All of You by Gina Sorelle Page B

this guy was a monster, no doubt about it. Danny had lived with enough of them to spot one a hundred miles away.
    He knew exactly what that kid’s life was like, day in and day out, because, once upon a long time ago, he’d been a boy crying for his mommy. And he’d spent a very long time battling a lot of monsters that – no matter how hard he fought – had always seem to win.
    There were days when they still won.
    “What is your name?” Danny asked the dickbag.
    The guy’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
    Danny’s brows shot up.
    The guy sighed. “Tom Watts.”
    “Okay, Tom Watts, I want you to listen to me carefully…” Danny leaned in and lowered his voice. “I know you. And I know what you do. I know you hit that kid. I know you scream at that kid. And I know you don’t give a rat’s ass about that kid. Or any of the other kids. Or their mother.” Danny reared back to meet the guy’s narrowed eyes. “I know you’re a user and an abuser. And that you probably have a rap sheet a mile long, with more than a few domestic abuse charges.” Danny paused. “Now, I don’t have anything to arrest you for tonight, but I want you to know I am going to run your name, file a report, and send the info to Child and Family Services. And I have a really good feeling they aren’t going to like what they find at your house, Tom Watts…” Danny stared him down. “Are they?”
    When the guy just stood there staring like the fucking asswipe he was, Danny scoffed and said, “Give me your license or any other identification you have.”
    The guy pulled it out and handed it to Danny.
    Danny pointed to the park bench. “Sit down. Don’t move or say a word to anyone until I get back. Do you understand me?”
    Tom Watts opened his mouth to argue, Danny stepped closer, and Tom Watts dropped his ass onto the park bench.
    “I said , do you understand me?”
    Tom Watts nodded, Danny quirked a brow, and the douchebag mumbled, “I understand.”
    Danny shot him one last disgusted glance before turning to walk back to the restaurant…
    Only to find Kat and Carlo standing outside of California Pizza Kitchen, watching everything. Carlo looked star-struck, Kat looked shocked, and Danny realized he was way too raw to deal with either reaction.
    So he forced the widest smile he could manage. “Nice to see you both. Drive safely.”
    Without another word, he entered the restaurant and didn’t look back.
    Carlo met Kat’s eyes and grinned. “And that , zia , is why I want to become a police officer.”
    Kat returned his smile and even managed to formulate some responses to Carlo’s excited comments as they walked to the car. But the majority of her brain was still back at the front of the restaurant, watching Danny and feeling a whole lotta things she couldn’t easily process or decide how to react to.
    That was assuming she could decide, because it sure seemed like when it came to him, her processes had minds of their own.
    Kat hadn’t been the least bit surprised by Danny’s behavior toward the little boy. She hadn’t been able to hear everything, but Kat knew by his body language and the boy’s response, that Danny had been nothing short of incredibly patient and compassionate.
    What Kat hadn’t been prepared for were her visceral reactions to the dots she’d connected about Danny’s own life as she’d watched the drama unfold.
    Each time the little boy had cried out for his mother, Danny’s expression had subtly shifted. Someone who didn’t know him wouldn’t have detected the emotion behind it, but Kat could. And had.
    And Danny’s hardened expression and scarily flat tone when dealing with the asshole stepfather had spoken volumes about where Danny had been and the (probably) horrific things he’d been subjected to.
    As Carlo texted on the way home, Kat tried hard to process the weird, unsettling afternoon. Unfortunately, she was no closer to understanding any of it when she pulled into Gigi’s driveway ten