His Surrender

by Jaclyn Osborn

  “Up to this point, both sides have presented a good argument,” I said to my team, flipping through the pages of notes I’d taken so far during the trial. “But tomorrow has the potential to sway the jury in favor of the prosecution. The crime scene specialist will testify that the defendant’s claim of how the attack happened doesn’t match the physical evidence. Add that to the text message between the defendant and her sister, and it could shine doubt on the self-defense claim. We need—”

  A knock at the door cut me off.

  “Mr. Foley?” Andrea said, stepping into the room. “I apologize for the interruption, but Emery Cross is here to see you. I told him to wait in your office.”

  Emery is here? Why?

  “Thank you, Andrea.” I looked at the people around the table. “Excuse me.”

  I left the conference room and went down the hall toward my office. It was unlike Emery to show up at my work unannounced, unless it was important. We hadn’t talked for a while either, so the feeling of dread only strengthened. When I entered the room, Emery stood beside the set of windows that gave a view of a tall oak tree and small courtyard.

  “Hey, Cross.” I closed the door behind me.

  Emery turned to me, his face set in a grim line. “Good afternoon.” He had a folder in his hand and lightly tapped it against his leg. “We need to talk.”

  “Those are the worst four words in the English language,” I said, approaching him. “Are we about to break up?”

  Emery scoffed and scratched at his jaw. A nervous tic of his I’d picked up on in the years I’d known him. He’d cut his black hair shorter on the sides since I’d last seen him, and the top was slicked back in a sexy, classic look. Blue eyes focused on me before dropping to the folder in his hand.

  “I’m here on business, Foley.” He tapped a finger against it before handing it over to me. “My response to the evidence you intended to present in court tomorrow.”

  Intended? Past tense?

  I flipped it open and scanned the document. Then my blood ran cold. “A fucking motion to suppress?” My gaze bore into his. “What the hell, Cross? It’s already signed off by the judge! That evidence was legally obtained, and you know it.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” he countered, keeping a better hold on his composure than me. “It was a violation of my client’s constitutional rights.”

  “Don’t feed me that bullshit. On what grounds? The police had a valid search warrant.” I had made damn sure of that too. One stupid mistake could completely fuck up a case. I’d seen guilty men walk free before because of errors made during the search and seizure, and I’d checked all the right boxes and done everything by the book to avoid something like this.

  “The search warrant didn’t cover search by electronic means,” Emery answered.

  “Like hell it didn’t,” I snapped, walking over to my desk to grab a copy of the warrant to prove it to him. “I covered all my bases, Cross.”

  After rifling through the papers, I found the warrant and looked it over. Everything looked correct. And then I saw it. The section that listed the scope of the search had left out electronic devices. I always included that.

  “How did this happen?” I slammed my hand on the desk, scattering the papers that had been in a nice little stack. The only thing I could think of was that my paralegal had either accidentally omitted the word by mistake or had used the template for an old warrant that didn’t cover an electronic search.

  “I’m sorry, Foley.” Emery’s expression reflected his remorse. “It’s nothing personal. But my client has rights, and it’s my job to—”

  “Save it for someone who cares, Emery,” I interjected, too frustrated to even function. That text conversation had shown intent. I could still make my argument without it, but Emery had really screwed me over. “You saw that text and freaked out because you knew you were fucked. So you got desperate and played dirty.”

  “Played dirty?” Now, Emery was letting his own frustration slip through the cracks. “I did my damn job. It’s not my fault you made a mistake. That text conversation was ‘fruit of the poisonous tree’ whether you admit it or not. By allowing it into evidence, I’d be turning a blind eye to the justice system.”

  “Justice? How can you speak of justice? You know it wasn’t self-defense. A good man is dead, and you’re protecting the one who killed him. How can you stand there in good conscience and pull this shit when it very well could mean that a murderer walks free?”

  “Simple. I leave my conscience out of it.”

