Page 35 of Tripp

“You threatened my daughter, you mother. Fucking. Asshole.” I punched him after each word. I put all of my rage into the hits. They were for her lying in that ER bay. The pain of having her arm scrubbed, dealing with the fallout of being injured.

Her life has been so full of chaos; I just hoped I could help with putting it all back together.

“Let…me…go!” He panted out the barely audible words.

I smirked.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Can’t fight someone who can defend themself? You only prey on helpless women!”

He coughed, blood dripped down his chin.

“She’s not…good…in the…sack. I…tried?—”

With that my fist pounded into his face, over and over again. I knew he was saying any and everything he could to get under my skin. It was working—in my favor. He was fueling the rage.

Flip side, I was enjoying the fact that I got to beat the fuck out of him. I might have let it go just a little too far.

Someone pulled me off him. “Enough. You’re going to kill him.”

“You’re done. Gabe said ‘alive,’ not lifeless!” Trace walked up, looking down at him.

I knew that, I did. Alive just meant his heart was still beating. It was. I rubbed my head and took a seat on the curb and scrubbed my face.

“Let me see your hands.”

Trace didn’t really give me time to brace. He held my hand and poured liquid fire over it. There was blood covering my hands, arms, and most likely the majority of me was covered in blood. Mine and his. I wore it proudly.

Fucker got exactly what he deserved.

The pouring of liquid fire continued for a round two as my other hand was cleaned.

“Fuck! Is that fucking gasoline?”

“No, hold still.”

“We have everyone loaded into the back of the van.” I looked up to find the two men Trace brought in staring at me.

“What?” I ground out.

The bigger of the two shrugged. “I’m surprised you let him stay breathing.”

“Can’t say I would have.”

Trace turned to them. “Tank, you and Elroy go take those jokers in. Chip, you go get the information from that couple. Someone has a fence to fix. I’ll escort Rocky here to the hospital. He’s going to need to see the doctor this time.”

“I’m fine,” I groused.

I jerked my hand back as pain shot through it. He raised a brow as he probed the knuckles. “What the fuck, man?”

“You have broken knuckles. Deal with it.”

Fucking hell. There was going to be no way to hide this from Casey. I let my head fall forward.

“You think she’s going to be mad?” I asked.

“Probably. Or upset that it happened at all. She’ll blame herself more than likely.”

Trace wrapped my hand, making me wince. “That’ll keep that busted knuckle from moving.”

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