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A man further back sounded like he coughed to cover a laugh. “Not for at least a hundred years by my calculations of all the charges.”

Ohshittttt!This was getting better and better. I hurried to interject while I had the chance. “Is there a contact or a way the victim with the restraining order he did this all to could follow up and confirm when and where he’s in prison?”

“Are you her attorney?” she asked me, eyeing me over.

“No, but I’m here on her behalf to make sure this git didn’t pull a fast one and was really shipped off,” I answered.

“Funny, because I came to see to that for myself,” Ellie said from behind me.

Fuck me. I was in deep shit now.

21

Ellie

Seeing Ha-joon at the police station to make sure my father was handed off the right way shocked me. When I heard him threatening the man I was still—and maybe forever—afraid of made me feel safe in a way I couldn’t describe.

And then he tried to get me a way to have even more closure which thawed my icy heart and fear of being with him.

But it was time to step in and not act like a scared daughter. I moved closer to the woman and extended my hand. “Ellie Reed-Miller. Biologically his daughter, but now he’s legally renounced me. Given the bile he was just spewing, there’s concern he won’t try to sell me but get revenge.”

“You’re not worth revenge,” Kenneth snapped.

“Anything from your mouth isn’t to be trusted and you’re out of your head,” I drawled. “That was clear from the moment I heard you were planning an incestuous relationship with me to get around your curse to only have daughters.” I raised an eyebrow at his shocked face. “I’m not hiding why I ran from your madness anymore, Kenneth. The shame isn’tmine.”

“Certainly not, and clearly getting away from this scum was the best thing for you and our world given how much we need ASH,” the woman said before pulling out a card and handing it to me. “If you give that to your attorney, I can touch basewith them and provide updates. I’m taking lead on all of the coordinating and prosecutions. Where he’ll be serving time first especially.”

I took the card and nodded that I understood. She didn’t deal with the victims nor wanted to so she could focus on her part of the job. “So it will be a lot of prison time? The crimes aren’t just his normal gambling and drunken antics?”

“No, he has much more than that.” She nodded to someone else and I was handed a file. “That’s what we were going to share with Atlanta PD for the pat on the back of the criminal they caught. I’m sure they’re fine with making a copy for you. I hate to be curt, but our warlock has been opening a lot of portals today.”

“Yes, of course. I apologize for the delay. I needed to see myself that he was gone.” I thanked them again and stepped over by Ha-joon while the handoff was finished. He seemed surprised that I reached for his hand and then accepted mine, kissing my hair.

I let out a shaky breath when Kenneth was gone and the portal was closed. I turned to the officer who seemed to be in charge.

He didn’t even make me ask. “Let me get a copy of all of that for you, Ms. Reed. You might not want to read it today.”

“Wondering might keep me up but maybe not all of it,” I accepted, handing him the folder.

Ha-joon came with me inside and it wasn’t even five minutes until I had my own copy. We both thanked them and then he talked me into taking his vehicle home and we could get mine in the morning. He’d already checked with the station and they were fine with me parking there overnight.

Wonderful. I was feeling shakier than I’d like to admit.

We got closer that night. Not physically, but… Ha-joon was deeper in my life and heart. Maybe I’d been fooling myself thathe hadn’t been and just this new explosion in my life made it glaringly obvious.

Either way, it was clear that I needed him in my life. I wanted him there. I couldn’t picture him not there.

And with so much else going on, I was appreciating how amazing he was. How he was really there for me and I could rely on him.

Which was maybe why my jealousy kicked up a notch? Or it felt like now that I needed him, he could be taken away from me at any moment?

Or stress. I could have just been stressed and I was losing my ever-lovingmind. Who the fuck really knew?

All I did know was that his fan club was getting on my nerves even more than normal. We were becoming closer and closer, and they needed to seriously back the fuck off before I drained too many women in my hospital.

I didn’t blame them for drooling when he came in shirtless from his running club all the fucking time. He looked delicious especially when the guards now got them with the hose when they ran by since it was so hot out even in the mornings. Like…I got it. I knew he was even hotter naked and doing dirty, naughty everything.

But he was mine.