Page 57 of Finding Little Fiera

“My used-to-be Daddy lives in Wilder,” she said finally.

His gaze sharpened, and he tried to keep the heat from his voice. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was angry with her. “Yeah?”

She drew in a breath like the effort cost her. “I told you about him. His name is Erwin.”

From her expression, it appeared to him the name tasted bad coming out of her mouth.

“Erwin what?” Mace asked evenly.

She gave a humorless huff. “Erwin the Vermin.”

If he hadn’t been so furious at the things he knew about Erwin, he’d have smiled. “I’m guessin’ that’s not his legal name.”

“It should be… but no. His name is Erwin Pierce.” Her jaw tightened as she tried to swallow. “His family owns half the county. They have a lot of money and even more influence because of their political donations. He has the whole golden-boy package.”

This conversation needed to be done so he could hold his little firefly and tell her how brave she was. But even though it cost him, he remained still so she could get everything out.

“And he—” She hesitated, shame flickering across her face. She turned to him, her eyes begging him to understand. “He didn’t start out awful, Daddy. He was charming and attentive. He said all the right things. I felt… special.”

Her words scraped down his spine. He wanted to punch the fuck out of that little prick. “Baby, you are special.”

“I can see now that he isolated me. But it started so slowly that I didn’t realize what he was doing,” she continued, her voice low. “He’d make snarky comments about my friends, about Tildi and Boone. And they're really, really nice people. But Erwin said they didn’t really get me. That they held me back from being a good girl.”

Forget punching. Mace was going to kill this guy.

“I tried to get away from him. So many times. I promise, Daddy. Promise! But he’d send me flowers and tell me he was sorry. And how his life wasn’t the same without me. That he’d change. So, I’d take him back. It would be fine for a while, and then it would start all over again. Eventually, I stopped trying to get away. After that, it got worse. I couldn’t do anything right. Everything was always my fault.” Her laugh was brittle. “He was a textbook case. I just didn’t see it because I didn’t want to.”

“You were manipulated,” he said flatly.

“I was stupid.”

His jaw flexed. “No,” he said in his sternest Daddy voice. Even now… hell, especially now… he wasn’t putting up with that. He shifted her on his lap and gave her a hard swat on the bottom before hugging her to him and kissing the top of her head. “You may not call yourself negative names. You are one of the kindest, smartest, most creative people I’ve ever met.”

She shook her head. “Thank you, Daddy. But what I was trying to get to was that he’s untouchable partly because his father funds the mayor’s campaigns.” Her lips pressed thin. “And because his uncle sits on the ranch board. People don’t want trouble, so no one stands up to him.”

Well then, good ol’ Erwin was in for a shock. Mace was going to do a hell of a lot more than stand up to that fucker. He didn’t know the population of Wilder, but for a town full of Daddies, it sounded like his little girl was fighting her battles with no help. “What about your friends? What did they say about how Erwin treated you?”

She looked away.

“I didn’t tell anyone,” she admitted softly. “I was embarrassed, especially after I kept taking him back. My friend Tildi has Boone. They live on Wild River Ranch. It’s this big, solid, safe place. Boone and his brothers are great Daddies. I didn’t want to look like the idiot who fell for the same snake oil salesman eight thousand times.”

Mace’s pulse slowed in a dangerous way. “You think that makes you weak?” he asked.

“It makes me stup—um… naïve,” she shot back quietly. Then her voice dropped. “I’m not afraid of him hurting me, Daddy.”

Now they were getting to the crux of it. His entire body sharpened. “Then what are you afraid of?” he asked, voice too calm.

She looked at him then, really looked at him. “I’m afraid of him hurting you.”

It took him a second to process what she’d said. She wasn’t ashamed of him. She wanted to protect him. Damn. His little firefly had lit up his world and set his heart on fire. He was a full foot taller than she was and probably outweighed her by a hundred pounds. But his brave girl wanted to protect him. Over his dead body.

Something flared to life inside Mace. Hot and focused. His protective instincts didn’t just rise. They locked in place.

Trying not to be insulted, he asked, “You think I can’t handle him?”

She rolled her brilliant eyes. “I think he fights dirty.”

“So do I. I guarantee you I’m better at it than a dipshit named Erwin. And don’t think you’re not gonna pay for that eyeroll, either.”