  “Said like a good defense attorney.” I glared at him.

  “I’m not going to waste time arguing with you, Jay.” Emery walked toward the door.

  “Yes, we’ll leave the arguing to the courtroom,” I shot back. “Unless you come up with another underhanded scheme to derail my case.”

  He stopped, his hand resting on the door handle. “I hate this. Just so you know. I hate being at odds with you.”

  “All part of the job,” I responded, confused by the tightness in my chest. I realized then what it was… I felt betrayed by him. And it hurt like hell.

  “See you in court tomorrow,” Emery said before opening the door and leaving.

  I took several deep breaths, trying to calm my anger. He had thrown a wrench into my plans, but hope wasn’t lost. My expert witnesses would still give testimony that would blow a hole in the defendant’s story, both with the evaluation of the crime scene and the autopsy of the victim’s body.

  Once composed, I rejoined my team in the conference room and told them about the suppression of the text messages.

  “It’s a hard hit, but I’m confident in our argument,” Garrett, my co-counsel on the case, said.

  I was too.

  Later that night, I walked through my front door, checked Sputnik’s water bowl and gave him a treat, and then fell into bed, exhausted. It was only nine thirty, but I felt like I could sleep for a week straight. Right as my eyes closed, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

  “Hello?” I mumbled without checking the caller ID.

  “Did I wake you?” Remi asked.

  The sound of his voice perked me right back up, and I opened my eyes before sitting up a bit. “No. I just got home.”

  “Really? Yeah, you’ll definitely need a vacation or something after this case. You’ve been working too hard.”

  “Is that care I hear in your voice, Mr. Barnett?” Knowing he was worried about me touched me, despite my joking tone.

  “Maybe,” he answered. “I called to say I had a gig at the 906 this Friday if you wanted to come. I understand if you’re too busy or if you want to stay in and relax that night.”

  “I’ll be there.” I didn’t even need to think about it.

  Remi had only stayed that one night with me, but we had talked on the phone every night before bed since then. We’d also texted each other throughout the day. He was quickly becoming a normal part of my life, someone I looked forward to talking to and seeing every day. It had also been too long since I’d heard him play the piano, and I missed it.

  He came alive when he played, as if the music set his soul on fire. It was beautiful to see. And so was he.

  “Okay. Cool,” he said. “I’ll, uh, let you get some sleep.”

  “Sweet dreams, darlin’.”

  He breathed into the phone and was quiet a moment. “God, I love when you call me that. Damn you.”

  I chuckled, and the call disconnected. After setting my phone on the nightstand, I turned over and pressed my face into the pillow he’d slept on. I could still smell him on it. I breathed in his scent and shut my eyes before falling into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 16

  Remi

  Jay sat in the chair across from the piano, making eye contact with me over the top of his glass of whiskey as I played. Blond hair fell into his face, and his smoldering gaze turned my blood to fire.

  I enjoyed this, the subtle seduction, this game we played where we made eye contact fr
om across the room, knowing we’d be going home together afterward.

  Smoke clouded above his head as he puffed on his cigar. I looked away from him to see the keys as I changed to a higher octave on the song. I felt his eyes still on me, and knowing he was watching made me smile.

  Almost two months had passed since the night we had first talked. And that’s all it’d taken for me to fall for him. That cocky, too-hot-for-his-own-good bastard who used to drive me crazy had come to mean so much to me in so little time.

  The song ended and I looked up, meeting his stare again.

  Everyone else in the room faded then. The table of women who clapped for me and all the occupied chairs of patrons blurred as only Jay came into focus. His beautiful face. His long fingers as he lifted his cigar to his lips. And those eyes that had seared into my heart.

  I stood from the bench and walked toward the bar on the other side of the room, casting a look at Jay as I passed him. He smiled.

  “Water, please,” I told Bianca, leaning against the bar.

  “Here you go, hon.” She slid a glass toward me and shoved a wedge of lime on top.

