Page 107 of Devoted Enough

I nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“Can we go to the police station and speak?” Nate asked. “It’s getting colder.”

Officer Miller nodded. “Of course. We can meet you there.”

Nate nodded. “Thank you. We’ll go lock up her apartment and then head straight over.”

She smiled at Nate and then looked at me. Her smile softened, and she nodded. “See you in a bit, Ms. Larson.”

Nate faced me. “I’ll go get your purse and lock up the apartment. Go to the truck and start it up; I’ll be right back.”

I felt numb, and it had nothing to do with how cold it was. It was knowing that my father was only a few feet away from me. Yes, he was sitting in the back of a police car, but knowing how close I had come to him hurting me again, my entire body shivered in fear.

“Haven?”

Nate’s voice pulled my gaze away from my father. “Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll go wait in the truck.”

He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll be two seconds.”

I took the keys from him and quickly made my way to his truck. Climbing into the driver’s side, I started it and turned up the heat before crawling into the passenger side and sitting down. I stared through the window and watched the three police cars slowly pull out of the apartment parking lot.

Chapter Twenty

NATHAN

Haven walked out of the police station with her shoulders back, and her head held high, but I could see it in her eyes. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically. During her interview with the police, she told them of the history of abuse from her father. I also told them about the time I had walked in and stopped him before he raped her.

It turned out that her father had multiple arrest warrants, one of them being sexual assault where his DNA was matched through a database. After filing for a restraining order and agreeing to speak to the district attorney after the holidays, they assured Haven that her father wouldn’t get out of jail anytime soon.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked as I held the truck door open for her to climb in.

She nodded. “I am. It’s just been an exhausting few hours.”

I held her hand as she climbed in. When I got in and started the truck, Haven dropped her head back against the headrest and covered her mouth.

“Hey, it’s okay, Haven. He’s not going to get near you ever again.”

She wiped her tears away and looked at me. “It’s not that. I’m not worried about him hurting me. What I’m upset about is if Ihad just gone to the police like you wanted to, maybe that other girl wouldn’t have gotten raped.”

Reaching for her hand, I brought it up to my lips and kissed it. “Haven, please don’t blame yourself for your father’s actions. You were young and scared and wanted to put it all behind you. You couldn’t have known he would do what he did.”

She sniffled and nodded.

“Hey, look at me, okay.”

Doing as I asked, I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “None of what your father did was your fault. I didn’t go to the police either. Your good-for-nothing father is going to rot in jail and never hurt another person again. I promise I will do whatever I need to do to ensure it.”

She gave me a half smile. “Thank you for that.”

“Haven, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. For your happiness, your safety, your love. You are my entire life, and now that you’re mine, I swear I will never let you hurt like that again.”

Wiping her cheeks once more, she nodded. “I know, and I love you so much.”

Drawing a breath, I asked, “What do you want to do? Head back to the house or your apartment?”

She exhaled. “I’d like to go to my apartment and get what I want to bring to your house. It’s not going to be much. I’m ready to start fresh and leave it all behind.”

“We can get as much or as little as you want. We’ll figure out what to do with everything after Christmas.”

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