Page 80 of You, Only You

"Objection!" The prosecutor was on her feet. "Inflammatory, calls for speculation?—"

"Withdrawn." Caldwell waved a dismissive hand, but the damage was done. His words echoed in the courtroom.

My eyes found the gallery without permission. I'd been avoiding looking, afraid of what I'd see in the faces of strangers, in the jury's careful neutrality. But my gaze went straight to her, the way it always did.

Lindsey sat in the third row, her hands folded in her lap, her face pale but composed. She was watching me with an intensity that made my stomach tight. After everything, the fights, the reconciliation, the fragile peace we'd built, I didn't know what she was seeing right now. The man she'd chosen? Or the monster Caldwell was painting?

The doubt was a blade that kept me uncomfortable on my seat.

"Mr. Steele." Caldwell's voice pulled me back. "This case against Victor Reeves. Would you say your involvement has been objective?"

"My involvement has been evidence-based."

"Evidence gathered with the assistance of a woman you're romantically involved with. A woman who was originally hired to audit you. A woman whose professional judgment is now inextricably linked to your personal relationship."

"Ms. Ashford's analysis has been independently verified by the FBI."

"After she brought it to them. After she decided what was relevant. After she chose to believe you over her own professional obligations." Caldwell smiled thinly. "Tell me, Mr. Steele… When you seduced the auditor sent to investigate you, was that also part of your pursuit of justice?"

The rage was a living thing, clawing at my brain. I felt my hands curl into fists, felt the careful control I'd maintained start to crack.

"I didn't seduce anyone."

"But you did engage in a romantic relationship with the woman investigating you. While the investigation was ongoing. And you expect this jury to believe that relationship had no impact on her conclusions?"

Before I could respond, the prosecutor stood. "Your Honor, the defense is badgering the witness. These questions have been asked and answered."

"Move on, Mr. Caldwell."

"No further questions." He returned to his seat with the satisfied air of a man who'd accomplished exactly what he intended.

I was excused. I walked back to the gallery on legs that felt disconnected from my body, my mind still reeling from the assault. Caldwell had done his job expertly, taken every shadow I carried and projected them onto the courtroom wall, larger and darker than life.

I'd barely sat down when the prosecutor rose again.

"Your Honor, the prosecution calls a rebuttal witness." She paused. "We recall Lindsey Ashford to the stand."

No.

I wanted to speak out, but had no power to stop it. I watched Lindsey stand, watched her smooth her skirt with perfectlysteady hands, and felt every protective instinct I possessed surge to the surface.

She was walking into a slaughter. Caldwell would destroy her, tie her testimony to the "romantic entanglement" she'd already admitted, and paint everything she'd done as biased, compromised, worthless. She was sacrificing her professional reputation to defend a man the defense had just painted as a vigilante.

I should stop her. The thought was overwhelming. I could stand up, could create a disruption, could find some way to prevent this.

But that was the old Will. The one who controlled outcomes by controlling people. The one who'd pushed her away to protect her and nearly lost her in the process.

Lindsey's eyes met mine as she walked toward the stand. They held no uncertainty. No hesitation. Just a fierce, clear resolve that said:I know what I'm doing. Trust me.

I stayed seated.

It was the hardest thing I'd ever done. Harder than any case, any hunt, any monster I'd faced. Sitting still while the woman I loved walked into the crossfire to defend me. Trusting that she knew the risks, that she'd weighed them, that this was her choice.

Not mine to make for her.

She took the oath. Settled into the witness chair with the composed professionalism I remembered from the first day she'd walked into my office. The sharp-eyed auditor who'd seen through my walls in minutes.

"Ms. Ashford." The prosecutor approached. "You've already testified about the financial evidence in this case. I recall you now to address a specific issue raised by the defense: the character and motivations of Will Steele."