Текст книги "Reasonable Doubt. Vol. 2"

Автор книги: Whitney Gracia Williams

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 4 страниц)

Denial (n.):

A statement in the defendant’s answer to a complaint in a lawsuit than an allegation (claim of fact) is not true.

A few days later...

Andrew

I was officially out of my damn mind.

I was in my bathtub, and Aubrey was sitting on top of me—panting as she came down from another orgasm.

She was spending the night at my condo for the third time this week, and it was pointless to even pretend like I minded.

I wasn’t sure what the hell was happening, but she’d definitely gotten to me. She was infiltrating my every thought, and no matter what I did to try and come back to my senses—to remind myself that this could only be temporary, she slipped deeper into my life.

“Why are you so quiet tonight?” she asked.

“I’m not allowed to think?”

“Not when a naked woman is in your lap.”

“I was giving her a chance to relax.” I slid my hands underneath her thighs. “What unnecessary bullshit do you want to talk about today?”

“It’s not unnecessary,” she said. “It’s about your family.”

“What about my family?”

“Are they still in New York?”

I prevented myself from clenching my jaw. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” She raised her eyebrow. “What do you mean you don’t know? Are you estranged from them?”

“No...” I sighed. “I just don’t have any parents.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Then why do I remember you telling me a story about your mom the first month that we met?”

“What story?”

“The story about Central Park and ice cream.” She looked into my eyes, as if she were expecting me to say something. “You said she took you to some children’s fair, I think? It was something that happened every Saturday. But the one you remembered most happened when it was raining and she still took you, and you stood in line for an hour just to get a scoop of vanilla.”

I blinked.

“Is that story not right? Am I mixing it up with something else?”

“No,” I said. “That’s right...But I haven’t seen her since.”

“Oh...” She looked down. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I trailed a finger across her lips. “I turned out just fine.”

“Can I ask you a few more things?”

“You have a daily question quota starting today.”

She rolled her eyes. “What do all the “E” and “H” pictures in your hallway stand for?”

I felt a sudden ache in my chest. “ Nothing.”

“If you hate New York so much and you don’t like talking about your past or what you lostsix years ago, why do you have so many mementos hanging on your walls?”

“Aubrey...”

“Okay, forget that question. And the Latin quote across your heart? What does it mean?”

“Lie about one thing, lie about it all...” I kissed her lips before she could ask me anything else. I was starting to wonder why she hadn’t wanted to be a damn journalist instead of a ballerina.

“It’s your turn,” she said softly. “You can ask mequestions now.”

“I’d rather fuck you again.” I lifted her with me as I stood up and helped her out of the bath tub.

We both dried off and went into my bedroom. Just as I was pulling her against me, my doorbell rang.

I sighed. “Dinner’s early.” I slipped into a pair of lounge pants and a T-shirt and headed to the door with my credit card.

The second I opened it, I was confronted with the sight of the last person on earth I wanted to see. Ava.

“Don’t you dare fucking slam it on me this time,” she hissed. “ We need to talk.”

“We don’t need to talk about shit.” I stepped outside and shut the door behind me. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re not wanted here?’

“As many times as it’ll take you to actually believeit, which you don’t.” She scoffed. “Ask me why I came to Durham to see you, Mr. Hamilton. Appease me and I’ll finally go the hell away.”

“You’re going the hell away regardless,” I said flatly. “I really don’t give a fuck why you came here.”

“Not even if it’s to sign the divorce papers?”

“You could’ve sent that shit in the mail.” I gritted my teeth. “And since I’m sure you’re running out of loopholes for contesting it, I’m willing to wait until all your options run out. I’m sure your lawyers will drop you as soon as they find out what typeof client you are.”

“All I’m asking for is ten thousand a month.”

“Go ask the man who was fucking you in our bedroom while I was at work.” I glared at her, livid. “Or better yet, ask the judge you only “fucked for a favor,” or hey, if you’re up to it, fuck my former best friend. Sleeping with him always seemed to make you feel better, right?”

“You weren’t Mr. Perfecteither.”

“I never fucking cheatedon you, and I never liedto you.”

Silence.

“Five thousand a month,” she said.

“Go fuck yourself, Ava.”

“You know I nevergive up,” she said, her eyes widened as I stepped back inside my apartment. “I alwaysget what I want.”

“ So do I.” I slammed the door in her face, feeling my heart palpitating, feeling the onset of ugly memories all over again.

Rain. New York. Heartbreak.

Complete and utter heartbreak.

Seeing Ava in person again—hearing her manipulative voice and feeling those familiar pangs in my chest, immediately made me realize that I couldn’t make the same mistake again.

Aubrey was already asking questions, trying to dig her way into my life as much as she could—thinking that if she stayed around long enough that we would work out together. But I knew that would never happen, not after seeing Ava and knowing just how far she would go to ruin me all over again.

I was officially done with this monogamous game we’d been playing for the past couple weeks. It was quite fun– different, but since Aubrey could never be mine and I could never be hers, it was quite fucking pointless too.

I headed back into my bedroom and saw Aubrey smiling as she settled into the bed.

“Where’s the dinner?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “Did you leave it at the door?”

“ No.” I shook my head and started packing up her things, stuffing them all into her purse.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“You can’t stay the night.”

“Okay...” She stood up. “Did something just happen? Do you want to talk about—”

“I don’t want to talk about anything else with you.” I hissed. “I just want to take you the hell home.”

“What?” She looked confused. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you—”

“Make sure you get all of your shit out of my bathroom. You won’t be coming back here again.”

“Why not?”

