Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
I Should’ve Stayed In Bed
Raf
Six weeks later
The last thing I wanted to do was leave my bed this morning, because unlike most other mornings when I wake to an empty bed, Chiara is still curled around me like a vine.
Until she became a regular fixture in my bed, I had no idea I loved to sleep like this.
Limbs tangled, every bit of her touching every bit of me.
She feels safe and protected, and I feel more wanted.
Needed. More loved than I ever have. Even if neither of us has actually said it yet.
Her alarm goes off as well, and I peer down, perplexed as to why she’s getting up so early when she doesn’t have a photoshoot until much later.
“Angel, did you forget to change your alarm?”
“No,” she groans out. “Evie changed my workout time to this morning because I couldn’t make it tonight. Ya know. The one YOU put in my calendar as a reoccurring date with the note DO NOT MISS.”
I chuckle into the top of her head resting on my chest.
“Oh baby, you know it does things to me when you’re such an obedient wife.”
“Fuck you,” she huffs. “For the record, your wife is going to be doing absolutely nothing to you as punishment for this ridiculously early wakeup on a day I don’t actually need to be awake before the sparrows.”
“I didn’t say I wanted you to do anything to me.
Mayybbeee…” I say, flipping her onto her back and straddling either side of her upper body.
“I want my breakfast in bed this morning.” She squeals and squirms as I trail kisses all the way down her naked torso until I get to the top of her red lace panties—the ones she was wearing that day she strutted into my office and almost made me buckle. Clearly it was only a matter of time.
“Mmhmmm,” she moans, as her legs fall open.
“If I have to get up early on my day off, this is the type of wake-up call I want.” I run my tongue underneath the waistband of her panties to tease her and she hums in encouragement.
Then I run my nose down her center, inhaling the scent of her desire mixed with her signature cotton candy body cream, then kissing my way back up her inner lips, pulling her panties to the side as I reach the top of the waist band.
I slowly circle her clit with the tip of my tongue before taking it into my mouth completely and sucking.
I feel her swollen bud flutter, and my dick throbs.
I want to bury myself to the hilt in one thrust, but I also want to tease her and draw out her pleasure, feel her drip down my chin and settle in my beard as a reminder of what I get to come home to.
I wrap my hands around her upper thighs and hold her open.
My phone starts ringing but I ignore it.
“Babe, do you need to get that?”
I shake my head and move my tongue side to side to flick her clit.
“Oh God!” She moans, rocking against my mouth.
“Not God, baby. Daddy,” I growl, low and hungry, flattening my tongue and licking her from asshole to clit over and over.
My phone goes off again.
“Raf, you—”
“Ignore it!
She slides her hand down her body, impatient for her climax.
“Uh, uh, uh. Don’t even think about it, angel,” I tell her, batting it away.
“I’m no angel, Daddy. So keep up,” she chides.
“Such a little fucking devil,” I say before I latch onto her inner thigh and suck hard, edging her even more by denying her the orgasm that was cresting.
I kiss the spot, then all the way up her inner thigh until I find her pretty pink pussy once more.
Fuck, this woman is going to be the death of me, I think as I dart my tongue out and swirl her it around her clit with even, measured strokes.
Teasing her. Tasting her. Driving her to the edge of ecstasy.
Just where I want her before I let her shatter.
And my fucking phone goes off again!
“Fuuuccckkk me!” I shout, reaching over to silence it but not before checking the caller ID so I know who I need to yell at later.
Sophia flashes on the screen. This feels like déjà vu, except reversed. It’s also not her usual MO, and seeing as we’re in the middle of the trial against Arty, I answer.
“This better be good. I’m in the middle of eating my breakfast.”
“Well I suggest you hurry up and finish it because Ms. Damiano has cold feet,” Sophia says on the other end. “She doesn’t want to take the stand. I don’t know what or who has gotten to her, but we need to fix this. Our case hinges on her evidence.”
“Goddammit,” I say, sitting back on my haunches and pinching the bridge of my nose. There’s no chance of me finishing my breakfast now.
“I’ll meet you at the office in forty-five minutes. We need to speak to her in-person before court.”
By the time I hang up, Chiara has readjusted her underwear and rises to her knees so we’re face-to-face.
She runs her hands down my chest comfortingly. “Is everything okay?”
It’s not, but I don’t want to worry her with it.
“I’m sure it will be. One of the victims due to take the stand today has gotten cold feet. She has one of the strongest cases, with DNA evidence. So we really need her to take the stand.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I know how hard you and Sophia have been working this case.”
I lean my forehead against hers. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to finish what we started.”
“It’s so fine, baby. It just means dessert will taste even sweeter tonight,” she says with a wink.
“I’m already counting down the hours,” I admit, wrapping her up and taking her down to the mattress for one more kiss and cuddle.
I nuzzle into the crook of her neck, and she runs her fingers through my hair. I inhale and exhale deeply. Every well-laid plan could go to shit today, but I won’t know what I’m dealing with until I get to the office.
“I’ll drop you off at Johnny’s on my way. Just let Avery know to go straight there and wait until you’re done so he can bring you home or take you wherever you need to go.”
She tugs on my hair to bring my eyes to hers.
“Raf, Alessandro has given up. There have been no jack-in-the-box moments in months.”
“I don’t give a shit,” I say, going in to nip at her lip. “I’m not easily contactable when I’m in court, so I have better peace of mind knowing someone who can protect you is there.”
She still doesn’t know it was him on the burner phone, and even though she asks regularly for an update on Marco’s case, as one of Sophia’s bridesmaids, she’s been more preoccupied with all things wedding prep these days, and I wonder for the millionth time if she regrets our courthouse wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am wedding.
