CHAPTER 40 Liam Bradley
The Seven of Us
“State your name for the record.”
“Archer Bradley,” Archer says up on the stand.
I wonder if I’ll be called next, but I somehow doubt it.
Madden was the most tangled in Dad’s business, but he extracted Dad from the company before he took over as CEO.
Dad had us all sign different papers for various projects over the years, and I think a lot of what he had us sign for were shell companies to hide other illegal activities. But Archer? He made out the worst.
“Are you the son of Thomas Bradley?”
“Yes.”
I glance over at Millie, his fiancée, and she looks nervous for her future husband.
“Do you remember this document?” The prosecuting attorney nods at the screen, and we all glance over there and see Archer’s signature.
“Yes.”
“Is that your signature?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell the court your understanding of the document when you signed it?”
“I believed the papers I was signing had something to do with taxes,” Archer says.
“Did you know you were taking ownership of a company?”
“No.”
“So you’re saying your father misled you?”
“Objection!” Paul, Dad’s lawyer, shouts. “Argumentative.”
“Sustained,” the judge says. “Careful, counsel.”
The prosecuting attorney changes his approach. “Take us through what happened when he asked you to sign the paperwork.”
Archer glances at our father, seated there in front with his team of lawyers, and then he tells the truth as he knows it.
“He called me and said he had some papers for me to sign. Said it was for tax purposes. He was lining things up before my mother died, and he wanted to reconcile with me. I glanced at it, and it was a bunch of legal jargon, so I signed it and sent it back.”
“You signed it without fully reading and understanding what you were signing?” the lawyer asks.
“Yes, sir.”
“When you signed this document, you had no knowledge that your father was putting this operation in your name?”
“That is correct.”
They ask a few follow-up questions, and they end with, “No further questions, Your Honor.”
The judge turns to Paul. “Counsel?”
My heart races for Archer. They’re going to decimate him. They’re going to try to plant doubt with the jury by saying it’s his name on the paper, so he’s the one behind the operation, and it’s all because Archer didn’t pay enough attention to read what he was signing.
It’s textbook defense to create reasonable doubt.
And that’s why I’m shocked to my core when Paul says, “No questions, Your Honor.”
The judge turns to Archer. “You may step down.” He turns to the prosecution. “You may call the next witness.”
I reach over and grab Penny’s hand, and I realize mine are trembling. I’m glad she’s here. I’m nervous about getting called up, but I feel like I can do this with her here—and with the rest of my family here.
On the one hand, he’s my father. I don’t want him to go away for this. But on the other…he should pay for his crimes.
It’s such a weird mental space to be in. I hate what he did, but he’s my dad. I still love the guy, and maybe he’s been punished enough after losing his wife and now losing most of his children to what he did.
I haven’t been here for him during the trial the way I should have been. I’ve been too caught up in my own shit, though to be fair, a lot of time was spent traveling back and forth to San Diego.
“The state calls Maverick Jennings to the stand.”
He glances at Everleigh, and she squeezes his hand before he makes his way to the front. The prosecution asks him several questions establishing who he is and what happened the night our father’s underground casino in Vegas was raided, and he gives the truth as he knows it.
The judge asks the prosecuting attorney to be mindful that the rest of the Bradley family has scheduling conflicts and will not be able to return to the court for testimony, but the next witness called is one of Dad’s former employees.
The only one of the Bradley siblings called up was Archer.
And Dad’s lawyers didn’t even cross-examine him.
I can’t quite figure out what the hell Paul is doing, but it doesn’t seem like he’s trying very hard to plant doubt that my father did this.
Which means…well, exactly what it should mean. My father is going to face jail time for what he did. I glance at the members of the jury, and it’s hard to get a read on any of them. But if I were over there, I’m quite sure I wouldn’t have any doubts that he did it.
When we meet for dinner at the Bradley Mansion later that evening, I can’t help but ask aloud over pizza, “What the hell was Dad’s lawyer doing not cross-examining Archer or the rest of us?”