“Because I need to start fucking someone else.” I picked up her headband. “I think I’ve spent more than enough time with you, don’t you think?”

“ Andrew...” Her face fell. “Where is all of this coming from?”

“The same place it was always coming from. You lied to me once, you’ll lie to me again.”

“I thought we were over that.”

“Maybe youwere, but I wasn’t.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you need to get all of your things so I can take you home, and from here on out, you are my intern and I am your boss. You will forever be Miss Everhart, and to you I’ll be Mr. Hamilton.”

“ Andrew...”

“ Mr. Fucking. Hamilton.”

She rushed over to me and snatched her things, letting a few tears escape her eyes. “Fuck you. FUCK. YOU. This is the last time you’ll ever pull this hot and cold shit on me.” She stormed out of my apartment, slamming the door behind her.

I sighed and felt an immediate pang of guilt in my chest, but I knew it was the right thing to do. It was either cut this bullshit off now, or be responsible for breaking her heart later.

I stepped onto the balcony and lit a cigar—looking up at the moonless sky. Even though I felt bad for ending things so abruptly, for putting her out with no explanation, I needed to get back to who the hell I was and fast before I fucked up and put my heart on the line again...

Closing Argument (n.):

Andrew (Well... back then, you would’ve called me “Liam A. Henderson”)

Six years ago

New York

There’s something about this city that makes me believe again. It’s the hopefulness in the air, the flashing lights that shine brighter than anywhere else, and the dreamers who fill the streets day after day—unwilling to give up on their failures until they finally win. There’s no other city like it, and there’s nothing more alluring outside these state lines—nothing that will ever make me leave.

As the sun sets in the distance, I wrap my arm around my wife’s waist. We’re standing against the railing of the Brooklyn Bridge—smiling because I just added another high profile client to my firm.

“You think one day the papers will actually tell the truth about your first case?” She looked up at me with her light green eyes. “Or do you think they’ll keep brushing it under the rug?”

“Brushing it under the rug.” I sigh. “I highly doubt the government wants people knowing a kid straight out of law school uncovered a conspiracy. It’s an insult to their organization.”

“So, you’re fine being reduced to a random Jeopardy question that’ll happen ten years from now? ‘I’ll take lawyers who never got credit for two hundred, Alex.’ You’re fine with that?”

“Why shouldn’t I be?” I kiss her forehead. “I didn’t need the papers to print my name to get clients. People knew, that’s how they found me.”

“You should be so much bigger than what you are...” She shakes her head, whispering, “Your name should be plastered across every billboard in the city. Fucking assholes...”

Smiling, I tighten my grip around her waist and start the walk back to our car. Out of all the people that have come in and out of my life, Ava Sanchez has been the one constant.

She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, and ever since the day I made her mine at our wedding three years ago, I swore that would never change.

“I was also thinking,” she says as she slips into the passenger seat, “that maybe me, you, and your partner Kevin could go out to a singles’ mixer next weekend.”

“Why would wego to a singles mixer?”

“It’s more so for Kevin...He needs to get his own life. I’m tired of him hanging around us all the time. It’s bad enough that we all work at your firm together, but do we haveto spend our every waking moment together, too?”

Laughing, I drove down the city streets and home to the colossal brownstone we shared. It was the first purchase I’d made after winning the “case that never was,” and Ava had insisted that I buy the most expensive one.

“Because you fucking deserve it,” she’d said. “And you never treat yourself to anything nice...That’s what I don’t understand about you, Liam. You’re such a nice guy to everyone but yourself...”

I park our car in front of our home and immediately step out to open her door. As usual, Ava whispers, “I bet she’ll scream for you first,” as I walk her up the steps.

The second we walk inside, that familiar sweet voice rings out across the room.

“ Daddyyyyy!”

I let go of Ava’s hand and stoop low so my daughter– Emma Henderson, can run into my arms. She’s the best part of my day, the best part of my life, and seeing her always brings an unbreakable smile to my face.

I kiss her forehead as she incoherently babbles about her day with the babysitter, and I smile as her blue eyes stare into mine.

I'm unaware of it now—I’m too blind and happy to see it, but in the months to come, my life will unravel so rapidly and unexpectedly that I'll wish I never existed. The lies that come to the light will be so devastating and crushing that my entire life will crumble around me. But the worst part, the part that will break me, is not knowing that this present moment with my ‘daughter’ will be the last good memory of New York I'll ever have...

**End of Episode Two**

Letter to the Reader

Dear Incredible Reader,

Thank you so much for taking time out of your life to read this book! I hope you were thoroughly entertained and enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you have any extra time, PLEASE leave a review on amazon.com, B&N.com, goodreads.com, OR send me an email ([email protected]) so I can personally thank you :-)

I’m forever grateful for you and your time, and I hope to be re-invited to your bookshelf with my next release.

Love,

Whitney Gracia Williams

More works by Whitney Gracia Williams:

Twisted Love ( 2014)

Wasted Love ( Winter 2014)

Reasonable Doubt #1-3 (2014)

My Last Resolution: A Novella (January 2014)

Mid Life Love: At Last (October 2013)

Mid-Life Love ( June 2013)

Final Take (Jilted Bride Series)

Take Three* (Jilted Bride Series)

Take Two* (Jilted Bride Series)

Captain of My Soul: A Memoir ( July 2009)

*These books were pulled from publication, but will be re-released in the coming months.

You can keep up with Whitney and the travels of her non-matching socks at http://www.whitneygracia.com

To be a part of the mailing list and be notified of release dates and special offers, email [email protected] with “Mailing List” in the subject heading.