Kyle opened his mouth to speak.
But Jack beat him to the punch. “He was a good man who expected nothing less than perfection. He was a good man who kept count of every stroke of the ebonies I missed, every tap of the ivories I confused, and every note that I fumbled, even as sweat fell from the tips of my fingers in my desperate quest for utter perfection.”
“Uh…” Kyle stumbled himself. “Mr. Almeida—”
“He was a good man,” Jack jumped in, squinting at Kyle. “Who couldn’t wait for his son to mismanage the most demanding compositions ever written so that he would have an excuse…”
“I have no further questions, your honor,” Kyle said, his frantic eyes going to the judge.
“He was a good man…” Jack’s body shook from head to toe as he leaned on to witness stand, his blurry vision barely able to see the horrified faces before him. “Who had a left hook for every G too sharp. A black eye for every B too flat. A fat lip for every incorrect finger.”
“I have no further questions, your honor, and I move to strike every word Mr. Almeida says henceforth.”
“Mr. Almeida,” the judge sat forward, trying to catch Jack’s eyes.
But Jack’s eyes were riveted to Kyle, his chest heaving. “My father was a good man, who never saw a day without a drink.”
“Mr. Almeida,” the judge’s voice rose.
“My father was a great man,” Jack cried, the break in his voice bouncing off the walls of the courtroom, which had gone eerily silent. He jammed his finger at Nina and Andrew. “Who took a scalpel to the chests of children, knowing damn well he had more alcohol in his veins than blood!”
Even the judge had to take a moment, leaning on the edge of his seat, eyes wide. “Mr. Almeida, I’m afraid if you continue, I’ll have to hold you in contempt.”
Jack’s eyes went big. “I made my brother give him the keys to that Porsche while he was four times over the legal limit because he was the kind of man who loved nothing more than to leave me black and blue, night after night, hardly able to stand on my own two legs. He was the reason my brother wet the bed until he was ten. I wanted those keys in his hands because I knew he’d crash. He wasn’t even on the road for ten minutes before the Porsche was up in flames, killing himself, and my mother.”
Ruffled, the judge waved for the bailiff.
From where he’d collapsed onto the defense table, Kyle jammed his eyes shut, covering his mouth with a trembling hand.
“Am I a righteous man?” Jack’s voice lowered to a whisper. “No. Because a part of me put those keys in his hands with joy in my heart. I put those keys in his hands, day after day, year after year—even when my brother begged me not to—praying he would crash. Praying he would burn.”
A quiet gasp filled the walls.
“I’m glad he burned,” Jack spat. “I’m glad he’s dead.”
The bailiff, who’d been slowly moving toward the stand stopped, shooting the judge a look.
“And I would do it again.” His eyes went to Nina. “Because my father, breathing his last breath means there’s some kid out there who will breathe a million more. Even if I couldn’t save my mother, or my brother, or myself… at least I saved someone.”
Jack’s wet eyes searched the room, and he was met with the thing he hated most. Pity. Downturned lips and shrunken eyes, straight spines and tightly clasped hands.
His eyes went to Nina, and when he saw her crying, his resolve was broken. “I’m sorry, Nina.”
Nina straightened, breathing deep through her flared nostrils.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t do it sooner,” he said to her before standing from the bench, stumbling down to the floor, and making his way toward the doors. He swept by Nina without a second look, unable to stomach the pain in her eyes. He even dodged Chase’s eyes, and his outstretched hand, in his desperation to get the hell out of there.
Slamming his hands into the swinging doors of the court, he made his escape, feeling freer and lighter than he had in a long time.
***
The shocked silence stretched on long after Jack had gone. Stunned, Nina leaned forward on the defense table with her hands over her mouth. Across the way, Kyle was collapsed in his seat, looking bewildered in a way that was only possible when a lawyer realized he’d lost. Every witness in the pews choked back thick swallows and exchanged quiet looks.
