Chapter 20
Loche
Despite Cole and Nix’s reassurances that they hadn’t seen anything out of place when they drove by Ever’s house and parked at a distance to keep watch on it for a couple of hours, I was still bothered by the video of the figure walking past her door so late in the evening.
Ever’s street wasn’t exactly Grand Central, especially at night and this close to winter.
But as we entered the fourth day of trial, there were no other sightings of the figure, and the only movement picked up by the camera was the mailman and Katy coming and going to feed Vinny.
“Do you mind grabbing the deposition transcript for Dr. Little, so I can read along with it during his video testimony?” I asked Ever, who, despite her repeatedly telling me that nothing was wrong, had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since she left the bar.
Not to mention, after the trial concluded for the day, if she wasn’t needed, she retreated back into her room, declining dinner invitations, which also wasn’t like Ever.
“Sure,” she answered.
At the front of the courtroom, Jason plugged in the HDMI cable to connect our trial laptop to a large-screen television, while Blaine brought up the video of Dr. Little because Conrad was allergic to modern technology and thought it was beneath him to learn anything he saw as being the job of the help.
Ever pulled the Bankers Box containing copies of the deposition transcripts out from underneath the bench where we were storing everything we weren’t presently using.
Clutter could be distracting to the jury, especially one who had been sitting through three days of technical testimony from expert witnesses.
Ever’s skirt rode up as she stooped down, and I tried not to stare at the same legs that had been wrapped around my body only a few days ago while envisioning my tongue gliding up her thighs toward—
Nope. Popping a boner in the middle of a civil trial was strictly against court rules, punishable by a lifetime of abject humiliation.
Thank Christ Ever found the transcript quickly, rescuing me from thoughts I should definitely not be having during a trial involving the horrific, fiery deaths of two people.
But she must have been a little too overzealous when she pulled the folder from the box and moved to stand back up because the folder flew out of her hand and struck the back of Conrad’s chair.
“Would you be more careful?” Conard sneered, turning around to glare at her.
Ever’s face turned fifty shades of red as she retrieved the file from the floor.
It wasn’t her embarrassment that struck me as much as the way she and Conrad had looked at each other like two vipers ready to strike.
A bit of an overkill reaction for the file-turned-projectile, which could only mean. ..
That son of a bitch.
I clenched my jaw, balling my fists in my lap.
Because, of course, it was Conrad. It was always Conrad.
When Kim had shown interest in me—feelings of affection I most definitely hadn’t returned—Conrad swooped in.
And why? A show of dominance. A reminder that he held all the cards.
He’d seen Ever and me at the bar and put two and two together.
She wouldn’t have slept with him, so what the fuck did he do to her exactly?
“Here.” Ever set the file down on the bench between the two of us, but I was no longer interested in reading along to a transcript I’d already read so many times I could repeat passages from it like scenes from a movie.
Hand shaking with fury, I reached for the notepad on the other side of me and hastily scribbled a note.
What did he do to you?
I passed the notepad to Ever with the pen, keeping my eyes on the back of Conrad’s head. If only the ability to shoot daggers with your eyes were an actual thing.
Seconds later, she passed the notepad back to me.
Who?
You know who I’m talking about. What happened? Did he hurt you?
This isn’t the place to discuss this.
Rage consumed me, and the only thing holding me back from tackling Conrad like a linebacker was a combination of Ever and the Sawyer family, who’d already been through hell and back and were sitting next to Conrad and Blaine at the Plaintiff’s table.
“Come on,” I whispered to Ever, nodding at the doors leading to the hall.
“Not now, Loche,” she hissed, trying to mask the fear in her eyes with strength.
“Yes. Now.” My hand brushed over hers, and I had to hold myself back from grabbing it.
She glared at me, looking back over at Conrad, who was too engrossed in the video being played for the jury to notice much else. “Fine. I really hate you, you know that?”
“Keep telling yourself that. Let’s go.”
We stood up, doing our best not to draw the jury’s attention away from the video, but still caught curious looks from Jason and Caroline as we walked out of the courtroom.
“We shouldn’t be out here,” Ever said, frustrated but also a tad less tense now that she was out of Conrad’s orbit.
