I grabbed my stuff and followed Molly back to her place. Since she already made dinner, it wasn’t like I could suggest something else. I could handle being hungry for the night if it meant that I didn’t have to eat her food. One of these days, I was going to have to tell her how bad her cooking was. But tonight wasn’t that night.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” she asked as we sat on the couch a few hours later.
“I’m nervous about seeing Delaney’s parents. They call me pretty regularly. They want to talk about Delaney with someone that loved her.”
“Why do they assume that’s you?”
“Because she told them that we were dating to get her mother to back off. It was never more than sex, but I can’t tell her mom that. She needs to believe that Delaney was in love. It gives her comfort. How can I take that away from her?”
“I don’t think you can, but eventually you’re going to have to tell her that you need to move on.”
“I’m not trying to hurt you.” I needed her to understand that.
“Tony, I’m not upset because of how this affects me in any way. I just don’t want you to have to live with that kind of pressure. If you don’t stop this, how are you ever going to move on from this? It’s not fair to put all of this on you.”
I gripped her hand in mine. How the hell had I ever thought she was crazy? Logically, I could see the crazy after our first date, but remembering that night and the freedom I felt being with her, it was so fucking clear that she was coming at me so hard because we had a connection that couldn’t be denied.
“I just have to get through this trial. After that, I can move on with my life.”
“What about the other woman that was in the house that night? Did she live?”
“Yeah. Becky, she’s Coop’s girlfriend. She’s going to have to testify.”
“Wow. I can’t even imagine what that’s going to feel like.”
“You know, I was angry at her for a long time. I hated her.”
“Becky?”
I nodded. “Coop’s daughter was rebelling and Coop put her on lockdown. He was afraid she was going to make some stupid decisions and end up getting into trouble. Becky felt bad for her and helped her sneak off the property.”
“Uh-oh.”
“She escaped and ended up in a bad situation. She was…raped. Things got really bad around work. Coop couldn’t forgive Becky and I stood by him one hundred percent. And then when they got back together, I just didn’t understand it. She betrayed the company and everyone that worked there.”
Thinking about it now, I felt really bad for Becky. It dawned on me then that ever since I met Molly, my anger toward Becky over her betrayal with Kayla had faded substantially. It had been only a week.
“You know, it only took eight days.”
“For what?”
I looked into her sweet eyes and smiled my first real smile in what felt like years. “Eight days for you to completely turn my life upside down. All this time, I didn’t know what I was missing, and then you came storming into my life and scared the shit out of me.”
“Hey,” she said indignantly.
“In the best possible way. Eight days ago I was angry and couldn’t forgive myself or Becky. Eight days ago I never thought I would ever be able to have a relationship with another woman.”
She wound her fingers through mine and looked up at me with this sweetness that stopped my heart. “Eight days ago I found a man that’s so amazing that I knew my life would never be the same.”
My lips slid over hers and my hands wound through her hair. There was an urgency in the way I kissed her, but I took my time and made sure I showed her exactly how much I wanted her and needed her. I had almost missed out on her because I was so blinded by my assumptions of who she was. And all this time, she had never doubted that I would find my way back to her.
I laid her down on the couch and skimmed my lips down her neck as I slid my hand up her shirt. Her soft skin felt so right against my fingers and the way her nipples pebbled under my touch had me hardening instantly. There was something about this woman, her sweetness and her beauty that had me completely mesmerized. And I realized then that it had always been there, pulling me in deeper every time I touched her.
“God, I love you,” I whispered, kissing her soft skin.
“You do?”
“I didn’t see it. I didn’t see any of it, but you opened my eyes. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and I’m sorry that I didn’t remember.”
“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I have you now.”
I kissed her hard and pulled her clothes from her body. I needed to be inside her. I needed to feel her soft skin against mine, to remind me that no matter what happened tomorrow, I would still have her to ground me. She was my new beginning, and I was going to cherish every moment that I had with her, because I had already been shown that life was short, and you didn’t always know what was on the horizon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Tony
Coop and I gathered in Cap’s office. It was the day before the trial started and both of us were on edge. There was so much riding on the outcome of this trial, and it wasn’t like I could just go kill the fucker if he got off. I prayed that Becky’s testimony and the evidence against this guy was enough to hold up in court.
“So, how are the two of you feeling about tomorrow?” Cap asked.
I glanced at Coop. I wasn’t really sure there was a way I could answer that. I felt like shit. I didn’t want to go, but at the same time, I needed to watch as that fucker got sentenced. It was the only way I would sleep at night.
“I’m not too thrilled about Becky going and sitting in the same room as this fucker,” Coop answered.
“Fuck, I don’t even want to be in the same room with him,” I muttered.
Cap cleared his throat, staring at the ground. I had a sinking feeling in my gut. Whatever he was about to tell us was bad. “Um…about that…” His eyes flicked to mine and he frowned. “The defense is calling you tomorrow.”
“Me?” I asked incredulously. “What the fuck are they calling me for?”
