Page 71 of Arresting the Hockey Player
I swear I’m coming down with the stomach flu, the way the nausea sweeps over me and my skin is clammy, but I’m pretty sure I’m healthy.
It’s fear edging into my veins, making me sick with worry.
“Are you ready?” Deon asks. He’s my lawyer, and I’m paying him top dollar to help me win the custody case.
Although, I’m guessing that Grant is financing Jasmine’s custody lawyers because Deon seems to know the opposing counsel. He’s been chatting with him while I’ve been standing outside the courtroom, waiting for our hearing.
I don’t want to step inside. Then, it’ll be all too real.
“Yeah,” I say with a heavy sigh.
He nods and carries his briefcase with him into the courtroom.
Sweat trickles my brow. I wasn’t able to eat anything all morning. I couldn’t even stomach coffee, and right now, I’m glad for fasting because, otherwise, I’m sure it’d be all over the floor.
Jasper is seated with Amber in the courtroom. He’s there for moral support, so is Kyler, Owen, and a couple of the other guys from the team. I inhale sharply when I lay eyes on Charlotte.
What’s she doing here? I glance at my attorney, wondering if he’s planning on using her as a witness or something, when the door behind us opens, and Jasmine enters with her lawyer and my little boy.
Grant is nowhere in sight, which is a relief, but he’s probably not too far behind. I doubt he lets Jasmine out of his sight after the last time, when she left Zayn with me and handed over custody.
I follow my lawyer’s lead, doing as he instructs. The entire process takes more time than it should as the judge reads over the findings from DCFS, the letter that Jasmine originally had notarized, along with the police reports. A child psychologist that Zayn recently started seeing since the custody issues began comments that he’s been seeing my son and believes he should continue with counseling sessions, but at this point, he can’t come to any conclusions other than the child has some behavioral issues that are often found in violent homes.
It feels like stone against stone, neither of us budging. If there weren’t issues of abuse, no doubt the judge would allow for joint custody, but I can see his mind ticking, trying to determine who the actual abuser is and isn’t.
And that’s when my lawyer, Gregory Deon, calls Charlotte Grace to the stand, wanting to hear her account of the events leading up to my arrest.
I try not to scowl, my hands balling into fists, and the courtroom door squeaks open.
If it’s not one travesty, it’s another, as Grant Brass stalks into the courtroom and sits beside his wife, Jasmine Brass.
NINETEEN
Charlotte
72 hours earlier
“Tell me what I need to do to get Noah to forgive me?” I ask, staring up at Jasper. He’s Noah’s best friend. He must know what it will take to earn Noah’s forgiveness.
“I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Trust me. You royally screwed him.”
I scoff at his remark. “I had him arrested, but the charges were dropped.”
“Do you think the other lawyer cares about that? He was arrested. Grant, meanwhile, hasn’t been behind bars. It makes Noah look like an unfit parent.”
“That’s not fair! Grant isn’t even the biological father,” I say. I sip my coffee as Jasper holds his between his hands.
I managed to convince Jasper to meet up with me for coffee so that we could discuss Noah, and he was more on board with the arrangement than I expected.
I thought that I’d have to convince his girlfriend and my best friend to drag him to the coffee shop, and I’d have to ambush him. Jasper seems like a pretty cool guy and a decent friend.
“As long as Jasmine remains married to Grant, he’s in the picture.” Jasper exhales a heavy sigh. “I wish I had a better solution. You asked me to meet you. What did you have in mind?” His gaze tightens as he tries to figure out what I want.
And he’s right. I didn’t just call him to come for coffee out of the blue.
Noah’s custody hearing is this week.
“Grant ought to be behind bars. I can’t believe Jasmine won’t press charges against him.”
