The Maybe Series

by Ella Miles

  “Whose signatures are at the bottom?”

  “Robert Felton, Lee Felton, Kinsley Felton, and mine.”

  He nods and then passes the paper to the jury for them to inspect and then over to our table where I glance at the evidence for the first time. I look at the paper. I look at my signature at the bottom, and that’s when it all comes flooding back.

  I remember my father brought me in almost three years ago over my summer break. I remember signing a bunch of papers about my inheritance. I remember Killian coming in to speak to my father during that time. He watched me sign this paper. That’s what he is testifying to. That’s why he thinks I will go to jail. But they are wrong. All wrong. This paper doesn’t say anything about what they are suggesting. And if it did, the numbers on it must have just been a mistake. We wouldn’t have purposely misled anyone about our company.

  The paper is taken back out of my hands quickly. Too quickly for me to really read it. All I know is, I signed it without a second thought. I used to sign everything placed in front of me without a second thought.

  I watch as the prosecutor walks the paper back to Killian. “Can you confirm for everyone how you know this isn’t a forgery and the signature at the bottom belongs to Kinsley Felton?”

  I suck in a breath and wait for Killian to confirm what I already know—that I did sign the paper. If that paper does in fact seem criminal, even if it was a mistake, they could still convict me unless we find a way to prove it was just a mistake. It wasn’t intentionally done. They only have one paper from one time. That’s not enough to show proof of money laundering or fraud.

  Killian looks at the piece of paper, and then he looks up at me. I think he’s preparing me for the words that will come out of his mouth, the words that will convict me.

  Then, he opens his mouth. “I can’t confirm that this signature is Kinsley Felton’s.”

  The prosecutor raises his eyebrow at Killian, obviously not expecting that answer. “Are you sure you didn’t witness Kinsley Felton signing this piece of paper?”

  “I didn’t see her sign anything.”

  The prosecutor walks back to his table and shuffles through some papers. When he finds what he is looking for, he says, “Your report dated three years ago clearly states that you witnessed Kinsley Felton sign this paper. Are you telling me this report is wrong?”

  “Yes. I witnessed Kinsley Felton sign something, but I wasn’t sure what. At the time, I assumed it was this paper. No, I hoped it was because I was tired of my assignment after being undercover for three years, and I wanted evidence to release me from my duty. After thinking about it now, I realize that she was signing a birthday card for her mother. As you can see from the date on the report, her mother’s birthday was the next day. It is my belief that her father or grandfather then forged her signature onto this document. I believe they couldn’t convince her to go along with their criminal activities, but they wanted the company to stay in the family, so they forged her signature.”

  “Agent Byrne, I would like to remind you that you are under oath. Whatever you say must be the truth, or you could go to jail if what you’ve said is proven to be false.”

  “I understand.”

  The prosecutor glares as Killian, but he remains calm and composed. I don’t understand why he is lying for me, why he is protecting me.

  “Then, I would like to call for a recess,” the prosecutor says.

  My lawyer stands up. “Your honor, I would like to call for the charges to be dismissed against my client. The prosecutor’s main evidence has just been proven wrong by their own witness. They don’t have anything else against my client.”

  The judge turns his attention to the prosecutor. “Is that true?”

  “Yes, your honor, but we would like more time to reexamine our evidence. We still believe Kinsley Felton is guilty.”

  “For the time being, if you are not prepared to continue now with this trial, then I have no choice but to dismiss the charges against Kinsley Felton. Ms. Felton you are free to go?”

  I have no idea what just happened, but the room seems to be spinning with chaos. I turn to face Scarlett, who is smiling brightly at me. I watch as Killian steps down from the stand and is immediately scolded by the prosecution. He doesn’t glance my way. He just walks straight down the center aisle and out of the courtroom.

  I begin walking down the center aisle as well. I don’t bother speaking to my lawyer. Scarlett tries to get my attention, but I motion that I’ll be right back, and she looks at me with a knowing face.

  I make it through the crowded courtroom and out into the hallway, but I don’t see Killian. Instead, cameras and microphones are thrust into my face as reporters ask about how I feel now that the charges have been dismissed.

  “Good,” I say with a blank stare as I look out past them for Killian.

  I see a group of men wearing all black suits, and I begin walking in that direction. When I walk closer, I see Killian standing next to one of them while another man is speaking harshly to him. I hide around the corner so that I can hear the conversation but not be seen.

  “You can forget about that promotion. In fact, expect a demotion coming your way. You’re lucky I’m not firing your ass right now.”

  “Yes, sir,” Killian says flatly.

  “And if I do find clear evidence that you were flat-out lying on the stand, I will fire you and send your ass to jail. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes, sir. I wasn’t lying though. I just realized that my report was wrong. After thinking about it more, I realized what really happened.”

  “I don’t want to hear it. Just get out of my sight and get your shit together before Lee Felton’s trial.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I watch Killian walk past me without looking at me, and I follow him. We walk past the metal detectors. We walk out the front door and down the front steps. He walks to the driver’s seat of his car while I climb in the passenger seat.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I should ask you the same question.”

  “Get out of the car, princess.” Killian grips the wheel but doesn’t move to look at me.