The judge was the first to come to, sitting a little taller in his chair while clearing his throat. “Well… Mr. Kramer… shall I have the bailiff fetch our runaway witness so he may be cross-examined?”
Even Andrew, who’d once fancied himself unshakable, was leaning farther back in his seat than what was probably appropriate. His pen was still between his teeth as he shook his head.
“That won’t be necessary.” Andrew sat tall. “I have no questions, Your Honor.”
The sound of the double doors of the courtroom slamming back open stole the attention of everyone in the room. Maybe they were expecting to see Jack come barreling through with more tidbits about his asshole father, but instead, they saw the back of Chase’s head as he disappeared out of the doors.
“If there are no further questions…” The judge sighed deeply, as if he hadn’t been prepared to endure this kind of drama today, and pushed a pair of glasses onto his nose. “Then I have no choice but to rule in favor of the prosecution…”
Cheers erupted from all around, but even as Andrew leaped from his chair and hugged her from behind, Nina couldn’t take her eyes off the double doors of the courtroom. She couldn’t hear the words of congratulations from everyone around her, or feel the warm embrace from Andrew, the man who’d been fighting alongside her for six long years.
She couldn’t hear or feel any of it because she was in another place.
Before she knew it, she was on her feet and racing toward the doors.
***
“Jack!”
Nina’s heels clicked against the tile floors in the courtroom lobby as she flew out of the double doors. The lobby was quieter than it had been that morning, and her frantic eyes searched the area, both ways before they landed on Jack and Chase, who were embracing in a corner near the exit. The setting sun shone in from outside, beaming a light on the two brothers as she raced toward them.
“Jack!” she cried, loud enough to prompt Jack and Chase to pull back from their hug and meet her eyes.
Jack’s mouth fell open.
Chase’s pulled into a slow smile, and as Nina ran over, he slapped Jack on the shoulder and stepped away, moving to the other side of the room.
Chase made his exit just in time because seconds later Nina was launching her body at Jack, throwing her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his.
Feeling him breathe in the shock of her kiss, and the tremble of his body, she tightened her arms around his neck and deepened the embrace, squealing when he bent his knees and took her off her feet.
Not even gravity was enough to distract her, her heels swinging through the air as they tilted their heads and parted their mouths in time, deepening the kiss.
She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, brushing the tip of her nose against his, letting her lips brush his just enough to satiate her and stop her from diving in for more.
“That was so fucking brave, what you just did in there,” she said, clutching his jaw and meeting his tear filled eyes. “And I know it wasn’t easy for you to do. And I don’t blame you for anything. I would never blame you.” She kissed the tears that left his eyes, one at a time.
Jack lowered his eyes. “Maybe you were right. Maybe you’re right to never forgive me.”
“Listen to me.” She placed her palms on either side of his face, waiting for him to open his own eyes and meet hers. “I need you to understand that it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault that your father was a terrible man, and it’s not your fault that he hurt all those kids either. It wasn’t your responsibility to stop him. You were a child. He had just as strong a chokehold
on you as he did everyone else. He failed you just as much as he did them. None of this is your fault, and you have to forgive yourself, Jack. Forgive yourself for this; forgive yourself for all of it because it’s not a punishment you’ve earned. Not like I’ve earned mine.”
He sighed. “You wanted your son healthy. You don’t deserve punishment either.”
“I know that now,” she whispered. “But it took me a really long time to get to this place. To forgive myself. To let go. If I had any idea your father hurt you just as much as he hurt Noah… I would’ve never…” She couldn’t finish.
Jack nodded, understanding.
“It’s not your fault, Jack.” She sniffled when he set her on her feet, still holding his jaw. Pressing a soft kiss to his lips, she waited for him to lean in for more. “You have to believe that. It’s not your fault.”
Jack’s breathing picked up; his chest heaving.
When the silence stretched on, she pushed her nails into his cheeks, as if she wanted to dig inside and fix whatever it was in his head that was putting even the tiniest glimmer of doubt in his eyes.
