Chapter 47 Maya
MAYA
Noah’s arms wrapped around me, crushing me against him. My fingers curled into his jacket, clinging, my breath hitching against his neck.
We’d won.
I was free.
And I was kissing the man I’d nearly left for good.
The same man who’d chased me down and never once let go.
Right there in the middle of the courthouse, with Buffaloberry Hill watching, and with my uncle David still standing at the prosecution’s table, seething.
If they thought I was going to blush and hide, they hadn’t been paying attention.
When we finally broke apart, I turned. I met Uncle David’s glare head-on, my spine straight, my shoulders back. Then I looked at Annamaria.
She stood beside her father, her eyes red from crying, her nails digging into the strap of her designer purse. She’d been the one to inherit the necklace. The one who wanted me buried for daring to take it.
I didn’t say a word.
I didn’t have to.
Her gaze faltered first.
Uncle David muttered something to her, then turned, his wife in tow. The three of them left in a hurry, retreating like rats exposed to daylight.
It was over.
The next thing I knew, Sheryn’s arms were around me, and then Claire’s, and then Mrs. Appleby’s, and before I could even process it, I was in the center of a tangle of Buffaloberry’s finest. Elia. Nick. Hank. The Lazy Moose crew.
They’d come for me.
They’d believed in me.
And the dam inside me broke.
Tears spilled down my cheeks as I whispered, “Thank you. Thank you.”
A warm, strong hand settled on my shoulder, steadying me. Dominic Powell.
When I turned to him, my throat tightened again. He wasn’t just my lawyer. He’d fought for me, dug deeper than anyone else would, and risked his own reputation to uncover the truth.
“How the hell did you pull it off so fast?” Noah asked, stepping in close, his voice raw from everything we’d just lived through.
Dom just smirked, loosening his tie as if the courtroom had been nothing but a poker table. “Trade secret,” he said.
Noah wasn’t buying it. “Come on, Powell. You’re an Angelino. The Beverly Hills clinic records? Fine. I’ll believe you pulled those overnight. But Harlow’s payments? Buried in Montana’s banking maze? We’d been chasing that trail for weeks. And you just dropped it at the last minute?”
Dom laughed, not sheepishly. Just as though he’d won a bet and was still letting the tension melt off his shoulders. “I never got the payment records.”
I couldn’t even form a proper reaction. “What?”
He tossed his suit jacket onto the nearest bench. “I didn’t have proof of anything. Not one invoice. Not even a whiff of a transfer.”
Noah swore under his breath. “You serious?”
“I was banking on Annamaria cracking,” Dom said, completely unfazed. “She’s a peacock, not a snake. All feathers, no venom. A well-timed bluff about the money? That was always going to hit her.”
I stared at him, stunned. “You mean—”
“It was a trap. And she stepped right into it.” He looked at us both, a little too proud of himself. “You two worry too much. I’m morally flexible, not stupid.”
“Shit, Dom!” Noah muttered.
And I was simply glad I hadn’t known that in advance.
“So you’re heading back to L.A. soon? Stack up more wins?” Noah asked.
“Actually, I’ve got another Montana case,” Dom said, glancing my way. “That charming soul who leased you the HERF gun?”
I blinked. “Wait, you’re representing him?”
Dom’s smirk said it all. “Only the best.”
After listening closely, Claire arched a brow. “Where were you when I was running from The Revenants?”
“Ah,” Dom said. “I heard about that.”
“What the hell are The Revenants?” I asked.
Claire waved a hand. “My past. A story for another day. Today, we celebrate you.”
Before I could respond, a voice cut through the noise.
“This isn’t over, Lucas!” Harlow yelled.
I was pretty sure he meant me, but Noah stepped in first, his body tight, ready to take the hit if it came.
“You come back for her, you’re a dead man.” There was no heat in his voice. Just certainty. “And you know I have a goddamn good lawyer to defend me. I’ll make you guilty, dead or alive. Trust me. Wherever you are, you’ll deal with Buffaloberry.”
Harlow didn’t respond. He just stared, something wary in his expression. He finally saw it. He wasn’t in control here. He was just another kid trespassing on someone else’s turf.
He turned and walked out, consequences catching up to him with every step.
The silence he left behind didn’t last long.
A woman approached me, holding out a phone. Her hands were trembling, her eyes glassy with emotion. “Miss Belrose. Sorry, I mean, Mrs. Lucas. I’m Cleo’s mother,” she said. “Cleo wanted to be here. But she can’t…she still can’t leave the house. So…”
She turned the phone, and on the screen was a little girl. Small, but bright-eyed. Breathing, laughing, and real.
My throat locked.
“Hi, Miss Maya,” Cleo chirped.
I pressed a hand to my mouth, not to stifle tears, but to hold in everything. Relief, awe, joy. Then I shifted it to the screen and managed a wave. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Mommy told me what you did. What you gave me.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
“You’re so kind,” she said innocently. “Although you didn’t have to.”
My chest caved. “Yes, I did.”
Cleo smiled, small but real. “Thank you.”
I couldn’t speak.
I could only nod.
“By the way, Katy said hi,” Cleo’s mother said as the screen went black.
Right then, Noah pulled me into his arms.
Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t care. He held me, tight and warm, his heartbeat steady against mine.
“I’ve never been so right, Maya. You’re the most amazing human being I’ve known.” His voice was thick. “I love you.”
I closed my eyes, sinking into him.
“I love you too, Noah Lucas.”
And this time, I knew I’d never have to say goodbye.