  I can’t read him, and it’s killing me. I have to know why the hell he did that back there. Why did he lie on the stand for me?

  “No, not until you tell me why you lied.”

  He looks at me now with his dangerous dark eyes that are hiding more than I even knew was possible to hide. He doesn’t answer me though. He just backs the car out of the parking spot. He doesn’t speak to me or look at me as he turns onto the street, and that’s when I realize I need to text Scarlett.

  Me: Got a ride home with Killian. Thanks for coming with me today.

  Scarlett: No problem. Glad the truth came out. Be careful.

  Me: I will.

  Scarlett: Call me later.

  Now that I’ve done the responsible thing, I can turn my attention to Killian and to getting him to speak to me.

  “Where are you taking me?” I look around, trying to find any clue as to where Killian is driving us, but I don’t have any idea.

  “I’m not taking you anywhere. I’m driving home. You are stealing a ride.”

  I frown. After what he just did for me, I thought it meant something. That he would open up to me and finally tell me the truth.

  He doesn’t though. He is still as cold as ice.

  I don’t try to get him to speak to me again. I just stare out the window at the buildings that pass by as Killian drives. We don’t turn the radio on. We don’t look at each other. We both just exist, lost in our own thoughts.

  I try to figure out what just happened. Why I’m not still sitting in the courtroom, sweating and worried that I could actually go to jail for something that was nothing more than a mistake, and the only thing I can come up with is…

  “You love me.”

  Killian looks at me, and I can see it in his eyes even if he can’t admit it to himself.

  “You love me. That’s
why you couldn’t testify against me. That’s why you risked everything to save me. You risked your job. You gave up a promotion. You risked going to jail yourself. All for me. The only explanation is that you love me.”

  I watch him swallow hard before his eyes drift from me back to the road, but I’m not going to take his silence any longer. I grab his head and force him to look at me, despite the fact that we are driving on a busy Las Vegas road. I’m willing to take the risk because I can’t wait another second to know.

  “You fell in love with me even though you weren’t supposed to. You fell for the supposed criminal. Admit it. You. Love. Me.”

  I bite my lip, waiting for his answer that still hasn’t fall from his lips. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I just want him to love me so badly that I see anything he does as an admittance of his love.

  “You’re wrong,” Killian finally says as he pulls into a parking spot. He turns off the ignition.

  My eyes widen at his words even though I was just thinking it. It hurts more than I want to admit because, despite everything, I still know how I feel about this man. I know, because the second he protected me, the hatred that I’d thought I had disappeared. The hatred though was just a part of the love that I feel for him.

  “I didn’t lie on the stand because I love you.”

  I drop my eyes to my lap as I pull on the hem of my jacket. How can I be so stupid and fall for the wrong man time and time again? I’m so incredibly stupid.

  “I lied because you are innocent, and all my testimony would have done is send an innocent person to jail for something they weren’t involved in. I told the FBI that earlier. I told them not to arrest you. They did anyway. I wasn’t going to let an innocent person go to jail.”

  I still can’t look at him. I’m too afraid I’ll cry because, as nice as his words sound, they aren’t what I need to hear. “Thank you. Thank you for lying for me.”

  I hear him unbuckle his seat belt, and I do the same. I’ll have to call a driver to come pick me up and take me back to my house.

  I feel his hand on my cheek as he gently turns my face to him until he can see my eyes and the tears that are all but pouring down my face.

  “You were right, too. Even if I thought you were guilty, I would have still lied on that stand today because I do love you.”

  His words are all it takes for the tears to pour out of my eyes, but now, they are happy tears instead of the painful ones that were forming. His thumb wipes the tears from my face, and I hold his hand to my cheek for just a second longer, loving the comforting feeling it brings me.

  “I love you even though I shouldn’t,” he says.

  I smile at him, and then I grab the nape of his neck and pull him to me so that our foreheads are touching as our eyes close. I need a moment of calm intimacy before the storm hits. With our foreheads pressed together, I can breathe in the same breath that he does, and it’s just what we both need. Our breathing syncs together and calms our bodies, finally relaxing, despite everything that is going on. We open our eyes at the same time, and the eyes looking back at me aren’t filled with fear. They are filled with hope and love, matching how I feel. It’s just one moment that connects us and promises a future that, seconds earlier, didn’t exist.

  We break at the same time, needing to further the connection to something more. Our lips collide in a heated kiss.

  It is better than any I’ve had before because this kiss is the first kiss where I’ve kissed someone I love and someone who truly loves me back. This kiss is with a man who sacrificed his job for me. It’s a make-up kiss, an I-love-you kiss, and a promises-of-a-future kiss, all rolled into one.

  This kiss is what all kisses should be. Perfect.

  Kinsley’s lips touch mine, and I lose it. I lose all my control that I’ve been working so hard to keep in check these last few days because we can’t do this, except we are and it’s everything I remembered it to be.

  I tangle my hand in her long hair that I never thought I’d touch again as her tongue battles mine, begging me for more than I can give her while in the front seat of the car, but I don’t want to break my lips away from hers to move inside my apartment. Not now that I’m kissing her again.

