Page 90 of Dirty Judge

I tilted the bottle over her glass, noticing that her eyes were red and puffy.

“Have you ever lied to me, Liam?” she asked. “Like, ever?”

“Not about anything important.”

“So, that’s a yes?”

“It would be no.” I topped off her wine. “If I have, it wasn’t about something that affects you.”

“What if I told you that I’d lied to you?”

“I already knew the things you’d lied about when we met.” I smiled, sitting across from her. “I wouldn’t care.”

She nodded and lifted her glass, downing it in one gulp.

“Would you like me to make your plate for you?” I asked. “You seem off tonight.”

She didn’t say a word.

“Olivia?” I noticed her chest heaving up and down. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes, Liam.” Her voice was hoarse. “Something is very, very wrong.”

“Want to tell me what it is?”

“Grant Jenkins.”

“What about him?”

“I thought it was weird from day one that you cared so much about a pretty open and shut case,” she said. “I don’t know any judge who would be unhappy about an innocent man getting a new trial.”

“Grant Jenkins is not innocent.”

“Yeah, well—too bad the jury was bound to find him guilty from day one, right?”

“His trial lasted six weeks.” I picked up a roll. “If they hated him on day one, that’s because he’s as terrible as his father.”

“There was more than enough evidence for reasonable doubt,” she said. “The only person in this city who doesn’t think so is you.”

“No, I’m pretty sure the twelve jurors did, too.” I stood up and grabbed the tongs. Then I draped noodles onto her plate.

“I figured you’d say that…” she muttered.

“What was that?” I arched a brow.

“How did you know how much the trial jurors were paid to vote guilty?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe I read about it in some article.”

“No, you didn’t.” She shook her head. “It’s never been in any article—anywhere, until a couple months ago.”

“Well, maybe that’s when I read it.”

“The article never stated the exact amount. How’d you know that?”

Silence.

“Liam?” She narrowed her eyes. “How did you know the exact amount?”