“Teresa called me.” She took Lila’s hand. “And this was one of my cases I needed to see the verdict on.”
“I didn’t even see you.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you, so I sat in the back.”
I stared at her in amazement. “After almost fifteen years, I’m shocked you still remember her.” I know I didn’t remember all of my cases.
She turned to me and smiled. “I remember all the children I’ve saved, but some stick out more than others. Lila’s was one of the very few calls I’ve ever received from a child.” She pursed her lips and stroked Lila’s hand. “A very broken sixteen-year-old asked me for help when no one believed her.”
“What made you?” I’d always wondered what her lawyer saw.
“As soon as she walked into the principal’s office that afternoon, I knew. One look at her, and I knew what she’d told me was the truth.”
“Do you have time to stay for lunch?” Lila looked at her with hopeful eyes.
Joan shook her head. “I’m sorry. I have a hearing in a few minutes, but I wanted to see you and tell you how amazed I am at you.”
Tears formed in Lila’s eyes as she smiled at Joan, then threw her arms around her. “Thank you for everything, for believing.”
“You’re most welcome.” Joan drew back. “I’m so proud of you.” She glanced at me, then back to Lila. “Congratulations on your wedding, by the way. I’m filled with joy, knowing how happy you are and that you’re taken care of.”
Joan held her hand out to me, and I shook it. She then gave Lila another hug before turning and heading back. I noticed my parents and Drew looking over at us from a few steps up. Drew gave Joan a hug on her way back into the courthouse.
Between the verdict and running into Joan, Lila was glowing. She still seemed to be in disbelief as we walked down the steps, but there was a lightness coming over her, blanketing her.
We were basking in our victory, talking amongst ourselves, when a venom-laced growl came from behind us.
“You little bitch.” Lila’s father stared at her, sneering. She gripped onto my arm, nails digging deep as she froze. “You were always a fucking disappointment. I never wanted you in the first place, then your whore of a mother had to die and I got stuck with a miserable little brat.” He moved forward, reaching out to grab her, but I intercepted him, stepping between them.
“Step back.” My teeth clenched tight, the words escaping my throat with a growl. He was not even going to get close enough to touch her. He was lucky I allowed him to breathe the same air.
He glared up at me. “She a good cocksucker? Is that how she roped you in?”
I stepped forward, looking down at him, towering over his aging frame. “Say another fucking word, and I will punch you so hard you won’t remember your own goddamned name.”
“Are you threatening me? What lies has that little bitch been spreading to get you to defend her?”
“No lies—just the truth of a verbally and physically abusive father who encouraged his stepson to abuse her as well, to the point of almost killing her on more than one occasion. Should I go on, asshole?”
“Don’t you fucking call him that!” The stepbitch saddled up next to him, ready to fight.
My icy glare turned to her. “Don’t even get me started on you.”
He stepped forward, inches from me, and sneered. “Little bitch deserved it. She needed to be broken if anyone was ever going to take her off my hands. Just needed Adam to pop that cherry of hers, train her up a bit, and she’d be ready for the highest bidder. That’s all she was good for.”
My fist slamming into his face was pure gut reaction. It sent him sprawling on the ground. I was seething, murderous rage pumping in my veins. I wanted him dead.
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 fucking trash! I will fucking 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 asshole, 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 fuck 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 fuck 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 asshole, 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.”