Page 255 of Anti-Heroes in Love Duet
“Is there a problem, Mrs. Lombardi?” Judge Hartford asked, clearly unamused by my spectacle.
“Permission to approach the bench, Your Honor?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. Martin Hartford was as old-school as they came. He didn’t like sensationalist court drama or surprises, and he sensed I had a doozy.
Because I did.
I smiled placidly at him.
“Fine, approach the bench.”
“Your Honor, new evidence has come to light, and we would like to call a recess so it can be properly entered into evidence,” I explained as I turned on the iPad and handed it to him.
“What am I looking at?”
“That is a Gen 4 Glock 19,” I explained pleasantly. “The same gun USA O’Malley told us was used to shoot Giuseppe di Carlo before the drive-by shooting.”
Judge Hartford was seasoned, and his poker face was legendary, but I was close enough to see the way the skin beside his eyes tightened in disbelief.
“Where did you retrieve this?” he asked after a wooden moment.
“Detective Joseph Falcone discovered it in a locked locker at the subway station a block away fromOttavio’s. Apparently, they received an anonymous tip a few days ago.”
“Did they?” The weight of his stare was a tangible thing on my shoulders, but I couldn’t be held down by it.
Inside my chest, I was light as air.
“We had a lab run for prints and DNA matches,” I said slowly, trying not to be overly dramatic when the roar of victory surged through my blood. “Preliminary results revealed a match.”
“Do not drag this out, Mrs. Lombardi,” he warned.
“Of course.” I grinned the same grin I’d seen Dennis give us when he decimated the validity of Carter Andretti’s testimony. “The results showed a match for USA Dennis O’Malley.”
Judge Hartford called the recess.
The courtroom was a flurry of questions when he stormed into his chambers to await our team and the prosecution.
Dante was taken back to the holding cell, but he went with a wink in my direction.
He believed in me.
In this plan.
As he should. After all, he was the one who had corrupted me so beautifully. Before, I never would have thought to fight fire with fire, but now I knew, in the underworld, the only way to win was by any means possible.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Martin?” Dennis exploded when he was told what had happened. “There is absolutely no way that gun could be tied back to me!”
Yara and I sat placidly in the chairs before Judge Hartford’s desk watching Dennis storm around the room, bristling with hostility and disbelief. Suddenly, he turned on his heel and stalked over to me, caging me in my chair.
“Did you do this, Moore?” he seethed. “Did you and your criminal lover think you couldframe me?”
“My name isn’t Moore,” I reminded him. “You can call me Ms. Lombardi or Mrs. Salvatore. And don’t be ridiculous.”
He glared at me, his fury a tangible heat in the air distorting it like wax paper. “My office will conduct its own tests.”
“Of course,” I agreed. “That’s just standard procedure.”
He bared his white, capped teeth at me, then turned to the judge. “Marty, this is absurd.”
