Page 28 of Give Me Forever Love

“Let’s get on with this, shall we? I’ve got a flight to catch.”

I sit up and look down, gripping the pen in my hand, I place it on the paper.

Fuck it. Here goes goodbye.

Once I take a seat, my lawyer leans over to me.

“The DA confronted me before I walked in here. This should go quickly and smoothly. The judge is going to ask how you plead.

“You say guilty. The DA isn’t fighting us on this, so we’ll wait for the judge to decide what your punishment should be.”

I narrow my eyes. “How will pleading guilty benefit me?”

“Because you did it. The evidence is all there. You have to admit to it to appease the court, but after this little show is over, we’ll go to the judge’s chambers, he will burn the papers linking you to any of this, and you’ll be on your way.”

“It’s that simple, huh?” I run my hands over my thighs.

“This world is full of crooks, Bryce. And most of them are behind the law. Yes, it’s that simple.”

My eyes move from him to the judge, who’s looking at some papers with his glasses down his nose. He’s a big man, and Danny is right. He looks to be a nasty motherfucker, ready to put people away just for the hell of it.

I swallow and clear my throat. His eyes move from the papers to where I sit for a moment, and then he drops them from his hand and leans back, clearly the most comfortable person in this room.

“Mr. Finley, how does your client plead to the charges of racketeering?”

My lawyer stands. “Guilty, Your Honor.”

He lifts his brow slightly before rubbing his chin. His eyes go down to the papers again. “I see here you’ve given to some charities. The Boys Club?” he asks me.

My lawyer looks down for me to answer. I stand. “Yes, Your Honor.”

I have given a good bit to that charity because at one time I was one of those kids. I had nothing, and sometimes it was a nice place to go to get away from Mom and Dad’s shit.

“Do you plan on skipping town, Mr. Grant?” he asks me.

“No. Everything I care about is here. I have no reason to leave.”

He nods and looks over to the DA. “You got anything to add, John?”

John looks over at his partner before returning the judge’s stare. “We’re good here, Your Honor.” I’m not sure how this looks to everyone else, but I’m shocked at how easy this is going. These motherfuckers have been paid off and it’s clear as day.

The judge leans up in his chair. “Let’s move on then. Grant, eighty hours of community service and a ten thousand dollar fine.” He grabs his gavel and slams it down. “Case closed,” he says and dismisses us with a wave of his hand.

Holy shit. I look at my lawyer as he stands. I stand, too, adrenaline rushing through my veins. This is insane.

Danny was telling the truth; he got me out of this.

I’m also convinced that whatever he’s into… there’s no way out for him.

Finley looks over at me, and in a whispered tone he says, “Now we’ll sign you out of this shithole and we’ll wait until he is done for the day. Once he is, I’ll contact you and we will meet back here. This is a done deal, though. The only thing we need to do is witness him burning all the paperwork. The judge has a computer guy that can wipe the dirtiest of asses clean.” With that he gives me a handshake and packs his suitcase up. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Hey,” I say. “Can you let my family know what’s going on?”

“Sure thing,” he replies.

Feeling her eyes on me, I look back at K. She looks bewildered, and I see it when she swallows. My eyes go to her hands, and I see she’s pinching the inside of her forearm.

I look back at her face, and my heart shatters, fragments of tissue floating inside my chest. She was so scared.

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