in her eyes as she blinked, finally coming back to the present. “I don’t think I could ever go through that again.”

I slid my arm around her back, pulling her into my arms. She came willingly, dropping her head against my shoulder. Tiny shudders wracked her body over the next half hour. We watched Carli play, neither of us talking. I slid my hand up and down her arm, hoping I was soothing her after such a traumatic memory.

I had completely fucked up. What was supposed to be a fun outing for her, I had ruined with my big mouth. She had been so happy not that long ago, and now she was barely fucking holding it together.

I didn’t say anything after that. Sorry wouldn’t adequately cover what I was feeling right now, and I doubted it would make her feel any better. So, I sat with her and held her, hoping that she could heal from what that bastard put her through and go on to live a happy life.

If anyone deserved it, it was her.

“Come on, baby girl. Time to go,” I called after a half hour.

Having worn herself out, she ran over to me, not complaining at all that it was time to leave.

“Are we getting more ice cream?”

“No, one cone is enough.”

She pouted, but didn’t argue any further. “Let’s get to the truck. We have things to do.”

“Like what?” she asked, always curious.

“Well, we have to take Izzy home and then we have to clean up your room.”

She groaned loudly, earning a smile from Izzy—strained as it may be. “Daddy, I don’t want to clean my room.”

I hoisted her into the truck and buckled her in as Izzy got in the front. “Well, that’s too bad, because if we don’t pick up, we won’t be able to find the floor.”

I pressed a kiss to her cheek and shut the door, nodding to where Jack leaned on his bike across the street. He gave me the all-clear and straddled his bike, waiting for me to pull out. In a small town, it was easy to spot anyone who didn’t belong. It was the long-range targets we had to worry about.

But as I drove down the road, I spotted Johnny to the south, waving as he signaled all was good. Izzy saw it, too.

“They were there the whole time?” she whispered.

“Always.” I’d already told her they would be.

She was silent the rest of the drive, and when I pulled up to her house, everything in me was urging me to follow her inside. A darkness had settled over her, pulling her under when she had been so happy earlier.

And it was all my fault.

“Hey,” I said, snatching her hand before she could get out. “What do you say we have a movie day?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Carli shouted, bouncing in her car seat. With wide eyes, she pleaded with Izzy to say yes.

At first, I thought she would say no, but she finally gave in, smiling back at my daughter. “Yeah, I guess we could do that.”

“Why don’t you get in something comfortable? We’ll wait out here for you.”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You…want me to wear something comfortable?”

“You know, pajamas or something. Whatever chicks wear when they lounge.”

“I always wear jammas,” Carli said from the back.

“See? She always wears jammas.” I grinned at her, noticing I tended to do that a lot around Izzy. I wasn’t sure if it was because I had Carli now and I was becoming a softy or if it was just because I wanted to bring out a smile in Izzy.

“Alright. I’ll be right back.”

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