Page 16 of Objection

“Nah, I can’t. I’m not going against my boundaries to save you money.”

He released a hard breath before standing and shoving his hand in his pocket. “Maybe I wasn’t clear in my communication. I asked out of respect, but you really don’t have a choice. When I released you from the mafia—”

“Let me stop you there, Unc,” I said as I stood. “I’ve made it clear to you over the years that though I don’t mind representing some people on your behalf, you don’t control me or who I take on as clients. He raped a nineteen year old then tried to kill her when she decided she wanted to keep her baby. He tried to kill a child just so his wife wouldn’t find out. Thankfully she survived and had the courage to go to the police. Even if I represented him, there’s no way in hell he's getting away with this.”

His knuckles tapped my desk. “If I lose out on this deal because you aren’t going to represent him, you’re going to regret this.”

“Out of respect, I’ma let you leave here alive even though you threatened me. Next time, that won’t be the case.”

The only thing that broke our gaze was Serenity opening the door and leaning against it. He looked down at her and smiled before walking out.

“Are you okay?” she asked carefully, taking small steps in my direction. “That looked kind of heated from outside the door.” I didn’t realize how tight my mouth and jaw were until she cupped my jaw and caressed my cheek with her thumb. “Hey,” she called softly.

Looking down at her, I relaxed my body when she wrapped her arms around me. I couldn’t feel violent and hostile with her softness pressed against me.

“I’m good, princess.”

“Hold me,” she commanded softly, forcing me to wrap my arms around her as a slow smile spread my lips. “Let me anchor you for a while. Keep you steady until he leaves.”

The longer we stood there, silently, staring in each other’s eyes . . . the more confirmation I received that she was the woman for me. Women in my past loved my violence, my temper, having a man that was on that rah rah shit. Though I was still very much about that life, it felt good being with a woman who wanted to experience a different, safer version of me. It gave me something to have hope in—hope that I never did anything to lose her. Disappoint her. Scare her.

“You make me wanna be better,” I expressed, squeezing her ass. “Thank you for coming in here. I honestly don’t know how things would have played out if you didn’t and he responded to the last thing I said.”

“I don’t know what that was about, but I saw the anger in your eyes and felt a pressure on my chest.” After I told her what our conversation was about, she said, “Oh, wow. I can see why you don’t want to represent him. You made the right choice, baby.”

“Yeah, I just don’t know what the consequence will be.”

“Consequence?” she repeated, reminding me that I hadn’t told her about my time in the mafia. She knew who my family was—almost everyone in our city did—but not the role I used to play.

“Let’s get to lunch. I’ll tell you about that a little later.”

“Okay, let me shut my system down,” she agreed before heading back to her office.

While I waited, I texted Pops to let him know we needed to talk to his brother before leaving for what I needed to be a peaceful lunch with my future wife.

Serenity

When I felt arms wrap around me from behind, I knew exactly who they belonged to. As much as I wanted to relax in his embrace, I immediately pushed Kaos’s arms down and put some space between us.

“What are you doing?” I shrieked, looking around the room just as Cathy walked inside.

“Trying to hug my woman.”

“Baby, you know we can’t do that here. Just in your office, really just your bathroom.”

“Why not?” he asked, closing the space between us, pressing me against the printer in the process.

“Because it’s against the rules,” I reminded him, gently shoving him back.

“Fine, you’re fired.”

Even though he was grinning and clearly joking, I gasped and stomped my foot with a pout. “Kaos, this is serious!” I whisper-yelled.

“Aight, aight. Meet me in my office when you’re done and we can talk.”

I agreed with a nod then grabbed the papers I was making copies of for his paralegals. In court earlier this morning, the prosecution slipped some unexpected witnesses onto their list, and now, Kaos and his team had to vet them and make sure nothing they said would be a detriment to the case. They’d need to know what these witnesses knew before it was revealed in court over the next few days, and sometimes, gaining that knowledge was like finding a needle in a haystack.

When I was done, I gave each paralegal a copy before taking the final copy to Kaos. He was on a call with a client, but he motioned for me to sit down until he was done. I watched him in pride. He was so damn fine. Today, he was dressed in a burgundy suit that made his cinnamon brown skin glow. His tapered fade and beard had been freshly lined, and I couldn’t wait to go out with him this evening.

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