“If I can forgive myself for Noah,” she breathed, shaking her head. “Then you should forgive yourself too, Jack. For everything. You have to forgive yourself.”
He nodded, letting her swipe his tears away. “I’ll get there.”
“Fast,” she countered.
A smile split his lips, and he pulled her closer. “As long as I have you, doll. I know I’ll get there. I just have to have you.”
“Jack, you have me. You have had me since the second I sat down next to you on that godforsaken plane.” She drank in his laugh and matched it with her own. “You will never not have me. I love you.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and took his lips in a passionate kiss, breaking away with a frown almost instantly. Her eyes shot up to his and ripened with worry, then she yanked his shirt out of his pants and lifted it up, exposing his torso
She gasped at the sight.
“It’s nothing,” Jack whispered, trying to pull his shirt back down.
Nina ran the beds of her fingers over the back brace wrapped around his waist, pushing her fingers into the cushions. “Jack…”
“It’s not a big deal, doll. It’s temporary.”
Her eyes rose to his. “When did this happen?”
“I’m guessing right around the time we went flying off the edge of a train,” he laughed.
“You’ve been in pain all this time? Enough pain to warrant a back brace?” Tears came to her eyes. “How could you not tell me it was hurting you this badly?”
He searched her eyes, holding her gaze even as his cheeks heated up. “Probably for the same reason I followed you off a burning aircraft, across six state lines, and over the edge of that damn train.”
“Because you’re bat shit crazy?”
“About you.”
“You should have told me you were hurting.” Her eyes went serious. “You should’ve told me sooner.”
“It’s just a little bruising.” He wagged his head. “On the most important muscle in my spine. No big deal.”
“We could’ve gone to the hospital.”
“Where a doctor would’ve kept me for days while you backpacked across the country without me? No thanks.”
“I would’ve stayed with you.”
“I wouldn’t have let you.” His voice lowered. “I would have let my spine break right in two if it meant even one more day with you. One more minute. One more second.”
She shook her head, the anger dissipating from her eyes as she re-circled his waist with a gentler hold. “You won’t have to, Jack. I’m yours now. For as long as you want me to be.”
“Might be a while,” he warned.
“I’m here for it.”
“Nina, I love you,” he breathed. “I’ve always loved you.”
“I love you.” She nearly screamed in relief. “We’re going to get there. We can rewrite our legacies, Jack. We will. Together.”
Jack tucked his head into her neck, breathing her in. His breath warmed her skin. “Together.”
Epilogue
“Ask me another one!” Nina cried from the kitchen. “Don’t stop.”
“Alright, alright,” Jack leaned forward on his knees; his ass on the edge of the living room couch as he grew entrenched in the weather forecast blazing on the TV screen before him. With a scoff, he buried his hand in his hair. Not even the aroma of turkey, stuffing and cobbler could ease his anxiety. Still, he tried to push that away, putting his attention back on the book in his hand and the page he’d earmarked with his thumb. “Let me find a good one, doll.”
“A really hard one!”
“A really hard one.” His eyes searched the page as he bit his lip in concentration. “Okay, you ready?”
“Ready!”
“A tanker truck, carrying toxic chemicals exploded and contaminated the land of three local farm owners. The farmers filed a suit against the owner of the truck in federal court based on diversity jurisdiction. Each landowner sued for an award of $20,000 to pay for the cleanup of his land, for a total demand of $60,000. Do the farmers’ complaints satisfy the amount in controversy requirement of diversity jurisdiction?” Jack read off all four of the multiple-choice answers, and then, silence.
“I’m going to fucking fail this exam.” Her deadpanned voice finally rang in from the kitchen.
“Stop saying that before you speak it into reality,” Jack said. “You’re a brilliant woman. This is the last big hurdle to your dream, but you have to believe you can do it, doll. Think it through. Do you want me to read the question again?”
“No!”
“Fine.” Jack tossed the bar exam prep book onto the couch, sick of it himself. “But we’re going to work on it a little more before we go to bed.”