  I’m too afraid that, if I stop, one of us will come to our senses. I will remember I’m risking my entire life to be with her. Everything I’ve worked hard for during the past ten years will be over if I choose her. And I’m afraid, if she stops to think for a second, she will realize that, deep down, she still hates me because, although I didn’t testify against her, I will testify against her grandfather.

  So, instead of letting her go, I pull her across the center console of the car and onto my lap. She squeals against my lips, but I don’t let her go. I can’t.

  “God, I can’t believe I’m kissing you,” I say between kisses against her lips.

  She tries to speak, but I prevent her with my lips until she is pulling away from me so that she can speak.

  I relent and lift her hair off her neck so that I can kiss her exposed neck as she speaks. I feel her voice vibrate against my lips as I kiss her neck.

  “I can’t believe I fell for the one man I swore I wouldn’t fall for.” Her words turn into more of a purr as I send chills all over her body with just my lips against her neck.

  I grin, seeing how much I affect her. I’ve always been good at turning women on, but it’s different with Kinsley. When I kiss her, it doesn’t just turn her on. She comes alive at my kisses, and it brings me to life in a way that I haven’t felt in years. It brings me to life in a way that I didn’t think was possible after what I’d dealt with in my past.

  I move my kisses from her neck to her earlobe. I gently nip at it and watch as she squirms in my lap, which only makes me grin wider. I love seeing her like this, relaxed and carefree, but I love seeing her naked and spread out on a bed for me more.

  I grab the handle of the door and push it open before I climb out of the car with Kinsley still in my arms. She laughs as we climb out and wraps her arms around my neck, trusting me completely. She leans back down to kiss me as I shut the door with my foot.

  I stop her and rub my hand down her cheek. “You still trust me, don’t you? Despite everything I’ve done to you? Every lie that has fallen from my lips? Do you still trust me?”

  I look into her gorgeous, innocent eyes. “Yes”—she smiles—“I still trust you. I must be a fool, but I do.”

  I smile, more in awe of her than before as I begin walking with her in my arms. “Not a fool. Just strong.”

  She bashfully shakes her head as her cheeks blush a light shade of pink. “I’m not strong.”

  “It takes a strong person to forgive and trust someone after they lied to you.”

  “Or a foolish one.”

  “Or someone who has a beautiful soul and is able to see the best in people, even when they can’t see it themselves.”

  “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Maybe that’s why it makes it easier for me to forgive.”

  “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, too, but I still can’t get past the forgiving myself part.”

  She nods, and then I’m done talking as the sun glistens off her still moist lips. I softly kiss her. I’m trying not to push things too far until we make it into my apartment, but it’s no use. We can’t do slow, not after it’s been this long since we have been with each other.

  So, instead, I force my legs to move faster so that we can get to the apartment sooner, but it’s not soon enough for her. Her hands reach inside my jacket, trying to push it off my body. Her hand goes to my tie, loosening it, and then she pulls it off my head and drops it onto the sandy, dry ground I am walking on.

  Since she can’t get my jacket off, her jacket goes next, falling to the ground, making a small dust cloud as it lands. I get her to the door of my apartment before we lose any more clothing. I couldn’t stand it if anyone got to see her body but me. I couldn’t fucking stand it.

  I unlock the door and push inside the apartment t
hat suddenly feels brighter and more like home from just having her in here. I walk past the kitchen and turn right before remembering my bedroom is the other way, so I turn back around.

  She laughs at my inability to make my way around in my own apartment.

  “I just moved in,” I say, trying to explain my actions.

  She moves her lips to my ear. “Or maybe I just affect you so much that you can’t think.” She moves her tongue around the edge of my ear.

  Yep, I can’t think straight when she does that. She stops and looks at me, aware that all my thoughts, other than her, have just left my brain. She smiles, satisfied with her work.

  I push the door open to my bedroom that has nothing other than a king-size bed in it. It’s about all that would fit in the bedroom, and I fall onto it with her in my arms. When we hit the mattress, I feel all of my worries fall away.

  Kinsley doesn’t waste any time as she grabs at my jacket again, wanting it off, and I’m happy to oblige. I hate wearing suits in the Las Vegas heat, and no matter how many times I wear them, I will never get used to how warm they are to wear here. I toss my jacket onto the floor, followed by my shirt.

  Her eyes travel over my abs and chest, appreciating the hard work I’ve put in at the gym. She runs her hand over my body and then pulls at my pants. I stand and pull them off along with my underwear. I pull a condom out of my pants pocket before I toss them to the floor. I toss the condom on the bed for later. Her eyes darken in appreciation of my hard cock that is straining to be inside her. I can’t wait to have her, but somehow, I’m undressed, and she’s almost fully clothed.

  She begins unbuttoning her blouse, and it gives me an idea. I grab her hand and help her stand while she curiously looks at me. I take a seat on the edge of the bed where she just was, so I’m now sitting, and she’s standing.

  “Undress for me.”

  Her eyes widen a little as she looks at me, and then she bashfully wraps her arms around me. She shakes her head. “No. I’m not wearing anything sexy. My bra and underwear are just boring and simple. It’s not pretty lingerie. I just want you.”