I softened a little. I didn’t want him to beat himself up, I had just wanted to help in any way I could. Besides, my methods weren’t exactly on the straight and narrow.
“It’s okay. I’m just trying to do what I can to help. And you’re not the only one who’s made mistakes. Yes, I want a new lawyer so I can get Harvey out of prison, but that’s not the only reason. I’ve sort of fallen in love with him and I want him free so that I can be with him.”
I turned my face back to the window while my cheeks heated up with embarrassment. Robert gave me a quick glance, and he smiled as he turned his attention back to the front windshield.
“I know, I know, I broke the first rule of almost every set of guidelines in the world. I didn’t do it on purpose, okay? It just sort of…happened.” I shrugged. I couldn’t think of anything else to say and I couldn’t say what was in my heart of hearts. Not to him. He wasn’t the one that had to hear it. I should have told Harvey long ago how I really felt about him instead of making him think that I was disinterested and just using him to avenge my sister’s death. I had hoped that during one of our visits he would say it first, but he kept his mouth shut most of the time. I’d tried talking to him in the beginning, like I’d done the last time, but he refused to answer. He still had that look on his face like he was afraid that I would disappear and he would think this was all a dream.
I hung my head and sighed as we turned onto the gravel driveway that led up to the safe house. I clamped my lips together so tightly that they hurt, got out of the car, and walked to my room with my head held high. I was considering locking the door, but then I remembered that no one wanted to come and talk to me anyway. I made my way up the stairs to the loft. The sunlight was glinting off the river, and it made a perfect picture to enjoy with a lover. It hurt that I was alone, but I would survive. I always did. The view had been one of the only things that calmed my spirit down when I got too emotional.
Walking back down the stairs, I went into my bathroom and ran some water for a shower. As I waited for it to warm up, I looked at myself in the mirror. My nose was too thin to be really pretty, my eyes were just a little too far apart, and my mouth was too big with lips that were too small for real beauty. The only part of me that I absolutely loved was my hair. It fell in loose waves and was thicker than anyone else’s in my family. I was absentmindedly running my fingers through it when I saw steam rising from behind the shower curtain. I liked my showers boiling hot. It was almost a punishment, but I enjoyed it. When I first stepped in, I gasped at the heat, but it only took a few minutes for me to get used to it, and then I let the steaming water cascade over my head. It ran through my hair and over my face, carrying all of my thoughts and worries down my body and into the drain. I stayed there for half an hour, letting my tears mingle with the water. I didn’t want to let them know that they were hurting me by ignoring me, so I only cried in the shower where no one would know.
When I finished, I took two of the fluffy towels off the rack and wrapped my hair up in one, before snuggling into the softness of the other. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to put clothes on, the towel was so soft and it made me feel like a warm, loving hand had wrapped itself around me. It almost felt like Penny was back. Like she was holding her arms out to hug me and tell me it was all going to be okay. I let a few more tears drip down my face before I dove into bed and buried myself in the blankets.
I dreamed of strange places and people that I’d never even heard of before. It was like I’d fallen into the world of one of my books. Oh, how much easier life would be if I could somehow transport myself into one of my favorite stories. I would know the ending, and I could manipulate it to where I wanted it to go. That way, nothing bad would ever happen, and I would live happily ever after.
When I woke up the next morning, my face was wet again. I growled under my breath. Would I ever stop crying? I was supposed to be the cornerstone in this operation to take down a mob boss, but here I was, shut out by the only people that I saw, and I couldn’t stop bawling. I used the pillowcase to wipe my face, put on some lounge pants and a loose t-shirt, and made my way up to the loft again. I’d taken to putting pillows and blankets up there to make a nest for reading. It just felt like everything was so at peace when I looked out of the window, and that helped me with my inner turmoil.
I had just settled in and gotten my nest to a level of comfort that I approved of when there was a knock on my door. No way was I getting up. It was probably just the breakfast tray anyway. I would get to it when my stomach growled so loud that I couldn’t hear myself read. I hunkered down again and picked up where I’d left off. I’d only read a few words when the knock sounded again. That was unusual, but I still didn’t care to move, so I ignored it. When the knock for the third time, I got frustrated.
“Come in if you must.” I let my angry words float down the stairs towards the door. I wasn’t really paying much attention to the door when it opened, so it took a few throat clearings for me to actually look down and see that it was Mick.
“Do you have a minute?” His voice was cool and even, but I could tell that he wanted to let me have it from the look in his eyes.