He shrugged, looking puzzled himself. “Maybe because of the timeline? You were there right before…before Delaney was murdered. They’ll probably try and say that you got the time wrong.”
“That’s bullshit,” I spat. “The coroner gave the time of death.”
He nodded. “I know, but after speaking with the prosecutor, that’s still just an estimation. The defense could argue any number of reasons why that estimation is wrong.”
“So, what? He’s going to try and make it sound like I dropped her off at a different time so that this fucker can walk?”
“That would be my guess,” Cap answered.
“What about the video footage?” Coop asked.
“Becky’s footage didn’t cover the street. And we already know that Rogers manipulated her feed so that he wouldn’t show up on camera. Everything about that is tainted and probably won’t be admissible in court.”
“But we have Becky’s testimony,” Coop said.
“Again, the lawyer will try and twist this any way he can to make it look like his client is a victim of circumstance. I’m not saying it’ll work, but you need to be prepared.”
“Fuck.” I rubbed my hands over my face. I was so tired of this shit. I just wanted it to be over. I had Molly now and all this shit just seemed to taint everything.
“Look, let’s not worry about it right now. The prosecution has a pretty good case built up. We have to trust the system.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t sure I believed any of that right now.
✯✯✯✯✯
I walked into the courthouse with all the confidence I could muster. Inside, I was a fucking mess. I knew I would have to see Delaney’s parents inside. It would be the first time I actually saw them since the funeral, and I was fucking nervous as hell. I told Molly to stay away. When I explained to her that Delaney
’s parents would be there, she seemed to understand. But right now, I wished that she was here with me, holding my hand through this whole fucking mess.
“Tony.”
I spun around to see Delaney’s mom standing behind me with tears in her eyes. Her father stood stoically beside her, gripping tight to her hand.
“How have you been?” she asked.
I swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ve been okay.” I was doing good, actually, but it felt wrong to say that. It hadn’t been that long since Delaney was murdered and I was already moving on. They wouldn’t understand that. They thought I was loyal to Delaney and would love her forever.
She nodded and smiled at me. She reached out and patted my cheek. God, it took everything I had not to pull back from her. “Delaney would be happy. She would want you to move on.”
She said that, but if I told her right now that I had moved on, would she feel the same way?
“Tony,” Cap called. “We have to meet with the prosecution.”
I nodded and was about to walk away when Cap saw who I was talking to. “Mr. and Mrs. Fischer, it’s good to see you.”
I internally rolled my eyes. Good to see you. What a load of crap. There was absolutely nothing that anyone could say to parents at the trial of their dead daughter’s murderer. But I was pretty sure that Good to see you was not appropriate.
“I want you to know that we’ve been working as hard as we can to gather any evidence for the trial. We’ll make sure this guy pays.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Fischer nodded. “Well, we’d better go find our seats.”
They walked away and I released a large breath. “Shit.”
“That was brutal,” Cap said.
“No shit.”
“Come on. We have to go meet with the prosecutor.”
I nodded and followed him to a quiet room. The prosecutor was waiting for us, going over notes before the trial. “Thank you for coming. Tony, in light of the defense calling you, I was thinking I would call you first and try and head this off as much as possible. If they’re going to try and claim the timeline is off, maybe we can convince the jury first that the timeline is accurate.”
“Okay. That sounds like a good plan. Is there anything I should know?”
“No, I’m just going to ask you basic questions, all very standard. You have nothing to be nervous about.”
I nodded and headed into the courtroom. The morning was filled with opening statements, and then I was up. I guessed he wanted to start right off with the timeline.
“Mr. Russo, you were with Ms. Fischer the night of her murder, is that correct?” the prosecutor asked me.
“Yes, it is.”
“Can you please tell me what happened that night?”
I glanced at Delaney’s parents and nodded. “Delaney and I went out for something to eat. I was planning on going back to her place for a while, but when we arrived, I got a text from my boss that he was missing some paperwork and needed it to close out a job.” I looked right at the prosecutor. I couldn’t stand to see the Fischers’ faces when they found out I dropped off their daughter like that. “Delaney got out of my truck and I drove away.”
“And what time was that?”
“According to my text messages, it was 8:53 p.m.”
“And you went straight to your workplace?”
“I stopped for gas.”
The prosecutor nodded. “And the next time you saw her, it was when you showed up at her house later that night, when she was already dead.”
Chills ran over my body, but I did my best to keep it hidden. “Yes.”
“Thank you, Mr. Russo. No further questions, Your Honor.”
The judge nodded and turned to the defense’s table. “Mr. Wright, would you like to cross-examine?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
He looked cocky. That couldn’t be a good thing. What more could he want to ask me? I had answered all the questions and I had nothing more to offer about that night, other than I wanted to kill the fucker he was defending. But I was purposely not looking at him. I knew if I did, I would lose my shit, and that wouldn’t help anyone.
“Mr. Russo, you said that you dropped Ms. Fischer off at 8:53. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t go inside with her?”
“No. The plan was that I would go back to work and finish up, then go back to her house.”
