Page 82 of Hard To Love

His words hit my ears causing havoc with my emotions. The frustration that was flickering through my body was mixing with the need to comfort him and ease some of his pain. Seeing him like this was tearing me apart.

Alex walked over behind him and placed his hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Son, take a deep breath and calm yourself down. We won’t do anything that you’re not comfortable with but I think you need to consider all options. Maybe we should let Emily help us if she can. It will take months to clean this mess up with lawyers and meetings, but this plan could work. You and I have a big trial coming up that needs your focus and we don’t need any more distractions.”

I walked over and placed my hand on Chase’s tight, tense bicep. His gaze was hard and I could see the conflict reflected in his eyes. My heart was so heavy and the love I felt for this man was overpowering. All I wanted to do was help him and protect him. Somehow, I needed to convince him to let me fix this. I turned his body to completely face mine.

“Listen to your father, Chase,” I said tilting his face so that our eyes could connect. “We need to let him think that you and I are over. He needs to believe that there is hope fora reconciliation.This is our only option right now. I need you to trust me. I promise you that I won’t allow any lines to get crossed. I can handle this. Please let me help you. Please let me help us.” My eyes stung with tears while they continued to plead with him.

He relented slightly, as an awkward silence stretched between us followed by a heavy sigh. “I don’t like it, Emily. I can’t let you do that.”

Exasperated, I rolled my eyes and let out a loud, frustrated groan, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but Brad is still in love with me. I’m in a position to help you, whether you like it or not. And if you don’t like it, that’s too damned bad.”

Chase jerked his head back like I had slapped him. His hard, blue eyes pierced through me like a laser beam.

Sensing the tension, Nick put his hands behind his head and mumbled something inaudible under his breath. I saw Alex’s grip tighten on Chase’s shoulder as he told him to stop, breathe and count to ten. Colin sat on the sofa, shaking his head in disbelief, like he couldn’t believe I could say something so stupid.

“Maybe we should give you both some privacy.” I heard Alex say, breaking through the stiffness that was straining the air around us. “Son, everything will work out. Don’t worry about it.” He counseled as he slapped him on the shoulder and reached over to kiss me on the cheek. “Be patient with him, Emily. He’s a good man and he loves you. He may be a little stubborn sometimes but give him some time, he’ll come around.”

I silently held his gaze, letting him know that I would do my best to help Chase in any capacity that I could.

Nick walked over and patted Chase on the back, “I’ll call you later.”

Then he turned to me, “the two of you need to talk this out. Let me know what you decide.” I heard his voice trail off as he exited out of the apartment.

Colin walked up behind me forcing my nerves to go on full alert.

“Guys, I’m sorry… for everything.” He said looking directly at me. The hard-blue eyes that I had grown accustomed to had now softened towards me. “Emily, I appreciate you stepping up to the plate and trying to help.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I answered with my voice sounding resolute, catching him off guard. “I love your brother and I would do anything for him.” Colin’s eyes paused on mine with a newfound understanding. It was if he were seeing me in a new light.

Once the room was empty, I turned to see Chase’s back facing the long-paned window. With his arms crossed he seemed to be continuing the debate in his head. The room was eerily silent. That’s why when he finally spoke I had to strain myself to hear him. “I don’t like this plan, but it looks to be our only option at the moment. I’ll agree to it for now,” he sighed, “but so help me god, if it becomes too much the deal is off, understood?”

* * *

The next day…

I should have known that Chase was a man of rapid action. Once he decided to do something, he was all about the execution. Less than eight hours after agreeing to the plan, he met with Nick and they discussed how they would deal with Brad. The plan was to have a meeting where Nick would officially be representing Chase and Colin as their lawyer, and discuss the drug possession case the NYPD was pursuing against his clients. It was important that they gave Brad the chance to be the hero so they decided to present him with a scenario that he wouldn’t be able to refuse. While I wasn’t there, this is what Nick told us had transpired.

At 10:00 AM, Nick sat patiently in a waiting area at the NYPD preparing for his meeting. Earlier in the morning he had reached out to Brad, asking for a meeting to discuss his client’s innocence and he told him to come over to the station as soon as he could. While waiting in the lobby he struck up a conversation with a leggy blonde woman in a very short blue dress. She was quite attractive and pretty friendly. Just before Brad came out into the lobby, Nick’s charms must have impressed because Desiree had passed him a slip of paper with her phone number on it.

Brad gestured for Nick to go into the office and their conversation started.

“You get to meet some very interesting people in your line of work, don’t you, detective?” Nick offered, as a way to break the ice.

“You have no idea.” he replied. “Take your new friend, Desiree, there. She’s been working with me for the past month as an undercover informant for a sting we are setting up at Club CWD. You ever heard of it?”

“I don’t believe I have.” Nick replied.

“Yeah, we had a drug deal go bad and we are trying to tie the owner to the murder of one of their customers. Desiree has agreed to help us. Although I might suggest to you that I don’t think she is really your type.”

” Really? And why is that?” countered Nick.

“Well, the CWD in the name of the club stands for Chicks with Dicks. Your new pal Desiree’s real name is Danny Green. Now you’re welcome to give her a ring, but you may not like what she has hidden under that dress.”

Almost choking on his words, Nick awkwardly replied, “Thanks for the HEADS up on Desiree, no pun intended.”

“I appreciate you being able to meet with me this morning. I won’t take much of your time. As you know, NYPD is accusing my clients of Felony Possession of Narcotics with the intent to distribute, a charge that could lock them up for more than a dozen years in Federal prison. As you also know, these charges are a huge pile of horse shit and my client is being set up!”

Brad immediately interrupted. “No counselor. What I know is that your client was found with enough crack cocaine to fuck up all the dope heads in the Bronx from now until New Year’s. It’s not my job to figure if the drugs were planted or who planted them, if they were. I follow the evidence, and right now the facts point directly at your client.”

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