“You and I both know that video is a good hour long and about a third of those jurors are probably already asleep, anyway.”
“It’s unprofessional.”
“What’s unprofessional is that piece of human filth sitting in the courtroom right now. Please. I need to know what happened. Did he touch you?”
“I didn’t fuck your uncle if that’s what you’re asking me.” Ever’s whisper was laced with malice, and it was obvious she was fighting back tears.
I took a step closer to her, looking down into her wide, betrayed eyes that shone green from her fury. “I know, and I never thought that you did or that you ever would. But something happened, and I need to know what it is so I can take care of it.”
“You are not going to make a scene in there. This trial is too important for the Sawyers.” Her expression softened. A tear slid down her cheek, and I brushed it away without thinking that a man touching her might be the last thing she really wanted right now.
“I’m sorry,” I said, withdrawing my hand.
“For touching me or for Conrad? Only one of those things requires an apology.”
If only you knew how much I needed to apologize to you for.
“If you need some time to tell me what happened, I understand. Just know that I believe you, not him.”
“He didn’t touch me at all, but he came onto me outside my room.”
“Son of a bitch.” I ran my hand through my hair, wanting nothing more than to barge right back into that courtroom, rip Conrad from his chair and throttle him in front of the jury. But since I’d been focusing on growth and working on myself, I was going to honor Ever’s wishes.
“That’s your grandma you’re talking about.”
“What?”
“Your uncle is the son of your grandma. Probably shouldn’t be calling her a bitch. Unless she is, of course.”
“For God’s sake, woman.” I shook my head, snickering softly. “How are you able to crack a joke right now?”
“Trauma,” she answered simply. That was something else we had in common.
The creak of the courtroom doors opening drew our attention to Caroline, who peeked her head out at us. “You’re being summoned,” she whispered.
I nodded, turning back to Ever as Caroline retreated back behind the doors.
“You go ahead and go back in. I have something I need to take care of.” I held out my arms, wrapping them around her when she nodded her consent.
Her body felt more fragile when she was emotionally falling apart.
“I’m going to make him regret believing he was ever good enough to have you,” I whispered with my lips hovering just over the top of her head.
Ever let out a shaky breath, her hands sliding down my torso as though she were looking for something.
Or was she remembering something?
I broke away from our embrace. “I’ll be back,” I called back to her, turning to walk down the hall when I remembered something else I needed to tell her. When I looked over my shoulder, Ever still stood in the hallway as though she’d been hit by a truck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Of course, she was going to remember what it felt like to have her arms around V.
The wheels in her head were spinning while the walls around me and my double life were closing.
“Ever,” I called back to her. She looked up, her eyes searching my body where her hands had been seconds earlier.
“Start drafting the closing. I’m not going to have the time, and Blaine is going to need the help if he’s going to present it. ”
She nodded, watching me a few moments longer before she turned to head back through the courtroom door.
The reception in the courtroom was absolute shit, and the halls weren’t much better, which I discovered when I pulled my phone from my pocket to try to make a call.
After getting enough bars to convince me my call wasn’t going to drop near a set of floor-to-ceiling windows, I made the call that was going to start an avalanche of shit within the firm and may end up with me in prison right next to Conrad, assuming I had gathered together enough evidence to put Conrad away.
“Jack, it’s Loche. There’s something I think the partners would be interested in knowing.”
“Where have you been?” Ever asked, “Conrad has been fuming all afternoon.”
“Did he say anything to you?” I leaned against the table in the conference room we’d rented to use as our trial war room. Across the table, Ever sat working on her laptop, typing furiously.
“No, we completely ignored each other, which was fine, but that didn’t stop him from using Blaine to communicate with me.
“Good. Tomorrow, during closing, you’re going to be communicating with Blaine exclusively.”
Ever stopped typing to peer up at me over the screen. Suspicion still darkened her expression. “What, did you hire a hitman or something?”
“In a way. How’s that closing statement coming? I hear the defense rested today. Tomorrow will be your time to shine.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re so much better than me with drafting compelling, heartfelt, gut-wrenching statements that resonate with people.”