“And what was the plan from there?”
“Excuse me?” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I didn’t like where he was going with this.
He held out his hands as he faced the jury. “You said that you were going to go back to her house. What were you going back for?”
“To spend time with her,” I ground out.
“To sleep with her?”
“Relevance,” the prosecutor said as he stood.
My eyes flicked to the prosecution. Where the fuck was he going with this?
“I have a point, Your Honor,” Mr. Wright said with a smirk.
The judge looked skeptical, but nodded. “I’ll allow it. The witness will answer the question.”
I ground my teeth together as I caught sight of Delaney’s parents. This was so fucking wrong. “Yes.”
“And did you love her, Mr. Russo?”
“How the hell does that matter?”
“Please answer the question, Mr. Russo.”
It was a simple enough question, but I couldn’t fucking lie about it. But not lying about it would probably kill her parents. “No.”
“In fact, isn’t it true, Mr. Russo, that the two of you were just fucking?”
The courtroom filled with gasps and the judge banged his gavel. “I will not have that language in my courtroom, Mr. Wright. Any more talk like that and I’ll have you thrown out of my courtroom.”
My heart was pounding out of control. I could already see Delaney’s mom falling apart in her seat. And it was all because of that asshole sitting in the defendant’s chair. I willed myself not to look, but my eyes slid to his almost uncontrollably. I gripped the arms of the chair to hold myself in place. I couldn’t lose it right now. But when he smirked at me, I lost it.
“How the fuck do you sleep at night? You’re defending a murderer!” The judge banged his gavel again and ordered me to quiet down. It took some deep breaths to get the roaring in my ears under control. I barely heard the defense attorney talking to me.
“Mr. Russo, I’ll ask you again, isn’t it true that you told the current woman you’re sleeping with that you were just sleeping with Ms. Fischer? That she meant nothing to you?”
The blood in my veins froze and the look on Delaney’s mom’s face about broke me. This was what I had been hoping to avoid all this time. Now, everything about my relationship with Delaney was out in the open. Well, most of it. Delaney didn’t mean nothing to me. But how the hell did he know what I discussed with Molly? She wouldn’t have gone to the defense and talked with him about my relationship with Delaney. Not unless she was tricked, and even then, that was a stretch.
“Mr. Russo, did you or did you not have a purely sexual relationship with Ms. Fischer?”
My jaw was clenched so hard that I felt like my teeth would crack. The judge ordered me to answer the question, so despite knowing that I was about to hurt Delaney’s parents, I answered the fucking question. “Delaney and I were sleeping together. No, we were not in love.”
A satisfied smirk filled his face and he continued. “Mr. Russo, isn’t it true that a teenage girl that lives on the property of Reed Security was admitted to the hospital earlier this year after being raped?”
“Objection, Your Honor!” the prosecutor shouted. “The medical records of minors are sealed. And that case has nothing to do with this one.”
“I’ll rephrase, Your Honor. Isn’t it true that there was an issue with a minor being taken to the hospital earlier this year?”
“Objection. Again, that has nothing to do with a murder trial, Your Honor!”
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“Your Honor, if you’ll let me proceed, I’ll get to my point.”
The judge looked speculative, but nodded. “I’ll allow it, but please get to your point quickly.”
I had no fucking clue what to do. The lawyer turned to me again and repeated the question, but all I could see was Coop sitting in that gallery, trying his best not to lose his shit.
“Mr. Russo, answer the question,” the judge said.
“Yes, a minor was taken to the hospital earlier this year.”
“And wasn’t that minor a daughter of a friend of yours?”
“Yes.”
“And isn’t it true that Delaney’s roommate, Becky Harding, made it possible for that teenager to escape the property and then was raped as a result?”
“Your Honor, this is ridiculous!” the prosecution roared. “The defense is asking for testimony about an incident that has nothing to do with this trial.”
“Your Honor, I’m trying to establish motivation.”
“Motivation for what?” the prosecutor snapped.
“Murder,” the defense said grimly.
I sucked in a breath and the whole world stopped all around me. Motivation for murder by whom? What the fuck was this guy playing at? Becky couldn’t have murdered Delaney. She had been brutally stabbed multiple times. There was no way she did that to herself.
“I’ll allow it,” the judge said.
My eyes went immediately to Cap’s, but he looked just as confused as me. I had no clue who the defense was trying to set up for murder, but I also couldn’t understand what he was trying to get out of me. How did I tie into any of this?
“Mr. Russo, is it true that Ms. Harding made it possible for the teenager in question to leave the premises?”
There were no case files on what had happened. I knew that for a fact, so there was no reason that I should have to answer this. “I plead the fifth.”
“Mr. Russo, you can only plead the fifth if you are going to incriminate yourself by answering.”
“The witness will answer the question,” the judge insisted.
I stared at Cap, hoping he would guide me in some way. I was so fucking lost and I didn’t know how to handle this. He gave a slight nod, so against my better judgement, I answered.
TNT Page 24