He barely heard her whispered “okay” before he scoffed at the TV again. A curse split his lips. “They just upgraded it to a full on hurricane, doll.”
“In November?” Even though she was no longer screaming, her voice still carried through the French pocket doors of the kitchen and into the brownstone’s living room, wrapping Jack in a chokehold and supplying him the relaxation he hadn’t been able to supply himself. “That’s so weird.”
Jack looked up when her voice was unexpectedly close, catching sight of Nina frowning at the TV from next to the couch, curls in a high bun. Her mitted hand cradled a glass dish teeming with cranberry.
“No, that’s not weird,” Jack stood from the couch, smirking at her from over his shoulder as he made his way to the bay windows that overlooked the Greenwich Village Street. Nina was already turning back to the kitchen with a roll of her eyes when he pushed the sheer white curtains aside with his finger. “That’s the power of Hurricane Nina,” he finished, smiling in response to her disdain as he looked out of the window. The sky above moved in various shades of gray accompanied by the occasional boom of thunder.
“No way, Almeida.” The sound of running water and the opening and closing of various cabinets rang out. “This is not my fault.”
“A category 4, out of complete nowhere, on the day they’re meant to land?” he asked, stepping away from the window. “If that is not the work of Hurricane Nina, I just don’t know what is.”
He crossed the living room into the kitchen. She was facing away from the doors, washing dishes. He approached, wrapping his arms around her from behind, pushing a gentle kiss against her neck as he covered her protruding stomach with a gentle touch. It seemed bigger everyday. Soon, it would be a struggle to get his arms all the way around her.
“Their plane parked at the gate an hour ago,” she said, her own voice lowering as his neck kisses grew deeper, more intense. “The traffic must be unreal. They’ll be here, baby.”
Jack sighed, pulling her in. “I tried to call, but the storm’s already blown out the cell service.”
“They’ll be here,” she promised, again, facing him and pushing a kiss on his
cheek that did nothing to ease the frown between his eyebrows. “You’re so cute.”
Jack jolted when a sudden knock on the door rang through the halls and didn’t even have time to share an excited gaze with Nina before he was bounding for the front door. He didn’t even pause in the foyer before throwing it open; his eyes lighting up.
“There she is,” Jack purred, holding out his arms.
“Hey you.” Lila James’ brown eyes lit up, and the bright smile she gave him was conquered only by the beaming bundle wiggling in her arms. With a laugh, Lila stepped into the foyer and leaned over, releasing that squirming bundle as she clawed for Jack.
“There she is. Get over here, Jo.” Jack caught the giggling, thirty-pound princess with ease, her long black curls dripping water all over him the instant they embraced.
“It’s raining cats and dogs out there, Uncle Jack!” Her high voice bounced off the walls and melted his heart as she pulled back with her arms locked around his neck. Rain droplets dotted her chubby brown cheeks—just a few shades lighter than her mother’s—and dripped down the cupid’s bow between her lips. She shook her head, making water fly everywhere. “The storm came out of nowhere! This looks like the work of Hurricane Nina!” she said with a mock disappointment searing her brown eyes.
Jack roared with laughter, locking her on his hip while taking a step toward the kitchen, hollering, “Did you hear what my niece just said, baby?”
“I sure didn’t,” Nina called from the kitchen, knowing damn well she had.
“She is Hurricane Nina,” Jack mumbled, looking back at the angel in his arms. “You told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, JoJo.” He popped a kiss on her smiling cheek before his eyes went back to the foyer.
Chase and Lila were hanging their coats on the rack, smiling as well.
“We circled the airport for an hour, and Jordan just cried and cried because she wanted to see her uncle,” Lila said, pushing her long black hair behind her ear and turning towards them. “She almost lost it when the captain said we might have to divert. I’ve never seen her freak out like that.”
Lightning Strikes (The Almeida Brothers Trilogy #3) Page 30