Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“I’ll hear the People’s final comments,” Judge Vaughn said. “Ms. Marchetti?”
Lana stood up. “With all due respect, Your Honor, this motion from the defendant is a farce. He’s presented no evidence whatsoever of bias or misconduct, either on my part or anyone else’s.
Max Bennett is a decorated US Army veteran, a licensed investigator, and a respected member of this community.
He runs a renowned security company with loyal clients throughout the area. ”
Max was sitting behind her in the audience. She didn’t dare turn around to look at him, even though she felt his eyes on her.
“Any relationship I might or might not have had with Mr. Bennett in the past is irrelevant. Your Honor already determined that he followed the proper procedures when he entered the Hearst home and found the necklace. But the defense won’t accept their defeat.
They’ve resorted to speculation and fantastical conspiracy theories, hoping to pressure my office into offering a plea. ”
Lana glanced over at her opposing counsel. Paxton Wayfair sat back in his chair, legs crossed at the ankles. The bastard was enjoying this.
“Defense counsel’s questions about…” She cleared her throat.
“About my personal history with Mr. Bennett are nothing more than a blatant—and sexist—attempt to harass me. His motion has no merit. Let this proceeding go forward as scheduled, with all appropriate evidence and testimony provided to the jury. That’s all I have to say. ”
“And Mr. Wayfair? Your response?”
Lana sat back down in her seat. Her opposing counsel stood.
“Your Honor, my client has suffered a terrible injustice. The district attorney’s office has concealed the prior relationship between this prosecutor and her key witness.
As Ms. Marchetti’s former sexual partner, Mr. Bennett is far too biased to be trusted.
His testimony, and the necklace itself, are far too prejudicial to be presented before the jury.
I urge that you do the right thing and exclude that tainted evidence.
In the alternative, we ask that Ms. Marchetti be disqualified and another prosecutor be substituted, one who can objectively and fairly deal with the defendant in this case. That is all.”
Lana bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood.
“I’ll issue my ruling soon. For now, we are adjourned.”
Lana didn’t go back to her office. Instead, she went straight to the parking garage and headed for her car. She had to get out of there. Away from Paxton Wayfair’s sneers and Judge Vaughn’s absurd attempts to be “fair” to both sides.
And more than anything, Max’s knowing eyes.
But of course, she heard footsteps dashing after her. Because he just couldn’t let her suffer alone.
“Lana, wait. We need to talk.”
She spun on her sensible pumps. “Haven’t you said enough?”
Max’s head jerked back, like she’d thrown a punch. “You wanted me to lie? It would’ve helped if you’d said so.”
“Of course, I’d never tell you to lie under oath. But… Ugh, I’m not mad at you. It’s that asshole. He wanted to get under my skin, and he’s definitely succeeded.” She rubbed her forehead.
Max came closer to her, putting his hand on her elbow. “Let me take you somewhere. You’re upset, and I want to be here for you. As your friend.”
“What about as my ‘former sexual partner?’” she deadpanned.
His Adam’s apple moved up and down. “Yeah, that too. All of the above. It’s time we talked about it, don’t you think?”
She was too drained to argue. She looked across the concrete at the elevators, where lawyers and litigants trailed in and out for their cases. “How do you think Wayfair found out about us?”
Max squinted his eyes. “My best guess? He had us followed. Probably saw how much time we’ve been spending together lately because of what happened with Aurora.
It had nothing at all to do with the Hearst case, and it was totally platonic.
But Wayfair was grasping at whatever he could.
I can’t imagine that he knew about…our past. He just got lucky there. ”
Got lucky. She snickered at the unfortunate phrasing.
“No pun intended.” Max smiled slightly.
“All right. You want to talk about it? Great. Let’s talk about our past.” She didn’t even know what there was to say. But she was definitely curious what Max might come up with.
“Here? In the parking garage?”
“Yep, why not? Right here. Let’s do it.”
“Okay. Well.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels. “I thought that we both…enjoyed what we did. Back then.”
“The sex?”
His eyes darted away. Unless she was mistaken, a sheen of sweat had appeared on his brow. “Yes. That. I assumed it was…satisfying for us both.”
“I’ll say,” she said under her breath.
“I’ve always thought that we were both okay with how it went. Right? I hope.”
My god, the man was nervous. She’d never seen Max at such a loss for words. “I felt the same. But I didn’t understand exactly why it ended.”
He looked at the ground. “Because that’s what we agreed beforehand, remember? And it made sense. You were a busy college student, and I had to get back to my unit. Aurora might’ve been confused or upset if she found out. And—”
Lana put up her hands. “You know what? No. I’m not doing this. There’s just no point.” She’d thought she wanted to hear his excuses, but she didn’t. She really didn’t.
“I think there is a point.” Max gripped the back of his neck. “Because this is clearly still a sore subject for you. Which I completely understand. I never wanted to hurt you, Lana. That is the last thing I would ever want to do.”
“We fucked a few times. It happened a long time ago. So what? Who cares? There, we’ve talked about it.”
Max crossed his arms, and his mouth pressed into a tight line. But he didn’t disagree, even though she wished he would. She wanted him to tell her how much it meant to him. How she hadn’t just been an easy lay.
But he wouldn’t. Because that would be a lie, wouldn’t it? And they’d already established today that he had no intention of lying.
“I need to take the rest of today off, and then I’m sure I’ll be back to normal. I’ll see you later.” She made a beeline for her car and got in before the tears started to fall.