  “Thanks.” I squeezed the lime in the water and took a drink, finding it refreshing after breaking out in a sweat during my performance.

  “So,” a sexy voice said from my left, “do you come here often?”

  I tried so hard not to smile and failed epically. I looked at Jay, finding him smiling too. “Is that the best line you could come up with? I thought you were supposed to be an irresistible playboy.”

  “Baby, I am irresistible.” Jay slipped a hand to my waist and lowered his head, whispering in my ear, “And I plan to fuck you so good tonight you’ll never forget it.”

  That’s exactly what he did too.

  We went to my place after we left the bar, and Jay pinned me against the front door as he kissed me. He tasted like whiskey, and he smelled like cigars and mint. It was quickly becoming my favorite scent. I broke away from his lips to unlock the door and go inside, and then he was grabbing me again. We clumsily made our way to my bedroom, tripping over the dirty clothes on my floor I hadn’t put away before going to my gig. We added to that pile. He took off my shirt, and I did the same to his. I kicked off my shoes, and I think he took his off too, but I was too distracted by the hot kisses to know for sure.

  Jay pushed me on the bed and licked my nipple as he unbuttoned my pants. I arched my back as he gripped my dick through my boxers. He smiled against my skin before continuing to flick his tongue against my nipple.

  “It’s been too long since I’ve had you,” Jay panted, tugging down my boxers and leaving me naked and needy beneath his weight. “This week has been hell, but you make it better. You make everything better.”

  As he hovered over me, dropping his face to my neck, I reached between us to unfasten his pants and push them down his ass. He helped take them the rest of the way off, and then he was back on top of me, our erections sliding together.

  The room was dark, but the lamppost from outside my building shone in through the window and lit his form as he kissed down my stomach and took my cock into his mouth. I tangled my fingers in his silky blond hair and tilted my head back with a soft moan.

  “Let me hear you,” Jay murmured, the vibrations of his voice against my cock making me shudder.

  Normally, I wasn’t overly vocal during sex. But just like the last time I’d had Jay in my bed, I worried about the thin walls and my poor neighbors who were about to hear us fucking each other’s brains out. Because I knew that look in Jay’s eyes. This wasn’t going to be slow and sweet.

  I expected him to pound into me hard and fast, and I couldn’t wait.

  Jay stroked my base as he slipped the head of my cock between his lips, taking it in and out of his hot mouth. He flattened his tongue and ran it up the underside before sucking on the tip again.

  “Jay,” I moaned, tightening my fingers in his hair. “God, I need more.”

  “Grab the lube,” he said, smirking up at me as he gave me slow pulls with his hand.

  I couldn’t move fast enough. I snatched it from the nightstand and tossed it to him.

  “Someone’s eager,” he said.

  “Someone’s horny and about to lose his mind if he doesn’t blow his load.”

  Jay laughed and coated two fingers in lube before settling between my legs and taking my cock back into his mouth, swirling his tongue across my slit. He rubbed his thumb down the crack of my ass, teasing me. But it didn’t enter. Not yet.

  With my cock cushioned in his mouth and my breaths picking up pace, I didn’t think it could get any better. Then he slipped a finger inside me. Just one… but it had me grunting deep in my throat and gripping his head with both hands. He eventually added a second finger and brought me to the edge before withdrawing them.

  My cock bobbed beside his smiling lips as he slowly glided his fingers back in.

  “I don’t know how much longer I can wait,” I said, my voice shaking with the need to come. More than anything, I needed to feel him inside of me. To feel that connection.

  Jay rolled on a condom before making his cock slick and perfect for fucking. I spread my legs wider and arched my ass off the bed. My heart was beating in my throat. I needed it so much—needed him so much.

  “On your knees,” he said, stroking his cock as he looked down at me.

  “I want to look at you.”

  He hesitated, and the poor lighting in the room made it difficult to see his expression. Was he going to tell me no?

