Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Luca
Ariana and I spent the entire Sunday at my apartment talking and going over the events of Friday night. The fact that I couldn’t remember a fucking thing after I left the bar with Gina frightened me. My entire life was on the line. Reporters waited outside my apartment building, making it impossible for us to leave. I felt like a prisoner in my home, which pissed me off. There was something I hadn’t told her yet—the one thing I never wanted her to find out. I’d keep it to myself for now, and when the time came, if it did, I’d tell her everything and watch her look at me as if I were some monster. I couldn’t have that. I liked her, and the thought of her seeing me in that way would kill me.
The next morning, I got up, dressed, and went out of the back of the apartment building where Jeffery was waiting for me with the car. I walked into the building of my firm, where people stopped what they were doing and stared at me. The fear in their eyes shot through me like a bullet. When I walked into my office, my partners, Joe Greggs, and Sam Butler, followed me inside.
“We’re surprised you’re here,” Joe spoke.
“Why’s that?” I cocked my head. “This firm will run as usual.”
“Your license has been suspended, Luca,” Sam spoke.
“I’m well aware of that, Sam. I may not be able to practice law, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t still run this firm.”
“We talked, and we think it would be in the firm's best interest if you took some time off,” Joe said.
“I don’t care what you think is best. This is my firm, and I will continue to be here every day.”
“Luca, we already lost ten clients this morning. People don’t want a firm representing them when the main partner has been accused of murder.” Sam leaned back in his chair.
“If you care anything about this firm, you’ll step down for a while,” Joe said.
I slammed my fist down on my desk.
“This firm is my life, and this is my reputation on the line. If I walk away because of this, I might as well say I’m guilty. Business will go on as usual.”
“Good morning, gentlemen.” Ariana walked into my office. “Luca’s right. Business will go on as usual. He’s innocent until proven guilty.” She let out a light laugh. “But you already know that, right? I mean, come on, you’re lawyers.”
“We’re worried about what this will do to the firm,” Sam spoke.
“Of course, you are. You have a lot invested in here. It’s nice to know that you care more about the firm than what might happen to your friend and partner.”
Both of them sat there and glared at her. She had rendered them speechless, and I found myself turned on.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, gentlemen, I need to speak privately with my client.” Ariana held the door open for them.
I silently smiled to myself. She seemed different this morning. She shut the door and threw a black phone across my desk.
“What’s this?” I asked as I picked it up.
“A burner phone. I have one as well. We’ll use those phones for personal conversations, and our regular phones for business. I like to consider it a safety measure just in case.”
I set the phone down and stared at the beautiful woman in the blue pantsuit that stood before me.
“I missed you last night,” I spoke.
She raised her finger. “You can’t be talking like that at the office. Anyway, I need to go. I have a lot of work to do. I’ll be back later. In the meantime, I need you to make me a list of your potential enemies.”
“That could take some time.”
“Time is all you have, Luca,” she said as she left my office.
She was right. Time was all I had, and I wasn’t going to waste it by sitting around thinking about how I might go to prison for the rest of my life. All of this was unreal, and I needed to think really hard about who would do this to me.
Ariana
I went to the Peninsula Hotel and spoke with Randall, the bartender who was working that night.
“How many drinks did you serve, Mr. Russo?” I asked.
“He had three scotches.”
“Did he seem intoxicated to you when he left the bar?”
“Not really. I mean, he walked out of here fine. He gave me his credit card and signed the bill. He even told me to have a good night.”
“Was there anything unusual about the woman he left with?”
“No. But to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t paying attention. It was really busy that night with the party and all.”
“Do you remember what time they left the bar?” I asked.
“Yeah. It was around eleven o’clock.”
“And how do you know the exact time?”
“Because my co-worker, Ron, had just gotten back from his break, and he was late. So, I remember looking at the time when he came back. That was when Mr. Russo had just signed the bill and told me to have a good night.”
“Thank you, Randall.” I smiled.
“No problem.”
As I began to walk away, Randall called my name.
“Hey, Miss Williams?”
“Yeah?” I turned around.
“I don’t know if this is important, but right before they left, the woman dropped her purse, and all the contents fell out of it. Mr. Russo bent down to pick it up for her.”
“Really?” I narrowed my eye. “She didn’t help him?”
“No. She just sat on the stool while he picked everything up.”
“Thanks. That could be of importance. Did you, by any chance, tell that to the detectives?” I asked.
“Nah. I just remembered it.”
“Let’s keep that little bit of information to ourselves.” I winked.
“Sure thing, Miss Williams.”
As I was leaving the hotel, I received a call from Wendy Graham.
“Ariana Williams.”
“Miss Williams, it’s Wendy Graham. Mr. Russo will need to appear in court tomorrow morning at ten a.m. for the preliminary hearing.”
“So soon?” I asked.
“This is a high-profile case, and it’s in the people's best interest to get this moving quickly and close this case.”
“Are you sure that’s the only reason?” I asked with suspicion.
“Of course, Miss Williams. Have a good day.”
I sighed as I rolled my eyes and hailed a cab back to the firm. As the driver approached the building, reporters were swarming outside the doors. I paid for the cab, took a deep breath, and climbed out.
“Excuse me. Aren’t you the defense attorney for Luca Russo?” a tall young male reporter asked.
“Yes. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to meet with my client,” I spoke as I pushed my way through the crowd of people.
“Do you think you’re really qualified to handle this case?” he shouted.
I stopped dead in my tracks and slowly turned around.
“Excuse me?”
“From what I understand, you just graduated from law school. Mr. Russo can afford the best attorney in the world. So why would he hire someone with no experience?”
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Aiden York.”
“To answer your question, Mr. York, I am the best.” I raised my brow with a smirk. “And when we win this case, I expect you to apologize for judging me without knowing my skills. Have a good day.” I walked into the building.