Page 55 of Savage in the Streets
“Have you thought about calling your old man?”
Just the mention of my father sends venom coursing through my veins.
“No.”
“You might—”
“I will never talk to that man again. And that’s a promise.”
“I understand. Really, I do. But maybe after all the wrongs he’s done to you, he might be able to get this one thing right. He’s a world-renowned attorney. The best of the best—”
“As well as a child abuser, an embezzler, and just a ridiculously unpleasant human being. I blame him for Liz’s situation more than anyone else.”
She smiles, shaking her head and giving a chuckle. “God, what was I thinking? How silly of me.”
But the truth is, she was thinking exactly what I was thinking. If anyone could get Bailey off, it’s Preston Ward.
Chapter 15
Bailey
It’s notmy first time in jail, though I’ve never been faced with hard time before. My stretch in juvie went by quickly, and if anything, it got me out of the hell I was in, helping me see outside my family’s past.
Most of the other women leave me alone. They know the name Savage and the hell it can rain down upon them if they so much as look at me sideways. They don’t realize how much we all hate each other.
“Savage!” an officer calls through the common room. “You’re due in court!”
That can’t be right. Surely Ashton would have come to tell me if that were true.
Unless he’s unloading you onto some poor public defender.
My heart seizes in my chest, confused by the torrent of emotions coursing through me. Ashton hasn’t been in to see me all weekend, and now this.
“Hurry your ass up,” the officer grunts. “You’re lucky to be getting in so quickly.”
I do as instructed, asking, “Can you tell me what’s happening today?”
He looks at his clipboard. “It’s a discovery hearing. They’re going to go over the evidence.”
This is good as it means I’ll be told why I was taken into custody.
“Your lawyer will be bringing you proper attire to change into at the courthouse,” another office says. “Consider yourself fortunate. Not many people here have as good a lawyer as you do.”
I’m well aware of how lucky I am, but for some reason, I can’t shake the dark cloud that’s fallen over my world.
I got to taste a happiness that has always eluded me. That never seemed like it was meant for my world. My life. My name.
But in the blink of an eye, it was taken from me. And I’m not so sure I’m meant to have it back.
* * *
Bailey
After I get to the courthouse, I immediately don an outfit that’s preschool teacher chic and proceed to a room where Ashton is waiting for me.
God—he’s even more handsome than when I last saw him. He’s wearing a sharply-pressed suit with perfectly styled hair, exuding a confidence I’m not used to. I usually hate men that look so straight and narrow, but Ashton somehow makes it look sinful.
He smiles when he sees me, but there’s a darkness to him that wasn’t there all those nights we spent together. Something isn’t right.
