Carter’s face falls, but Lemmy lets out the loudest and most infectious laugh I have ever heard. She leans her head back, placing her hand on her chest, howling like I just delivered the joke of the century.
“That wasn’t funny,” Carter murmurs, returning to the paperwork.
“Oh yes, it was,” Lemmy says, catching her breath. Her gray eyes catch mine. “We’re handling her, too. Don’t worry.”
I nod because I don’t know what else to do. I should be more concerned about the assault charges, but I’m not. Irina Coasta has opened up something ugly within me. I hate a girl I’ve never met. I want her to suffer, to pay for bringing down Carter’s reputation with a ton of lies when he only just got it back in good standing.
I talked to Penny about Irina, and it’s much worse than I could even imagine. She doesn’t understand how Irina had his schedule down to the minute detail either, nor was she certain how she had obtained so much information about the time that Carter spends with me. Penny wasn’t surprised, though,which is the scariest part. It means that people expect Irina to have eyes everywhere. It means they expect this level of crazy from her.
She’s terrifying, and she’s going to use Carter to get what she wants by taking him down. For what gain? I’m not sure, but she wants it.
Over my dead body. This guy is not having his reputation slandered over something he didn’t do. He already suffers enough over the things hedoesdo. She’s not going to win. Not with me here, and definitely not with Lemmy.
Carter scratches my name down onto the list at the back of the folder. I see Declan’s name and Boston Black. I see Ariana Forkerro listed there, too. There are names upon names upon names. I relax in my chair. He’s going to be okay. He’s got a Rolodex of people on his side, ready to defend his character.
Carter’s hand stills, his eyes skimming the list. “Donovan Capulty?”
He glances up at Lemmy, who nods. “We spoke this morning.”
“You spoke to him,” Carter says carefully, and Lemmy crosses her arms in front of her perfectly pressed black blouse, waiting for Carter to finish his thought. “And you thought putting him down as a character witnessto defendme was a good move?”
“Arthur Boftin is now in prison,” Lemmy explains, and I glance at Carter to gauge his reaction over these people I don’t know. “He assaulted Christen Capulty within an inch of her life a couple of months ago.”
Carter lets out a low breath, falling back in his seat. The folder slips from his fingers.
“I reached out to him to see if he’d be willing to explain what happened between you and Arthur that night. Turns out, Donovan and Arthur are no longer friends. Imagine that. He’swilling to defend you for not doing so years ago. I’ll only contact him if we need him.”
“What happened?” I ask, unable to help myself.
Carter sighs, running a hand over his face. His blue eyes cut to me. “I fought a guy back in California a while ago. I was home for the summer, and I was at a bar with Ariana and a couple of my buddies. When we were leaving, we passed an alleyway, and this guy was pressing his girlfriend’s face against the brick. He was physically restraining her, screaming in her face, and?—”
“And you saw red,” I finish for him. Because I know. I understand him and his triggers, and it’s why I refuse to say that Carter is a danger to the public. To me. He’s a danger to bad people, and is that really such a crime?
“Yeah, I saw red.”
“Christen Capulty was the victim, and despite being the sister of Donovan, Donovan still kept his allegiance to Arthur. Three years later, Arthur nearly killed Christen. That loyalty has now been dissolved, and I think Mr. Capulty is attempting to make amends,” Lemmy explains.
Good. I mean it.Good.
I don’t believe in violence, but I do believe in protecting women. Being a woman in this world is a terrifying concept. Every time you step outside, you’re in dangerous waters. If you think that sounds dramatic, you aren’t a woman, and I don’t care to hear your opinion. You aren’t even safe in relationships where you should be. Who knows how a man will react when you try to leave, when you make him angry, or when he snaps over something that should be ironed out in therapy rather than in a prison cell?
I work in an ER. I have seen enough to verify my opinion.
Carter can be a violent man, but he’s agoodman. He’s the man I would want to walk past a dark alleyway when someoneis attacking me. He’s the man I would pray was in the same room with my daughter if she were being hurt. He’s a necessity in a twisted world. I don’t necessarily advocate for violence, but I will stand on the top of a fucking box in the middle of a busy intersection and advocate for horrible people getting what they deserve.
“How far do you think this will go with Irina?” Carter asks.
“I think she’ll go into hiding fairly soon,” Lemmy says. “She’s been quiet since the cease and desist. Her online following has grown substantially, and from what I’ve heard, that seems to please her. She might make a follow-up statement, and she might be an absolute idiot and go on another podcast or something of the sort. Either way, we’re going to need a statement fromyou,Carter. To clear things up from your side. Stop her before she gets any new ideas.”
“I’m not doing an interview,” he says adamantly. “Not about this. I don’t want the media involved in this.”
His eyes skirt to mine, and warm, gooey feelings wash over me. He isn’t talking about Irina, he’s talking about us. He doesn’t want the public to stick their nose in our relationship, whateverthatis. Ironic, since that was the whole point.
I smile softly at him, leaning against my hand.
“You don’t have to. A nice social media post typically does the trick. Post it on your story, or on your feed, I don’t care. Just a few sentences about your stance that discredits every vile word that came out of her mouth.”
I reach forward to place my hand on his forearm. I squeeze gently.
