32. Harley
harley
. . .
“ S top! Now!”
Who knew passing over a silly little note would result in a stabbing?
Penelope mentioned it had been Laura’s request. She wouldn’t tell me why or what the coded message was about, but apparently, Laura was doing someone’s dirty work.
I almost rejected it but felt bad after firing her as my lawyer.
And I fucking missed her, but I couldn’t think about that right now.
I looked over as woman upon woman dogpiled onto the one who did the stabbing. The other one, who was bleeding out, was trying desperately to claw her way away from the dogpile.
The guards themselves were too slow. It wasn’t every day that they got as much action as this, I imagined. Since being locked up here, I’d been pleasantly surprised by how many inmates simply kept to themselves.
Normally, I wouldn’t have even stepped outside of my cell save for the mandatory outside times. But for Laura, I did.
And I got a front-row seat to the drama as it unfolded.
“Hart,” a stern voice called. I looked to see two guards moving quickly toward me.
Fuck, am I going to get caught already?
“What can I help you with, gentlemen?” I asked with a smile.
“Your hearing,” the one on the right said while the other all but pulled me from my seat.
A hearing?
I didn’t have a hearing scheduled. Confusion and panic washed over me.
Something happened .
Did the bastard keel over or something? Am I now being charged with murder? Did the lawyers find anything of use? Something to justify this hearing?
I didn’t ask the guards, though. They wouldn’t know. Which led to a million more questions running through my mind as they took me to court and made me wait for my legal representation, even though my lawyers were sitting behind me.
What the fuck is going on?
Lenard was at the table to my right, his lawyers there as well. He was pale and frowning. He looked much worse than when we dropped him off at the hospital, almost like the hospital time did nothing at all.
If I weren’t so worried about my fate, I might have laughed at his state.
When the doors finally opened, the click of heels against the linoleum rang through the room.
My heart jumped in my chest. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder; I knew who it was. I knew the way she walked just like I knew everything else about her.
And yet I still looked.
Seeing her was magical. The urge to go to her was taking over my entire being.
She came. Even after I fired her, she still came for me.
My agency’s lawyers were frowning at her as she walked, but I didn’t give a fuck. I knew nothing of what had transpired outside the jail cell, but I trusted Laura with my life.
She placed her bag down on the table and looked at the judge .
“I apologize for my lateness, Your Honor,” she said. “Traffic.”
Lenard let out a snort.
“We can get on with it, I have a lunch appointment,” the judge said and motioned for Lenard’s team to speak.
Laura motioned for me to sit down.
“I heard we have a motion for?—?”
“Dismissal,” Lenard’s lawyer said as he stood. “My client is waiving the charges and admitting that he was, in fact, trespassing on the property. While we still feel that Ms. Hart’s actions were a bit… overzealous… we would like to come to an agreement and forgo a trial if possible.”
Waiving the charges. Forgo a trial.
I was stunned. It seemed impossible .
And I know Laura had something to do with this.
The judge looked at him with a raised brow, then at Laura.
“What does the defense have to say?” he asked.
“We knew all along it was self-defense, and I’m ecstatic to see they finally agree,” she said, shoulders back, proud of herself. It was a sight for sore eyes. “For that reason, I would like to request the charges against my client be dropped.”
“Lowered,” Lenard’s lawyer interrupted with a smile. “Probation for assault with a deadly weapon. Misdemeanor. That should suffice, shouldn’t it?”
The absolute rage that flashed in Laura’s eyes was something else. It was there a second, gone the next, and I absolutely loved it.
She had this.
“Bastards,” Laura muttered under her breath. “Tried to pull a fast one. Thought I wouldn’t come prepared? Idiots. But no matter. Come on, we have som?—”
Laura stopped and turned when she realized I wasn’t following her.
To be honest, I was still in shock .
One moment I was watching someone get stabbed in jail, and the next I was walking free.
I could feel the wind on my face. I had changed from my prison clothes to ones Laura had brought me. And, most importantly… she was here.
I jerked forward, grabbed her face, and forced her lips to mine.
The kiss was unlike any other. Better than even our first time. So sweet, yet hungry. If we weren’t in public, I would have taken her right then and there.
She pulled away, breathing heavily, with a smile on her face.
“I missed you too, Killer,” she said. “Don’t fire me next time, got it? I may just leave you there.”
She said it in a playful tone, but I didn’t laugh. I dropped straight down on one knee.
“You deserve way more than this,” I said as I grabbed her left hand.
“A large, custom ring. An extravagant vacation. Photographers. Everything. I can’t give that to you right now, but I will.
For now, I need to tell you that from the moment I saw you, I knew you were the love of my life.
I love you, and nothing will ever change that. Laura, please do me the hon?—”
“A vacation sounds nice, actually,” she commented nonchalantly as she lifted her hand from mine, eyeing where her ring would go. “And a diamond, of course. Maybe blue? Hm, wait, no. I’ve always liked emeralds and rubies.”
I shot up, excitement and hope gripping my throat.
“All of it. You can have it all.” My face ached with the smile that spread across it. “We’ll go wherever you want. I don’t care where it is or how much it is as long as we go together.”
“Paris first. You know, some shopping after this shitshow would be nice.”
“Anything for you, my love,” I said and grabbed her hand to place a kiss on top of it.
She gave me a real smile then, and everything else fell into place.
“I love you too, Harley. Be a good girl for me, and maybe you’ll hear it more often.”