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but it kinda sounds as though you might like your fake wife a lot,” she teases, and I wish I could tell her just how much. But if I took away her chance of a dream wedding, I need to get the part where I tell her I love her the right way.
“It would indeed seem I have contracted some weird, incurable disease,” I tease.
She throws her head back and laughs, the melody soothing my soul—the reminder of my responsibility to protect her puts me more on edge than I have been this whole God-forsaken court case.
It’s one thing to prosecute a criminal, but when you’re prosecuting a criminal who took the same oath as you, was once your peer and acquaintance, it automatically feels as though a loaded gun is aimed at you and the hyenas are circling, looking for any excuse to pull the trigger.
“C’mon sweetheart, let’s get ready. The faster I get to the office, the sooner I can figure out what the hell is going on.”
T-minus too many hours until this fucking day is over and she’s in my arms.
I drop Chiara off at the boxing ring, and once she confirms she’s inside and with Evie via video call, I tell my driver to head to the office.
When I open the door to my office, I’m met with a welcoming party I didn’t ask for, including a surprise guest I certainly didn’t imagine I would be seeing at this hour—or ever again if I had my way.
“Patrick. Sophia. Ms. Williamson.” I offer greetings with a nod of my head, not once letting my mask of indifference slip, acting as though walking into my goddamn office and finding my father, sister, and ex-fiancée seated there is par for the course.
Sophia shoots me an apologetic look, which tells me inviting my ex-fiancée into the room was my father’s idea.
“Raf, there’s no need for formalities. You can call me Victoria.”
“Considering we’re presenting evidence today, I would assume that you’re here on business, Ms. Williamson,” I say.
“Fine. You want to play the asshole card, then we’ll get right to it.” She always did have claws behind that mask of restraint. I admired that about her once. Except then she turned them on me, and there’s no coming back from that.
“I have it on good authority that the defense intends to enter late evidence that will bring one or more of your victims’ characters and their evidence into disrepute,” Victoria explains. “I am also led to believe if this evidence is presented, it will not be a good look for your law firm.”
“So they got you to come and do their bidding on the side? Strong-arm us into throwing the case?” I grit out.
“No. Work with me to get the judge to drop the criminal charges to misdemeanors. Spare your clients the humiliation,” she says. “Then we can reach a financial settlement with the victims.”
“Not going to happen. We have the right to object and ask for an in-camera review,” I say, finally dropping my bag to the floor and readjusting the knot on my lucky red tie.
A reminder of the woman who has become the bright spot in my day and my life.
If she were a color, it would be this brilliant shade of red.
“You know Judge Macliven has a track record of allowing video evidence to be shown to the jury,” she counters.
“I think you’re trying to call our bluff,” I retort.
“No, I’m trying to help you give your clients an opportunity to create a future they may never have had enough money to create for themselves,” she says.
“You think a financial settlement will give them their dignity back or make them feel like justice has been served?” I demand harshly. “Or will they just feel like they’ve been tricked by a bunch of power-hungry, disingenuous lawyers who colluded to protect one of our own?”
Sophia stands, smooths out her pencil skirt, and holds her hand out to Victoria. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” she says, ushering her to the door. “We’ll take the hour to discuss our options before we head to court.”
I couldn’t be prouder of her at this moment, not only for having the confidence to dismiss Victoria, but also showing her she’s got the backbone to see through the job we started.
“They will be paid handsomely,” my dad says once it’s just us three. “We can negotiate the settlement and request all case files are sealed to avoid reporting of the details.”
“So you’re in favor of taking the deal, Dad? You think we should cut our losses? Let the monster bully us into taking the easy way out?” challenges Sophia.
“Of course I want to see Arty brought to justice; he’s a sexual predator.
He’s ruined those girls’ lives. But he’s also got the money to fight them to the bitter end, and he’ll fight dirty if this is any indication.
” My dad steeples his fingers under his chin, contemplating his next words.
“Is it the ideal outcome for us if we get the criminal charges dropped to a misdemeanor so we can reach a financial settlement? Probably not—it indeed looks like we’ve taken the easy way out.
Except this isn’t about us or our egos. It’s about the victims. Do we put them on the stand, make them relive something traumatic only to have the truth picked apart and used against them in cross-examination?
Or do we encourage them to let us get the judge to dismiss the criminal charges so they at least get some compensation that might make an extraordinary difference to their lives.
” He stands and looks at me. “I’ve been a lawyer for almost forty years.
At first, you think good and bad are equivalent to white and black, but the truth is never that simple.
It’s layered, colored by so many different nuances that we have to think of it as a spectrum.
Sometimes the color of the truth will surprise you. ”
He comes to stand between me and Sophia, claps me on the shoulder, and takes Sophia’s hand in his.
“I’m going to take my hands off this. I’ve said my piece.
You’re the legal counsel on this one, so whatever you both agree is the best way forward is how you should respond to Ms. Williamson’s proposal.
Just remember, in this job we constantly need to reassess the goal posts as we go. ”
He leaves my office, and Sophia and I are left with one hell of a decision to make.
“Is Arabella still prepared to testify?” I ask her.
“Yes. But Ms. Damiano’s DNA evidence is the strongest by far,” she says ruefully. “What’s the right thing to do here, Raf?”
“I think we need to speak with Ms. Damiano. The evidence can be contested, and at best we can ask for proceedings to pause so we can deal with the fallout, come up with a counter play if we need to.” I run my hand down my tie.
“After what he attempted with you, what he did to Arabella, I’m just not sure I could live with myself knowing I handed him the get-out-of-jail-free card. ”
“I agree,” she says. “You’ve got my complete backing.”
No time like the present to prove to my dad I have what it takes to make the tough decisions, that I’m ready for the top job—but that I’ll do it my way.