“Yeah, I guess. What do you want?” If he thought that I would grovel at his feet just to beg his forgiveness in order to end the perpetual silence between me and the guards, he had another thing coming.
“Robert talked to me yesterday.”
Aw shit, here it comes.
I didn’t show him any emotion on my face whatsoever, but my hands tightened on my book to the point that my knuckles were stark white. “I realize that maybe I’ve been a bit harsh on you, telling you one thing and then doing another, well, I guess that makes me a sort of hypocrite, now doesn’t it?” Well duh.
“Yeah, I guess it does. So what?” If he was here to apologize, I damn sure wasn’t going to make it easy on him. I wanted it drawn-out and as painful as it could be. He deserved to feel as downtrodden as I did.
“I wanted to apologize. I’m sorry for the way that I treated you, and that all of the other guards took my advice on not speaking to you. I was hoping we could put this all behind us and start over.”
Ha! Fat chance of that one buddy.
“You know something, Mick? I prefer the silence. If you wouldn’t mind, please close the door on the way out. And the tray system? Absolute genius. Please continue with it.” I went back to my book, not even bothering to see if I’d hurt his feelings or not. It felt good to throw his apology back into his face.
11
Robert had been right. The two and a half days went by quickly as I buried myself in the story of Jane Eyre. My alarm went off at about six in the morning, and my first rational thought was, ‘Who the hell gets up this early?’ Then I remembered: I do if I want to be ready to go to Harvey’s trial. I shot out of bed like a rocket. I was a whirlwind of activity while I got myself ready. I was almost dressed when I realized that, even though Harvey would appreciate how I looked, along with every other man in the room, it wasn’t something that would be deemed appropriate for a court room.
I hurried to change and was just putting on a business jacket when there was a knock at my door. When I opened it, my smile slipped. It wasn’t Robert, it was Mick. I adopted an aloof expression, noticing how his face never changed.
“Robert is running a little late. Traffic is hell this morning.”
I nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll wait for him on the front porch.”
I breezed past Mick and the other guards with my head held high, not bothering to look at any of them. When I opened the front door, I saw that it was raining, but I’d said that I was going to wait on the front porch, and that was exactly what I was going to do. I sat down and managed to angle my body so just my shoes would get wet, which was a small victory for me.
A few minutes later, the door opened behind me. I refused to look back and see who it was or what they wanted.
“You might want this.” It was Mick’s voice, and an umbrella
came into the range of my vision. I pretended to ignore it, but the umbrella didn’t go away. I took it so he would go away. I didn’t bother to thank him, and he didn’t bother to hang around and wait for one. I didn’t know if that was Robert’s doing or not, but I didn’t care either way because Robert’s car was pulling up to the front porch.
My radiant smile returned and I ran to the car. I had the door open before he even came to a complete stop, and before long we were gone. Robert hadn’t been kidding when he said that he was late because of traffic. He was doing his best to make up for lost time by breaking the speed limit even when the wet roads made it dangerous. I held on to the side of my seat. Just because I liked Robert didn’t mean that I was going to let him kill me with his erratic driving.
By the time we pulled up to the courthouse, we only had about five minutes to spare. Robert took off at a jog so we would make it before they closed the doors to Harvey’s trial. I was in heels, but I did a good job of keeping up with him. I slipped at the very end, just as we were getting into one of the pews, and I sat down harder than I intended. The noise echoed around the courtroom, and my face flamed as everyone present turned to look at me. The only good thing that I could take away from that blunder was that it caught Harvey’s attention and he smiled when he saw me. He gestured towards the man standing next to him, who I guessed was the new lawyer. I nodded at him to let him know that it was me who had hired him. He nodded and mouthed a thank you.
“You swear that this guy is the best?” I was talking to Robert in hushed tones, he nodded at me, but refused to speak. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to doubt your judgment, but I’m just nervous.”
Robert patted my hand comfortingly. The judge walked in and everyone got to their feet until she sat down. I won’t say that I know a lot about court cases, and I won’t even pretend that I know what was going on, but it seemed like Harvey’s lawyer had an answer for everything that the DA threw at him. It seemed like everything was going by at hyper speed because I just couldn’t keep up with it. Before I knew it, the jury filed out to decide on their verdict, and the judge said we were in recess. I wanted to go over to Harvey and talk to him, but Robert wouldn’t let me.
“Why can’t I go over there and talk to him?” I was ready to turn back into the younger me and pout. I caught myself just in time.