Madden clears his throat. “I asked him. He said Dad adamantly refused to put any of us on the stand.”
“Why? Couldn’t they have tried to pin it on Archer?” I ask.
Archer glares at me, and I mouth sorry to him.
“I think Dad is just finally owning up to his mistakes,” Madden says. “He’s done enough damage, and he knows that Archer has gotten close with the rest of us again. I think he didn’t want to jeopardize that.”
“Well, I gotta hand it to the guy. At least he gave us that,” Archer says, and he lifts his beer. “To the end of this trial, and to everyone getting what they deserve.”
“Here, here,” the rest of us echo as we raise our glasses and press them together in the middle.
I hope his words come true because we all deserve a break after losing our mother in December only to find out what a deceitful bastard our father had been all these years at about the same time.
As I look around the room, I can’t help but think how much has changed in just the past year for the people sitting around this table. First, our parents aren’t here but would have been a year ago.
Madden met Kennedy, and now they’re getting married.
Ainsley literally ran into Dex, and now they’re married and raising Jack together.
Everleigh met Maverick, and they just got married last month.
Ford and Tatum didn’t marry for love—at first—but they’re sure as hell in love now.
Archer and Millie are engaged.
And then there’s me, the man who ran into his sister’s best friend one night at a neighborhood bar, and the rest is history.
I can’t help but wonder when it’ll happen for Ivy, too. She’ll be next, and I can’t imagine who will be sitting at this table months or years from now in the seat beside her.
Through it all, the seven of us have each other, and we all deserve the very best. So yes, I take a gulp from my bottle as I hope all of us get what we deserve.
* * *
We pick up the boys from Wilma’s house on our way home, and we’ve decided to talk to them tonight about San Diego.
We park in the parking garage, and then we take the boys and Liora for a walk along the Lakefront Trail. It was Penny’s suggestion to have this conversation somewhere new and different instead of at home.
We stumble upon a bench, and Penny has the boys sit on it. She takes their picture there, something they’re used to, and then she slips her phone into her pocket. “Hey boys, can we talk for a minute?”
“About what?” Sammy asks.
“Tomorrow we’re going to take a trip to San Diego, and we’re going to move into a house there with Liam.” She wrings her hands a little nervously at the end.
“Can I bring my iPad?” Benji asks, and I chuckle.
“Yes, baby. Of course. You can bring whatever you want.”
“Lego sets?” Sammy asks.
She nods. “Even your video games.”
I shake my head. “No need. Our new house has all of it.”
“Liam Bradley, do not spoil the kids.”
I chuckle as I rock the stroller.
“What about Dad?” Sammy asks, and I had a feeling he’d ask.
“You can call him whenever you want,” she says softly. “You just won’t go over to his house every other weekend anymore.”
“So no more Heather?” Benji asks.
She shakes her head. “Nope.”
“Yes!” he says, and he punches the air. It takes everything inside me not to laugh at that.
“But…does Dad still love us?” Sammy asks quietly.
“Of course he does, baby. Of course. We’re just changing things up a little bit, and you’re going to be with me, Liam, and Liora all the time.”
“Li Li and Liam are coming, too?” Benji asks, using his little nickname for her.
“They’re coming, too,” Penny says, smiling back at me.
“Yes!” he says, punching the air again.
“And it’s okay to feel sad about leaving,” she tells them. “I know it’ll be hard to leave the friends you made in school, but you can keep in touch with them, and we’ll make new friends, too.”
“What about Grammy?” Benji asks.
“I think if we get Grammy to come visit, she’ll want to move there, too,” Penny says with a smile.
I just wish I could get Dolores to move there, too. But we’ll still have my place here in Chicago, and who knows what’ll happen in the next year? Maybe Penny will decide she wants to come back. Or maybe I’ll get signed for more time with the Storm.
It’s all part of the excitement of a future knowing one thing for certain: Penny, Benji, Sammy, and Liora will all be in it.