Page 81 of EverGreene
“He didn’t touch me at all, but he came onto me outside my room.”
“Son of a bitch.” I ran my hand through my hair, wanting nothing more than to barge right back into that courtroom, rip Conrad from his chair and throttle him in front of the jury. But since I’d been focusing on growth and working on myself, I was going to honor Ever’s wishes.
“That’s your grandma you’re talking about.”
“What?”
“Your uncle is the son of your grandma. Probably shouldn’t be calling her a bitch. Unless she is, of course.”
“For God’s sake, woman.” I shook my head, snickering softly. “How are you able to crack a joke right now?”
“Trauma,” she answered simply. That was something else we had in common.
The creak of the courtroom doors opening drew our attention to Caroline, who peeked her head out at us. “You’re being summoned,” she whispered.
I nodded, turning back to Ever as Caroline retreated back behind the doors. “You go ahead and go back in. I have something I need to take care of.” I held out my arms, wrapping them around her when she nodded her consent. Her body felt more fragile when she was emotionally falling apart. “I’m going to make him regret believing he was ever good enough tohave you,” I whispered with my lips hovering just over the top of her head.
Ever let out a shaky breath, her hands sliding down my torso as though she were looking for something.
Or was she remembering something?
I broke away from our embrace. “I’ll be back,” I called back to her, turning to walk down the hall when I remembered something else I needed to tell her. When I looked over my shoulder, Ever still stood in the hallway as though she’d been hit by a truck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Of course, she was going to remember what it felt like to have her arms around V. The wheels in her head were spinning while the walls around me and my double life were closing. “Ever,” I called back to her. She looked up, her eyes searching my body where her hands had been seconds earlier. “Start drafting the closing. I’m not going to have the time, and Blaine is going to need the help if he’s going to present it.”
She nodded, watching me a few moments longer before she turned to head back through the courtroom door.
The reception in the courtroom was absolute shit, and the halls weren’t much better, which I discovered when I pulled my phone from my pocket to try to make a call. After getting enough bars to convince me my call wasn’t going to drop near a set of floor-to-ceiling windows, I made the call that was going to start an avalanche of shit within the firm and may end up with me in prison right next to Conrad, assuming I had gathered together enough evidence to put Conrad away.
“Jack, it’s Loche. There’s something I think the partners would be interested in knowing.”
“Where have you been?”Ever asked, “Conrad has been fuming all afternoon.”
“Did he say anything to you?” I leaned against the table in the conference room we’d rented to use as our trial war room. Across the table, Ever sat working on her laptop, typing furiously.
“No, we completely ignored each other, which was fine, but that didn’t stop him from using Blaine to communicate with me.
“Good. Tomorrow, during closing, you’re going to be communicating with Blaine exclusively.”
Ever stopped typing to peer up at me over the screen. Suspicion still darkened her expression. “What, did you hire a hitman or something?”
“In a way. How’s that closing statement coming? I hear the defense rested today. Tomorrow will be your time to shine.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re so much better than me with drafting compelling, heartfelt, gut-wrenching statements that resonate with people.”
“You’re wrong. I’ve read a few of the briefs you’ve written.”
“A brief is more technical and kind of hard to fuck up if you know what you’re doing.”
“You’re going to nail it. I have faith in you, Nevermore.”
A small smile graced Ever’s face, only to be erased with the sound of Conrad’s voice making its way down the hall.
Right on time.
“You have some audacity calling a meeting after ditching us at trial today,” my uncle announced the moment his expensive loafers walked over the threshold. Following in his footsteps was Blaine, who gave me a knowing look, telling me he’d spoken to Jack. Caroline, Kim, and Jason trailed in behind everyone, taking a seat at the table with Ever.
“Well,” Conrad said, clapping his hands together, “we’re allhere. Why don’t we get started, so the rest of us can get back to doing what we came here to do and grab some dinner?”