“Listen to me, Kelly. How about I cut you a deal? If your lawyer gets Harvey out of here, and you can just behave yourself for a little while longer, I’ll let you and Harvey get a hotel room tonight before you have to go back to the safe house. How does that sound?”
A night alone with Harvey? With unlimited time? Hell yes!
Okay, I could behave. It couldn’t be for that much longer, I mean, how long does it take to come up with a verdict? The new lawyer had shot holes in the DA’s claim at every turn. They had to find Harvey not guilty. They just had to. The bailiff came out and let everyone know that the jury were finished debating, and everyone needed to come back into the courtroom to see the end of the trial. We had to stand up again when the judge came in, and then the jury followed. I was grabbing onto Robert’s hand and squeezing it for all I was worth. I was so nervous. A few minutes of squeezing was all it took for Robert to forcibly detach his hand from mine. I was so nervous that I started twisting the strap of my purse until I felt it snap.
The judge was ready to play her part.
“On the charge of murder in the first degree, how does the jury find the defendant?” One of the men from the jury stood up and unfolded a little piece of paper. On it was written the verdict. I was so nervous and scared that my hands were sweating and getting slick on the leather strap of my purse.
“We the jury find the defendant not guilty.” The man sat back down. I just sat there and stared for a few more minutes because it hadn’t sunk in that Harvey was free. The judge banged her gavel and said something, but I wasn’t listening. All I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears. Robert was grinning at me and then he was right in my face, waving his hand back and forth.
“Hey! Kelly, are you okay? Are you with me? He’s free! The lawyer did it!” The silence that surrounded me suddenly shattered and I could hear everything again. The words that Robert was repeating were finally forcing their way into my ears. I jumped to my feet once I realized what he was saying to me, and I was gone. I ran all the way to the front of the courtroom and threw my arms around Harvey over the little barrier. He was out of his cuffs, but they had to take him back to the prison to gather up all of his belongings and get processed out of the system. I had to let him go with the guards, but I told him that I would be waiting for him. He blew me a kiss as they walked him out. The ride to the prison seemed to take years, and it felt like the faster Robert drove, the slower we went.
“So that means you’re still going to get us that motel room, right? The lawyer came through, and Harvey is free. He’s finally free! Now he can help me figure out a way to get at Buruchi. Oh, I can’t wait to see that bastard dead. Can’t you drive any faster, Robert?”
He laughed at my nervous energy. I was so excited to see Harvey that I didn’t even care that he was laughing at me. Robert parked in the front parking lot, and he struggled to catch up to me as I leapt out of the car and almost ran to the front door of the building. There was a secretary up front that usually coordinated the visitors, and I went straight to her. I had to stop and catch my breath for a second, but I was still able to ask her what I needed.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Has anyone come out yet that’s been released?” She looked at her computer screen and typed a few things in. She waited for the results to come back, then she turned towards me and smiled.
“I know who you’re waiting for.” She winked at me. “He should be out within the half hour.” That was torture. I didn’t want to sit and twiddle my thumbs. I thanked her and sat down anyway. Harvey came out some time later, and I ran to him and jumped into his arms. I couldn’t believe how good he looked in his own clothes. And I couldn’t wait to get him out of those clothes.
“Hey there, handsome. What would you say if I told you that we have a hotel room booked for tonight before I have to go back to the stupid safe house?” I whispered in his ear as we walked towards the car and I watched him stumble. He was only too happy to see where we would be spending the night, and so was I. I didn’t get back into the front seat, instead I jumped in the back with Harvey. We spent the ride to the motel talking and catching up on purely innocent things. Once Robert dropped us off, I almost dragged him to the check-in desk to get the key. We ran to the elevator together and started making out as the doors closed. Somehow we managed to push the right buttons, and when we got to our floor, we reluctantly detangled ourselves. I pushed him into the room, closing the door behind me. I started kissing him and pushing him back towards the bed. He stopped me, and I was about to protest, but he explained.
“Let me take a quick shower and shave, please. I don’t want to come to you looking like prison trash. Let me make myself more presentable.”
I reluctantly agreed, and dove into the soft blankets of the bed. I started taking off my clothes, preparing for a hot night with no boundaries.
One Last Thing…
This is Part II of a III Series:
Part III of the Shamed Billionaire, is out very soon.
Newsletter for Part III in the series:
http://eepurl.com/SoLmv
When you turn the page you will be given the opportunity to post a review of the book and I would be so grateful if you could share your thoughts through Facebook and Twitter.
Take care,
Apryl
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