  “Okay,” he whispered, sliding a hand over the top of my thigh and gripping it. He used the other to position his cock and slowly pushed inside. As it stretched me, I relaxed my muscles and focused on my breathing. It stung like a bitch, even after the preparation. “Breathe, darlin’. That’s it.”

  The sting began to subside as he pushed in deeper. His eyes never left me.

  “More,” I begged.

  “Can you handle more?” he asked, back to his cocky self.

  “Bastard.” But even as I said the word, I reached down and placed my hand over his.

  Jay linked our fingers and leaned forward, laying his body over mine as he rested our joined hands above my head. I adored the way his hair fell into his face as he peered down at me. In that moment, he looked so young but definitely not innocent.

  “I kind of like that dirty mouth of yours,” he muttered before kissing me.

  He thrust forward, burying himself deep inside my ass, and I groaned against his parted lips. The sex was hard, fast, and all I had expected it to be. What I didn’t expect was the sudden swell of emotion in my chest when Jay kept holding my hand, gripping it tighter as he pounded into me. It was almost like he’d craved the intimacy just as much as I did.

  “Come for me, Remi,” he rasped, reaching between us to stroke me.

  His thick cock hit my prostate with every thrust, and I felt that familiar tingle travel down my spine. I looked into his eyes as he took me faster.

  “Jay.” I wrapped an arm around him and crushed our lips together, groaning against his mouth as my orgasm hit. White-hot pleasure had me moaning and gasping for air. Nothing had ever felt more powerful. Intense.

  That’s when I truly knew, despite all the warnings to myself, my heart had gotten involved. It didn’t scare me as much as I thought it would.

  He bit the top of my shoulder as his whole body tensed, and then he was coming too. There was nothing sexier than the way Jay Foley moaned as he was caught in the throes of orgasm. His mouth slammed against mine as his hips rocked into me, gradually slowing as his body calmed.

  Afterward, he rolled off me and pulled me into his arms. I laid my head on his chest, hearing the wild beating of his heart. It matched the rhythm of mine.

  “Thank you for coming to my show tonight,” I said, out of breath.

  “I enjoyed it.” Jay ran his fingertips up and down my bicep. “You’re too damn sexy when you play. I’m glad you wore your hat too.”<
br />
  I snorted and pressed my face into the crease of his neck.

  “Aw, don’t be so shy.”

  “I’m not shy,” I mumbled. A big fat lie.

  Pillow talk with Jay was more nerve-racking than having sex with him. I felt so damn awkward. But happy too. Maybe because my feelings for him had shifted. Each tender moment meant so much more now.

  “I probably won’t be able to see you much over the next two to three weeks,” Jay said. “The trial is gettin’ more intense and I’ll be working late hours.”

  If it was any other man, I would’ve taken it as some bullshit excuse to create distance between us. But not with Jay. He didn’t play mind games like that.

  “Are you still mad at Emery?” I asked. He’d told me about Emery suppressing vital evidence due to an oversight on a document. Things had supposedly gotten extra heated in the courtroom the other day, as well.

  Jay softly inhaled before releasing the breath, his hand continuing to move along my arm. “It’s complicated. This isn’t the first time Emery and I have battled it out in court… but it’s the first time we’ve ever had this much tension between us. Our personal relationship has no place in the courtroom. That’s something we always say to each other.” He turned more to his back, staring up at the ceiling. “It’s just hard not feeling personally attacked sometimes.”

  “You have enough on your plate to worry about, so don’t add me to that list,” I said, wanting to reassure him. “It’s cool if we can’t hang out as much. I’m a big boy and can take care of myself.”

  “Big?” Jay nuzzled the side of my head. “But you’re so small in my arms.”

  I scoffed and pushed against his chest. “I’m not that small. I can still kick your ass, Jay.”

  “Um, excuse me? That’s Mr. Foley to you, peasant.”

  I laughed and flipped on top of him, sliding my fingers through his. He smiled and held my gaze.